Shooting Guns At Range
Through a Groupon coupon, I had the experience of going to a shooting range this past weekend. For $45, I got to try shooting three different rifles under the expert supervision of an instructor of course. I’ve only shot a gun once before in my life and it was during the 1990’s when my company went down to Arizona and I got to shoot a six-shooter (cowboy style gun) as part of a desert tour.
After registration and signing waivers, my Meetup group was given ear plugs to wear. The first rifle (shown above) was a .22 caliber and my first shot actually hit the bullseye! I shot 50 rounds and even though the rifle had a bit of a kickback, it was relatively easy to shoot. I hit the bullseye many times but took my time to aim with the scope.
The second rife was a military AR-15, a real menacing looking firearm. The bullets were much larger and the rifle was much more high tech as the scope featured a red dot light. It was also a heavier rifle than the .22 so it took more time for me to aim. The biggest differences between the AR-15 and the .22 was the kickback as well as the noise (as well as price – $1,800 for AR-15 compared to $200 for a .22).
The kickback was very significant as each shot pretty well rocked me back. And the sound was extremely loud even though the instructor added earphones on me in addition to the earplugs I already had on. I could also feel the heat and see a bit of smoke after each shot. It was almost like there was an explosion in front of my face each time I pulled the trigger. I got to shoot 10 rounds and it was more than enough for me with this one.
I was wondering how the heck SWAT teams and military actually use this thing as it took me forever to aim and steady the rifle towards the target. I did manage to hit the bullseye a few times but not nearly as much as I did with the .22 caliber. The third rifle was a SKS which was an older gun used in the older Chinese and Russian armies. This rifle was old fashioned without a scope and I found it also hard to aim but at least the kickback and noise was not as bad as the AR-15.
As a bonus, the instructor allowed us to try shooting a pistol – I’m not sure what type it was but it could have been a Glock. To our surprise this handgun, although lightweight, also had a lot of kickback. There was no way to avoid it and I found it extremely difficult to hit the target with this pistol. It’s certainly not like on TV where one can just aim and shoot.
Shooting Guns As Sport
Overall, this was a very interesting experience for me. Would I ever take up shooting as a sport – I would say no. I did not enjoy the kickback nor the noise. I also refuse to get into the big gun debate whether the general population should be allowed to keep firearms or not. But I do agree that illegal firearms should most definitely be taken off the streets.
I support the use of guns for military, police, security forces and for hunting game, especially for our Inuit and native peoples. I also might go as far as supporting guns in a controlled environment like the gun shooting range we were at (in this case, Silverdale Gun Club in the Niagara region of Ontario). But anywhere else, I really do not feel guns have a place in our neighbourhoods.
At times, some of our group members did feel uneasy knowing that they were holding weapons that can kill people. But as I said, I am not going to be lured into the gun debate. As for myself, I will stick to my martial arts weaponry. They are flashier, gets me more fitness and are a LOT less noisier.
