Bang bang!

A few weeks ago I was visiting my friends Diana and Andy, and I made the mistake of saying that I ought to shoot a gun some time. Andy's a real gun buff, and since that comment, every time he sees me he asks when we're going to go shooting. This weekend I finally gave in and went shooting with Andy.

Andy has 37 guns total, but he didn't bring them all. I shot the following different guns in all, some more than others:

22 caliber pistol with a long barrel - very little kickback, but I thought I would be able to aim better with it. I was actually aiming worse with that gun later in the day than when I first started!
9 millimeter - a tiny thing with a 2-finger grip (I didn't like that one at all... couldn't hit shit with it)
Another, smaller 22 with a laser site - either i was doing it wrong or the laser wasn't calibrated. I did manage 2 really good shots with it, but missed a bunch.
Gloc 40 - This was the best gun for me. I was able to aim a lot better with it, and I liked the grip a lot. I hit a lot of stuff with this one.
38 Special revolver - I thought I was aiming poorly with this gun, but then Andy mentioned that it's fairly inaccurate, so my shooting wasn't as bad as I thought with it.
22 Magnum rifle - I didn't like the rifles as much because I'm a wuss and couldn't hold them steady very well. this one in particular I didn't like because it didn't have a scope. I managed to hit maybe 1 target at maybe 50 yards, one out of 15 or 20 shots? Bah.
22 caliber CZ - Another bolt action rifle similar to the 22 Magnum, but smaller bullets. Also the bolt was on the left (for left handed shooters) which was a little awkward. This one had a scope on it, so aiming was easier at a distance, but it was still hard to keep it steady. The trigger was REALLY sensitive, the first time I shot it I actually mean to fire yet. That's a little scary, but if you use proper gun safety it shouldn't be a problem. I managed to not shoot my friend or my foot, so that's good.
Assault Rifle - I understand it's not technically an Assault Rifle because I don't think it was fully automatic, but it was called AR something anyway. It looked really cool, like something out of an action movie. It also had a scope, and shot bigger bullets. I only shot 5 rounds with it (1 magazine), 1 while standing (this rifle was heavier and even harder to hold still) and 4 while lying on the ground. The cool part is that I knocked a rock off of a plastic bottle (on purpose) at about 100 yards.

So I can now say that I have shot a gun. Honestly, it's not that different than I thought it would be. I was a little surprised I wasn't more nervous around the loaded weapons. I did not feel any sort of power or rush like some people talk about, it didn't feel much different than throwing a frisbee or something. You point and you shoot.

I was a little disappointed I didn't shoot a little better, but Andy says I actually was a really good shot - especially for my first time out. In order to get a concealed weapon permit you have to take a test which consists of hitting a target from 5 and 10 feet away - and the target is about the size of the box we were shooting at. Only you just have to hit the box (we were shooting at little target stickers about 8 inches across). I can't imagine not hitting the box, but evidently there are people who can't.

A word about recoil... I had absolutely no idea what to really expect, but I did know this: The recoil happens because of the shot, and therefore it does not happen until after the shot - so any kind of adjusting for or anticipating the recoil will just make you miss your target, I think some people don't understand that and mess themselves up.

Now that I've been shooting, I don't know if I'll bother doing it again. I didn't hate it, it was even kind of fun, just not something high on my priority list. We went through about $100 worth of ammo in 3 or 4 hours... I played frisbee that long on Saturday for $8, and that came with 2 slices of pizza. In any case, I'm not sorry I went.