Trip to the Range

This Sunday past I took Jim to the range to refresh his memory regarding handgun safety. As an added bonus, we decided to take Sherry's son Casey, who is 14. He's played with soft-air and BB guns, but never a firearm.

Since it's been a long time for Jim, and teenagers can be a mite flakey at times, we had a nice lecture on "The Rules" before we left. You know, check the weapon thoroughly to make sure it's not loaded, keep the weapons pointed downrange at all times, keep your finger out of the trigger guard until you're ready to fire, etc.

I knew Jim would be ok, I showed him this stuff years ago. I wasn't sure about Casey. But, as Sherry said--he actually listened to my blathering.

I brought my two Para-Ordnance .45's, a Taurus 9mm and a Ruger Standard .22. I showed them both the operations of the pistols: how to load them, where the safeties are and what a sight picture looks like. I showed them how to unload them, clear the actions and told them what to do in case of a jam.

I first let Casey load and fire the Ruger. He hit nothing--the paper target was the safest place downrange right then, so I talked further about the sight picture and critiqued his stance and grip. He fired a couple of magazines and began to improve. Jim tried the Taurus, then one of the .45's.

In the end, Jim preferred the Ruger (he'd actually fired the gun before, when he was a kid) and didn't care for the punisment of the .45 on his hand. The Para Carry is kind of a kicker, as small as it is. Casey ended up liking the Taurus best. He actually asked for another box of cartridges after going through two boxes (less the 20 rounds I fired and the ten Jim fired). Jim popped off more than three boxes of .22's. I fired mostly .45's (my favorite) dividing my time between the Carry and the P13.

It was a good time and I was pleased that Jim recalled the lessons of his childhood and that Casey paid attention and took the guns seriously.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California