Hello Smith & Wesson fans~
I'm Rick, a Virginia farm boy (some of you out there might catch my drift).
My wife & I have a little 60 acre farm, with a couple of dogs, a couple of horses, a cat and a few firearms. We both enjoy shooting, though she tops me at skeet and trap shooting, I beat her with pistol and rifle. To explain, she was the only woman on her collegiate skeet team. She uses a very nice over and under 12 gauge and I use my Webley and Scott tactical 12 gauge pump. My shotgun is more for keeping the house safe, while her's is for shooting skeet. I know it's a lousy excuse but it'll have to do.
My current pride and joy rifle is my Rock River Arms LAR-15 LH, Elite Operator. Yes, it's a left handed gun and I'm right handed but, I noticed when I was introduced to the M-16 in the military that when the spent cartridge was ejected on the right side it caught my eye. Being very right eye dominant, it was enough to slow up my second shot just a tad. So my firearms instructor suggested that I try a left handed rifle ... and sure enough, it worked perfectly. When my local gun dealer had a left handed model of the Rock River LAR-15, I jumped on it. I love the rifle, it's solid and accurate, the only fault I have with it is that it's pretty hefty.
I bought my first Smith and Wesson about 1 year ago, an M&P Bodyguard 380 with the Crimson Trace laser. I was looking for a concealed carry pistol but found that most of the 9mm's were too bulky for my slim body type. I have a nice Ruger P-85 that I've had for some time, but it is just too big to conceal very well. I was looking at Walther PPK's but decided I did want a laser. I finally asked my local gun dealer and he pulled a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380 out of his pocket and invited me to try it out. The first thing I liked about it was the fact that it was laid out just like the bigger guns. The magazine release was in the right place, the laser was very easy to activate and it had a safety in the right place. When I shot it, like many of you I found the trigger pull to be long and heavy. At first, I wasn't sure if I liked that but after discussing it with the dealer, it made sense to me to have such a long and heavy trigger on it, similar to a double action revolver. Also, the safety factor came into play. I mean you really have to be committed to taking the shot before you fire the pistol and that just made sense to me. Also, the laser might discourage some people to back off before having to fire a round and the laser was right on the money at 15' right out of the box. In the short amount of time I have had it, it has become my favorite pistol to shoot. I have 3 ways to carry it but my favorite method is a Blackhawk IWB just below my right kidney. From that position, it's easy to access and is well concealed. I carry 1 extra magazine with me and I keep a round chambered, so I have 7 shots to start with and an extra 6 if needed. I really can't say how much I love this gun. Yes, I do hear all the time about how a .380 round is too small for a defensive round but the fact is that it is a 9mm round, it's just 9x17 mm instead of 9x19mm. in other words, it's a 9mm short. The other advantage is that because it doesn't have as much recoil as a 9x19mm, my follow up shots will be better placed. I'll take precision over power any day shooting. This is not very high on the list of attributes for handguns but, I think it's a very good looking gun as well.
Anyway, I have a few other guns as well, a Remington 870 Express in 20 gauge, a bunch of single shot H&R's and a very interesting Belgian Mauser in 30-06 that was sporterized before I took it in lieu of a debt a guy owed me. I am planning on picking up an Archangel polycarbonate stock for it and turning it into a long range precision rifle. It's certainly accurate enough and with the new stock, I should be able to mount a decent scope on it. If any of you have taken on such a project I'd enjoy hearing how your's came out.
I realize how fortunate I am in having the land necessary to have a shooting range at home. In fact, our "range" is just about 20 yards off our back deck. Then we shoot trap and skeet in our pasture and as far as distance shooting I can cut across our pasture to be able to shoot up to 500 yards at the targets in our backyard.
I'm kind of semi-retired, except that I run a small company that I consult with other companies to help them deter Insider Threats, both cyber and physical. As far as the physical threats I design programs that utilize "safe rooms" for employees who aren't able to make it to safety in case of an active shooter. Between 2009-2015 there have been 133 mass shootings and the number of mass shootings seems to rise every year, so I just try to give companies a chance to save their employees lives if I can.
So, that pretty much covers me. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask me either here in the forum or in a private message. I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July and stay safe while enjoying our sport!

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Tertia Optio

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Keep on Chooglin'

Welcome from Delaware!

Welcome from Central NY

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Certified NRA rifle instructor

Welcome from Cincinnati

welcome from Va.

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Roger

Welcome from Pennsylvania!

Welcome from Tampa

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NRA Bene Life, SWCA 2372

Welcome from SE PA. Damn Imwould,love to have a property where I could set up a range. The township I live in has a law that prohibits the discharge of a firearm in township limits. Too bad because I live on the edge of a wooded area that is a vale that offers natural barriers.

Welcome from Tennessee.

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Just a shooter

Welcome from North Dakota

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John

Welcome from Wisconsin!

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Former USN, Retired US Army

Welcome from the bootheel of Missouri . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Welcome to the forum.

nice entry by the way

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

Welcome aboard.

Glad to have you.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome from the Outer Banks!

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Loving retirement!

Welcome from the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey.

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Judge control not gun control!

Welcome from Ohio! !

We give up a lot to live where we live but, the natural beauty here is just amazing. Plus we have the Chesapeake Bay 3.5 miles to our west and the Atlantic Ocean 3.5 miles to our east. Our property is well hidden too. The only access is via 2 dirt/sand/gravel driveways, each of them about a mile long. Both driveways are well hidden and canopied over. The only bad thing is that the local sheriff's office has a rule. The deputy that is on duty at the time can choose to respond to a 911 call from our house, or choose not to respond as well. Because the driveways are perfect places to ambush someone, the deputies often will choose not to respond and honestly, I can't blame them. On the other hand, with me being in the security business our house is well defended and very difficult to break into. Then there's the fact that I have firearms stashed all over the house, safely, of course. However, if you were to enter the house, you'd be met by a 12 gauge, a 20 gauge, a 5.56mm, a 9mm or a .380. In any event, you'd probably leave the house horizontally. Most every room has remote controlled lights, which means that at night I can turn on a light and surprise an unwanted guest before they were shot.
We also have 2 dogs that might not be the most intimidating dogs, they are alert and loud. So if the alarm didn't wake anyone up the dogs certainly would.
Having a private shooting range at home is a wonderful thing to anyone who enjoys shooting and it makes staying in practice so much easier than going to a range. It also means that my practice includes shooting in no to low light conditions and being able to replicate potentially odd shooting positions, such as lying on the ground on my back or in any other weird pose I could end up in on the street while shooting to save my life or the life of my family.
Here's to hoping you can get to a better place and having your own range someday.
Safe shooting to you partner!

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Tertia Optio

Welcome A Board from the Sunshine State

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Spin The Wheel

Hello from KY.

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Life is short,live it fully.

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

Welcome from Texas Rick. Great forum for all things S&W, have fun, learn lots, share what you know.

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I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

Welcome to the forum from Arkansas

And "Welcome!" from just up the road a piece. (OK, maybe 150 miles).

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S&W SW22 Victory