I second the thoughts about trying IDPA. You'll get a lot out of shooting and reloading under pressure. Shooting with buddies can be fun, but may be a waste if training is the goal. Another thing to consider is that sometimes well-meaning buddies can give you bad info about shooting, because they don't understand it themselves. Getting competent instruction is worth many times over the time and ammo expended when shooting with a buddy. There are a lot of people out there giving instruction that really aren't that good, so choose wisely.