June – 25 A New Shooting Range
 |
| Sig 239 in 9mm Luger (My "Carry" gun) |
 |
| Ruger Vaquero in .45 Long Colt (My OMFG this is too fun to shoot!!! and my sidearm when I'm in the back country) |
The other week was Father’s Day and I got a pass to head
over to the range and practice with my handguns. As you may remember from last weeks blog, a few hundred other
people with a similar interest thwarted my attempt.
This last weekend my wife and I made a compromise. She had discovered a new bakery in
Newport Beach she wanted to try out....we both had discovered a new range in
North Orange County I wanted to try out.
The place is called Field Time Target and Training and, from what I
understand they’ve been open for about a month.
Perfect.
Back into the shooting bag went my Ruger Vaquero .45 long
colt and my 9mm luger Sig Sauer 239, and off we went in search of bread and
bullets!
(God that sounds corny)
Anyhow Field Time Target turned out to be busy,…but no where
near as crowded as I had experienced last Father’s Day. Since this range has just opened I had
a bit of an epiphany as we signed in:
This range is very nice…not in the nicest neighborhood…but a
very very nice facility. It is
clean, modern, designed with a “high end” feel and comfortable. I noticed this, because it is unusual
for a shooting range. Fellow
shooters:….we want…hell…need new shooters to enter the sport…why do we build
ranges that look like men’s clubs for a good ol’ boys network? Along the same line…we all know that
women make up the largest growing segment of our sport…why don’t we make ranges
that are as inviting to them as well?
This range that my wife and I went to was a major step in the right
direction and kudos to them!
Now as to my shooting!
I suck.
 |
| Sig Target |
 |
| Ruger Vaquero Target |
Well, maybe "suck" is too strong a word.
I’ve never been shy about admitting
that I am more of a rifleman than a pistol shooter. Part of the reason for this is that I just don’t practice enough
with a pistol. When I hear of
police officers or CCW holders that only go to the range every few months a
chill goes down my spine. I know
how badly my skills degrade when I don’t practice regularly (as can be seen in
the pics). People who carry guns
in public really need to be able to shoot a hell of a lot better than I do!
Anyhow…I also thought you might be interested in seeing what
goes into the cleaning of these bad boys.
The first thing we need to do is break these guys down :
 |
| Wow...I'm not sure what is more intimidating...the gun put together or broken apart! |
 |
| That's it?!?! |
The same methods are used to clean the pistols as we use to
clean rifles. Solvents, brass
brushes, oil and love.
It is
during this exercise that I get to think back on the shooting and figure out
what I need to do to improve.
The targets show a preponderance of impacts to the left and south of the
target. This does not indicate
poor sight alignment…it indicates poor shooting and mashing the trigger. I need to slow down on each shot and
concentrate on pulling the trigger straight back. I also need to focus on my breathing. Those outlier shots are either the
result of flinching, (of which I am guilty) or pressing on the trigger while I’m
still exhaling. Either way, I need
to work on eliminating them.
With the guns reassembled and back in the safe its time to
head over to Newport and the new bakery. Hopefully the Artisans that have just
opened up this new bistro have the same luck that this new gun range seems to
be experiencing!
No comments:
Post a Comment