Everyone has a bucket list. A list of things they would like to do before they die. Maybe it is climb Machu Pichu, or eat fugu in Ginza, or see Carmen performed live. I checked one item off my bucket list yesterday. I’d always wanted to fire a 9mm handgun. They’re so prevalent TV and in movies I wanted to see what it was actually like.
However, I have always had a healthy fear of guns. My father is very anti-gun. Which struck me as a bit strange since he grew up on a farm, but as a result guns were never part of our lives. I’d fired a pellet gun or two growing up but never a “real” firearm. That changed yesterday when my friend Will took me to the Silver Dale Gun Club.
We signed up for the package for two – we got to fire 5 different guns over the course of about two hours. We arrived and had already signed the waiver and stuff so we just needed to show ID. With that done, we drove over to shooting range one, which was separate from the rest. I assume that is to keep the newbies away from the serious gun people.
There were 4 other people in our group so we each took a turn with each gun before moving to the next which is why it took awhile. We were fortunate however that everyone in our group was serious about it and focused on doing the best they could. Another group was set up next to us — one woman nearly dropped a handgun, and some wanna-be cowboy skipped the ear protection.
We had a great instructor, Erick (bottom middle photo), who was patient, funny and encouraging — I really appreciated that, since at least 3 of us had never handled a gun before. Somehow he could tell exactly how you’d shot without even looking through a scope. He would say things like, “10 o’clock, 2 inches out” or “Bulls eye, 5 o’clock” which was really helpful. I needed a scope to actually see because some of the holes were pretty small.
We started off with the .22 which had the least amount of recoil. I shot it standing which was a mistake. I would have had better results if I had leaned on the counter. Next was the 9mm (top left photo) — the reason we went in the first place.. What you can’t tell is that I have ear plugs in. After that the guns got loud enough I also wore ear covers.
Next was the .38 Special. It was quite heavy. I got a great photo of Will (bottom left) which shows the muzzle flash from the gun. It was one of my favorites because, unlike the 9mm, it doesn’t eject shells. Next was the bolt action rifle (photo top right). You can see from my target on the right I was okay with. “Mind you, we were only shooting from 25 yards, but it definitely made me want to try farther out.
There was something almost zen about it because after, Will and I watched videos we’d taken of each other shooting and there were noises and conversations that I never heard at the time. I had completely zoned it all out. Lastly, but not least was the shotgun. The shotgun was a lot of fun because it packs a kick and you get to pump it to eject the shell (bottom right).
As we were leaving, we had to drive by the other ranges, where someone was set up to shoot a .50 cal. He had a spotter (someone with a range finder) and we stopped to watch for a second. When the gun went off, you could see the shockwave for a second and despite being in the car, 25 yards away it was still super loud! I wish I had taken a photo of it.
All in all it was a great experience and something I can see doing again. In fact, I have a bunch of friends who want to try now, so a repeat trip to Silver Dale is probably in the cards. Bucket list item checked off, but somehow the list got longer.