Many years ago, I owned several guns - a couple of shotguns and a .22 rifle. I didn't hunt or shoot a lot, but on occasion I'd get out and use them a bit. My father had a .22 pistol that I had fired a few times, but I've never owned a hand gun.
After having kids, my hunting and shooting got put on the back burner - I didn't fire a gun for over 25 years. My guns were sitting dusty and rusting in the closet, so I eventually just got rid of them.
A week or so ago, we were out to dinner with my son and daughter-in-law, and they mentioned that there was a new indoor shooting range that had opened in Lincoln. When they said they were planning to go, Theresa said, "I'd love to go shoot a gun!" Once I got over the shock, I reluctantly agreed to go and give it a shot (pun intended).
BigShots Indoor Range is a nice place, located just off of West O Street in Lincoln. The owners are very friendly, and they seem to be quite safety-conscious. Since we hadn't been to their range (or, in Theresa and my case, any range) we were required to view a short video on gun safety before we could shoot. Although they are experienced shooters, Matthew and Mitzi also had to watch the video. The woman who set this up - "Terry" - was nice, and didn't look down on the neophytes in our group.
Theresa and I don't own a gun, but Matthew and Mitzi have a .357 Magnum revolver, and some very nice friends of theirs (Joe and Audra) let us borrow a .22 pistol. BigShots has rental guns, but you must have a county handgun purchase permit to rent. If you don't have a record, the permit is easy to get - it costs $5.
We rented hearing and eye protection (required), and went to the range.
If you go, the first thing you'll notice is that some guns are LOUD! Some guy was shooting something about the size of a bazooka - we all jumped about a foot off the ground the first time it went off. Standing in the booth next to it, you could feel the concussion every time he fired. The .357 was fairly loud as well, making the .22 sound like a cap gun in comparison. Joe gave us some instruction on how to safely operate his .22 semi-automatic pistol, and Theresa blazed away.
The targets at the range are on a track, and can be moved to any distance desired. I'm not sure of the maximum distance, but it's enough that most of us wouldn't be able to hit the target at that range. We were typically shooting at targets in the 5 to 10 yard range. Surprisingly, both Theresa and I were able to group shots within about a 6 inch range at these relatively short distances. Not surprisingly, the .22 was much easier to shoot accurately, although both Theresa and I were OK with the .357. After a bit of practice, I improved quite a bit with the .22. Matthew and Mitzi were, of course, better. John and Audra were quite good, from my perspective - Audra had some really great groupings with the bigger gun.
All in all, it was a lot of fun. Friday nights are "Date Night", so the range fee was $20 for the two of us. While ammunition for larger caliber guns is expensive, .22 ammo is still relatively cheap, so, if you own a gun, this isn't the most expensive night out you can imagine. Gun rental would add a bit to that, but it's still affordable.
A couple of weeks ago, I'd have told you I'd never fire a gun again. I'd also have been pretty sure I'd never own a hand gun. Even more surprising, Theresa had a great time! After going to the range, I find myself thinking about buying a pistol, and making the range a more or less regular outing.
Gregg, I always loved to hunt, but I never liked to kill things. I mean, that was the whole point, and I loved to eat wild game, but killing something just for my own pleasure kind of bothered me.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, I was a terrible shot, so that rarely happened. :) But much of hunting is just target shooting on moving targets. And yeah, that can be fun,... but I've known hunters who don't eat what they shoot, or even bother to pick it up, but just let it rot. Now that really bothered me.
I can understand how target shooting can be fun - I used to do that with a bow quite often - but hunting was all about the outdoors, too. It was all about nature. So I really don't think an artificial shooting range would interest me much, not after the novelty wore off, at least.
Of course, there are a lot of hobbies that don't particularly appeal to me. We're all different. I hear that some people don't even like to play computer games. :)