Arctic Driver
Member
First posting:
We (Julie and I) just got back from Centennial Gun Shop and Range with our first handgun... we'd been considering a gun purchase for a little over a year now and with Centennial's 'black Friday' deal on their MP22 ($299!), we finally made the leap.
Our thoughts concerning the purchase:
1. Start small... I've been riding motorcycles for over 50 years and have come to know a bit about 'what's good/what's bad'... so we translated my cycling knowledge over to gun ownership... with some assistance from the people at Centennial.
2. Keep it in the family... being new at this, we thought we could learn on the MP22 then 'grow' a bit with a second gun (in the future) that makes more noise... the nice lady at Centennial pulled out an MP9 (?) as a comparison... I like the fact the two guns are so similar in operation.
3. I'm frugal (Julie calls me 'cheap'
)... we bought a 'brick' of 500 Yellow Jacket HP for a song... for less than ten cents a pop we can afford to shoot the thing! On a side note, the range instructor recommended 1640 ammo... the 'nice lady' assured us the Yellow Jacket (1500 fps) will work fine... and seeing as that was all they had on the shelf, we bought some... I guess we'll see how they work out.
3a. Three hours of free range time with gun purchase (I told ya... I'm frugal) Julie and I are gonna 'share a lane' down at Centennial in the not to distant future... I'm thinkin' we'll also make use of their rental program and try out the MP9 while we're there.
4. Centennial has several levels of instruction available... from 'basic pistol/CCW' to 'individual/tactical'... we're signed up for the first available basic course (Dec. 10 & 12)... Centennial is the one who suggested we put a few (hundred?) rounds through the gun before the class... might help us know what they're talkin' about.
Now... for my 'previous experience' with guns in general... which will explain why it's taken me 40 odd years to 'learn to do it right'.
When I was about 12 or so, I had a friend who's father was an avid hunter... always had a deer carcass or something hanging in his carport... anyway, Randy (my friend) had received a .22 revolver for Christmas... his father and he showed me the gun one day... I thought that was pretty cool... later on, Randy produced a .22 rimfire bullet for me to keep for my very own... I was a bit skeptical so I declined the offer... Randy told me, "No worries... they're SAFE!!!" and with that, he demonstrated their safety by throwing the bullet at the concrete floor in his basement... next thing I know, there was a loud bang and Randy was white as a sheet... fortunately, both of us escaped any injury... the only evidence was a black powder mark on the floor... better lucky than good...
About ten years later, I purchased a Ruger 10/22 (from Montgomery Wards!) for pure entertainment purposes... I carted the gun about 8 miles east of Denver to a dried up creekbed and set up several water filled, two liter pop bottles... as I was punchin' holes in the bottles, an Arapahoe County Sheriff's car pulled up... he just wanted to 'check-up' on me... he asked me to unload the rifle, I pulled the magazine from underneath, then, remembering the round in the chamber, I pulled back the slide to remove it... the live round promptly ejected from the rifle and landed on the ground at my feet... much to the officer's (and my) dismay... I had a flashback to Randy's basement and the 'self-firing' bullet...
I sold the Ruger a few weeks later.
So here I am... 56 years old... gonna do it right this time... can't hardly wait for some supervised range time and the knowledge that comes with it...
We (Julie and I) just got back from Centennial Gun Shop and Range with our first handgun... we'd been considering a gun purchase for a little over a year now and with Centennial's 'black Friday' deal on their MP22 ($299!), we finally made the leap.
Our thoughts concerning the purchase:
1. Start small... I've been riding motorcycles for over 50 years and have come to know a bit about 'what's good/what's bad'... so we translated my cycling knowledge over to gun ownership... with some assistance from the people at Centennial.
2. Keep it in the family... being new at this, we thought we could learn on the MP22 then 'grow' a bit with a second gun (in the future) that makes more noise... the nice lady at Centennial pulled out an MP9 (?) as a comparison... I like the fact the two guns are so similar in operation.
3. I'm frugal (Julie calls me 'cheap'
)... we bought a 'brick' of 500 Yellow Jacket HP for a song... for less than ten cents a pop we can afford to shoot the thing! On a side note, the range instructor recommended 1640 ammo... the 'nice lady' assured us the Yellow Jacket (1500 fps) will work fine... and seeing as that was all they had on the shelf, we bought some... I guess we'll see how they work out.3a. Three hours of free range time with gun purchase (I told ya... I'm frugal) Julie and I are gonna 'share a lane' down at Centennial in the not to distant future... I'm thinkin' we'll also make use of their rental program and try out the MP9 while we're there.
4. Centennial has several levels of instruction available... from 'basic pistol/CCW' to 'individual/tactical'... we're signed up for the first available basic course (Dec. 10 & 12)... Centennial is the one who suggested we put a few (hundred?) rounds through the gun before the class... might help us know what they're talkin' about.
Now... for my 'previous experience' with guns in general... which will explain why it's taken me 40 odd years to 'learn to do it right'.
When I was about 12 or so, I had a friend who's father was an avid hunter... always had a deer carcass or something hanging in his carport... anyway, Randy (my friend) had received a .22 revolver for Christmas... his father and he showed me the gun one day... I thought that was pretty cool... later on, Randy produced a .22 rimfire bullet for me to keep for my very own... I was a bit skeptical so I declined the offer... Randy told me, "No worries... they're SAFE!!!" and with that, he demonstrated their safety by throwing the bullet at the concrete floor in his basement... next thing I know, there was a loud bang and Randy was white as a sheet... fortunately, both of us escaped any injury... the only evidence was a black powder mark on the floor... better lucky than good...
About ten years later, I purchased a Ruger 10/22 (from Montgomery Wards!) for pure entertainment purposes... I carted the gun about 8 miles east of Denver to a dried up creekbed and set up several water filled, two liter pop bottles... as I was punchin' holes in the bottles, an Arapahoe County Sheriff's car pulled up... he just wanted to 'check-up' on me... he asked me to unload the rifle, I pulled the magazine from underneath, then, remembering the round in the chamber, I pulled back the slide to remove it... the live round promptly ejected from the rifle and landed on the ground at my feet... much to the officer's (and my) dismay... I had a flashback to Randy's basement and the 'self-firing' bullet...
I sold the Ruger a few weeks later.
So here I am... 56 years old... gonna do it right this time... can't hardly wait for some supervised range time and the knowledge that comes with it...
