Well, today was range day. I brought an ensemble of various handguns from the Heritage RR to the Pietta SAA in 45 colt. Here's how the day broke down.
Got to the range about 11:45 or so. walked in with the range bag and they asked if we wanted a lane. I said yes and explained that he had just married my daughter and I needed to check his proficiency with various handguns. I was asked if I wanted them to add the additional fear of god factor in as yet another service they offer. I declined as he's already married her. He looked at a couple revolver rentals they had; a charter arms snubby in 22LR and a Taurus 605. I explained with his assistance that he really didn't know squat about actual firearms and if I could get him to fondle some they had to offer. Well we went right down to the sales displays and they were pushing glocks pretty hard. They had gen 1 17's up to the new Glock 48 and everything in between. he handled the compact and full sized and described he was looking initially for a home defense piece. I'm leaving him partially in the care of the sales guy and I start eyeballing the SAR BP9 and the Canik. I look at the SAR and it's a real nice pistol. I handed it to the SIL and he even seems impressed with the feel and how well the sights and grip angle fit him. 30 minutes later we hit the range.
We start with the RR and I walk him through the safe operation and load him up. Target range is 7 yards. None of this 3 yard starter garbage. he's shooting an IDPA target and takes aim for headshots. the "10 ring" is about the size of a baseball. he had a couple of flyers due to jerking the trigger and I was able to correct that almost immediately. Shot 2 cylinders, all would have been fatal. Next up the ATI 1911-22.
I walk him through the safeties and the unique mag in safety. I get him in a standard isosceles stance and again with head shots. Had 1 dud round and ran him through the jam clearing routine. Handled it like a champ.
Move on to the Bersa Thunder 380, a real centerfire pistol. 1st mag, 1 round. got the safety speech in and let him shoot. A Bit of excitement as that was the first real handgun that he's fired that had any form of recoil. He dropped the mag, safety checked it and set it down, slide back, facing down range. Loaded the second mag himself with some instruction and ran the second mag center mass. Still jerking the trigger and I called him on it and corrected his form. He's not a fan of that small of a firearm. Then onto the PT709.
He knows this is my carry pistol and has had it in his possession while we were out of town and had a couple of neighborhood break ins happening at the time. He really likes the extended grip and the blade safety for the trigger. This is now in his top 5 list. Sorry, he's not getting it while I'm still alive. He does shoot it very well. he likes the heavier weight, that he can actually feel the power of the rounds and his ability to reacquire the target. All center mass shots, no flyers after 2 mags. He does try to engage the safety when the slide is locked back but that's not a problem. It shows muscle memory is developing correctly.
Onward to the PT1911 (mine, not my wife's). I load 1 round in the mag and load 8 in the second mag. I warn him about the 3.5 lb trigger... several times. This is pretty much how it came from the factory aside from smoothing out over several thousand rounds down the pipe. He looks it over, identifies the safeties and asks about the beavertail grip safety. I tell him it's just one more safety to prevent accidental discharge. he loads it up and sure enough, would have double tapped it if there was a second round. Now he knows what to expect, he drops the mag and loads the full mag. All center mass and can feel the difference in recoil between a snappy 9mm and a pushing 45 ACP. He handled it like a champ. He cleared it and set it down again with the slide locked open, cleared and pointed down range.
Now we move to the Pietta in 45 colt. He sees the bullets and thinks he's getting a forehead kiss regardless of death grip. I point out the difference in the safety of the Pietta to that of the RR. He cocks it back, acquires his target and slowly pulls the trigger. The rounds we were shooting were pretty stiff reloads and the jaw dropping smile on his face was priceless. The range was pretty full with people standing in back waiting for lanes to open. Many of them stopped to look at what just got fired. He's standing there, ear to ear grin, finger off the trigger and pointed down range. I grab one of the rounds to show the spectators. Some got real wide eyed, the vets just smiled and nodded. He finished that cylinder and I loaded it up again showing him how I fire it single handed. naturally he had to do what his FIL just did and reloaded and shot the next cylinder single handed. It was a state of pure bliss and yet he still did everything safely. He's one heck of a good shot given this was his first real range experience with actual firearms. With the 1911 and SAA and most likely the 709, I could have easily moved the target to the 25 yard mark and he would have still hit with proficiency.
I think we have another shooter in the family. On the ride home he described how he's verty tactile perceptive and Shooting the centerfire pistols hit all the meaningful parts for him. He "got" it about the fun of plinking with 22's and the outright thrill of 45 colt. next step is to a gun show where he can fondle as many handguns as possible to find "the ONE".
