Smith357
US Veteran
Yesterday I was helping out at the local club, owner invited a half dozen young couples/families out to the range to shoot for the first time to learn how to shoot after the .22 BR match. There were no charges, it was a free range day for the new shooters and a couple of us old regular range geezers brought out a selection of firearms and supplied the all the ammo to help introduce them to the sport. We even served up a free lunch, sloppy joes and chips.
There was a wide selection of firearms for these young people to try. We started them out with our bench rifles teaching the fundamentals. and having them shoot at reactive targets at 50 yards. The kids loved this and a few of them did it for hours, just plinking at golfballs and tin cans. Then some bigger rifles came out, and then we transitioned to handguns.
We started with .22s, from there they progressed to larger calibers as they got comfortable, we had magnums but only one couple tried the .357, they did not care for the bark. The list of guns we had available minus the .22 rifles goes something like this, and I'm probably forgetting a few.
1/4 scale Naval cannon
Trapdoor Springfield .45-70
Marlin .30-30
Winchester 1873 .32-20
AR-15s in 9mm, 7.62, and .223
Sig MPX, 226, 238
Glock 19, 26
1911s
S&W 4506, 908, M&P 22, Model 10s, Model 14, 586
Ruger MkII, Blackhawks in .45 Colt and .44 Magnum
Of all the guns being shot that the two that got the most attention were the Sig AR in 9mm and surprisingly the S&W Model 14. The Sig makes perfect sense because it has very light recoil and is not as loud as the rifle calibers, plus popping off 30 rounds of 9mm from a stable platform is just plain fun. The one that sort of surprised me was how popular the S&W Model 14 with wadcutters was, there were folks waiting in line to shoot it. It must be because it was easy for the new shooters to hit the hit the target. A couple of the young ladies kept asking what is this gun called and how much do they cost, I want to get one just like it.
All in all it was a great day at the range introducing new shooters to the sport. I'm thinking we need to do this sort of event more often.
There was a wide selection of firearms for these young people to try. We started them out with our bench rifles teaching the fundamentals. and having them shoot at reactive targets at 50 yards. The kids loved this and a few of them did it for hours, just plinking at golfballs and tin cans. Then some bigger rifles came out, and then we transitioned to handguns.
We started with .22s, from there they progressed to larger calibers as they got comfortable, we had magnums but only one couple tried the .357, they did not care for the bark. The list of guns we had available minus the .22 rifles goes something like this, and I'm probably forgetting a few.
1/4 scale Naval cannon
Trapdoor Springfield .45-70
Marlin .30-30
Winchester 1873 .32-20
AR-15s in 9mm, 7.62, and .223
Sig MPX, 226, 238
Glock 19, 26
1911s
S&W 4506, 908, M&P 22, Model 10s, Model 14, 586
Ruger MkII, Blackhawks in .45 Colt and .44 Magnum
Of all the guns being shot that the two that got the most attention were the Sig AR in 9mm and surprisingly the S&W Model 14. The Sig makes perfect sense because it has very light recoil and is not as loud as the rifle calibers, plus popping off 30 rounds of 9mm from a stable platform is just plain fun. The one that sort of surprised me was how popular the S&W Model 14 with wadcutters was, there were folks waiting in line to shoot it. It must be because it was easy for the new shooters to hit the hit the target. A couple of the young ladies kept asking what is this gun called and how much do they cost, I want to get one just like it.
All in all it was a great day at the range introducing new shooters to the sport. I'm thinking we need to do this sort of event more often.