This is enabling done RIGHT.
Got to the range about 11:45 or so. walked in with the range bag and they asked if we wanted a lane. I said yes and explained that he had just married my daughter and I needed to check his proficiency with various handguns. I was asked if I wanted them to add the additional fear of god factor in as yet another service they offer. I declined as he's already married her. He looked at a couple revolver rentals they had; a charter arms snubby in 22LR and a Taurus 605. I explained with his assistance that he really didn't know squat about actual firearms and if I could get him to fondle some they had to offer. Well we went right down to the sales displays and they were pushing glocks pretty hard. They had gen 1 17's up to the new Glock 48 and everything in between. he handled the compact and full sized and described he was looking initially for a home defense piece. I'm leaving him partially in the care of the sales guy and I start eyeballing the SAR BP9 and the Canik. I look at the SAR and it's a real nice pistol. I handed it to the SIL and he even seems impressed with the feel and how well the sights and grip angle fit him. 30 minutes later we hit the range.
We start with the RR and I walk him through the safe operation and load him up. Target range is 7 yards. None of this 3 yard starter garbage. he's shooting an IDPA target and takes aim for headshots. the "10 ring" is about the size of a baseball. he had a couple of flyers due to jerking the trigger and I was able to correct that almost immediately. Shot 2 cylinders, all would have been fatal. Next up the ATI 1911-22.
I walk him through the safeties and the unique mag in safety. I get him in a standard isosceles stance and again with head shots. Had 1 dud round and ran him through the jam clearing routine. Handled it like a champ.
Move on to the Bersa Thunder 380, a real centerfire pistol. 1st mag, 1 round. got the safety speech in and let him shoot. A Bit of excitement as that was the first real handgun that he's fired that had any form of recoil. He dropped the mag, safety checked it and set it down, slide back, facing down range. Loaded the second mag himself with some instruction and ran the second mag center mass. Still jerking the trigger and I called him on it and corrected his form. He's not a fan of that small of a firearm. Then onto the PT709.
He knows this is my carry pistol and has had it in his possession while we were out of town and had a couple of neighborhood break ins happening at the time. He really likes the extended grip and the blade safety for the trigger. This is now in his top 5 list. Sorry, he's not getting it while I'm still alive. He does shoot it very well. he likes the heavier weight, that he can actually feel the power of the rounds and his ability to reacquire the target. All center mass shots, no flyers after 2 mags. He does try to engage the safety when the slide is locked back but that's not a problem. It shows muscle memory is developing correctly.
Onward to the PT1911 (mine, not my wife's). I load 1 round in the mag and load 8 in the second mag. I warn him about the 3.5 lb trigger... several times. This is pretty much how it came from the factory aside from smoothing out over several thousand rounds down the pipe. He looks it over, identifies the safeties and asks about the beavertail grip safety. I tell him it's just one more safety to prevent accidental discharge. he loads it up and sure enough, would have double tapped it if there was a second round. Now he knows what to expect, he drops the mag and loads the full mag. All center mass and can feel the difference in recoil between a snappy 9mm and a pushing 45 ACP. He handled it like a champ. He cleared it and set it down again with the slide locked open, cleared and pointed down range.
Now we move to the Pietta in 45 colt. He sees the bullets and thinks he's getting a forehead kiss regardless of death grip. I point out the difference in the safety of the Pietta to that of the RR. He cocks it back, acquires his target and slowly pulls the trigger. The rounds we were shooting were pretty stiff reloads and the jaw dropping smile on his face was priceless. The range was pretty full with people standing in back waiting for lanes to open. Many of them stopped to look at what just got fired. He's standing there, ear to ear grin, finger off the trigger and pointed down range. I grab one of the rounds to show the spectators. Some got real wide eyed, the vets just smiled and nodded. He finished that cylinder and I loaded it up again showing him how I fire it single handed. naturally he had to do what his FIL just did and reloaded and shot the next cylinder single handed. It was a state of pure bliss and yet he still did everything safely. He's one heck of a good shot given this was his first real range experience with actual firearms. With the 1911 and SAA and most likely the 709, I could have easily moved the target to the 25 yard mark and he would have still hit with proficiency.
I think we have another shooter in the family. On the ride home he described how he's verty tactile perceptive and Shooting the centerfire pistols hit all the meaningful parts for him. He "got" it about the fun of plinking with 22's and the outright thrill of 45 colt. next step is to a gun show where he can fondle as many handguns as possible to find "the ONE".
This is enabling done RIGHT.