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August 24, 2014, 09:38 PM | #26 | |
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Quote:
Do you actually believe that it's a felony for a New Yorker to leave New York and shoot a gun in, say, Arkansas? |
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August 25, 2014, 09:48 AM | #27 |
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Wow!,,, What a morning.
First off let me say that all went very well,,,
Everyone got to fire several different handguns,,, And there were no accidental discharges or safety concerns. There were however 3 times the amount of people I expected. My friend, who asked me to do this in the first place,,, Well, let's just say there was a slight communication breakdown. I thought the group was to be four adults,,, It turns out they actually meant four adults and their adult children. So I show up at our arranged meeting place,,, To find eleven smiling faces all eager to shoot something. I had changed the gun list a little bit,,,
Since these good folk are all French Canadians,,, I decided to do an homage to their heritage,,, I brought out the 1892 8mm Lebel revolver. That was a particular hit with one of the older ladies,,, She remembers shooting her grandfathers Lebel as a child. We went to the part of the range reserved for SASS shooters,,, There were trees for shade and a 3' by 6' table at the line. I laid all of the guns out and had all of the magazines pre-loaded,,, Then I handed out the safety cards and went over the rules,,, The seven unexpected guests were all in their 20's,,, And I must say they were very attentive. I had two shooters going at any given time,,, I let them choose what they wanted to try out. As I got one going I left them in the hands of my friend,,, Then I went to the other end and started another,,, Then the first went to the shade and waited,,, It was a nice assembly line type of thing. Man was it hot out there,,, It hit 100 by eleven o:clock,,, The danged humidity was high as well. The Rugers, CZ's, the Lebel, and the 629 got most of the use,,, Although all of the handguns got some bit of workout,,, I was loading 10 in the 22's and 5 in the semi's. After about 90 minutes of furious helping and loading of mags,,, The older folk retired to the shade and left it to their kids,,, Two of the girls got into a serious duel with the Rugers,,, And the guys got to do 9mm 16 round mag-dumps. One lady was a very tiny little thing,,, She took to the Bersa Thunder 22 very quickly,,, By the end of the day she was cutting a hole in the bullseye at 15 yards. The matron of the group was in her early 60's,,, She was the first to ask to try shooting the .44 Magnum,,, I only loaded one round at a time but she had no problem handling it. At any given moment there were 2-3 cell phone videos being made. All in all we were on the line for about 3 to 3.5 hours,,, My thumbs are sore for loading so many rounds of ammo. I gotta get an Uplulu for the 9mm mags. I bought those large (18") Shoot-N-See targets,,, They worked well as people could see where they hit,,, I also taped some clay pigeons to a large cardboard sheet,,, The two dueling girls made good use of that shooting the Rugers. My friend had already said she and her boyfriend would front the ammo costs,,, But the Canadian gentleman who was in charge of the group said no,,, He asked me how much ammo money we had gone through,,, I did an accurate estimate and gave him the total. If the size of the grins was any indication,,, Everyone had a great time. We parted amid lots of hugs and handshaking,,, The last thing the patriarch did was hand me an envelope. It contained exactly twice the amount I had quoted him,,, I was told in no uncertain terms to accept it,,, So I thanked him and did just that. It was hectic, frantic, and involved a lot of quick improvisation,,, But everything went off without a hitch,,, And everyone had fun. By the way,,, the tiny blonde was Joannie Rochette. I can't believe I introduced a Canadian Olympian to handgun shooting. What a day,,, I'm glad it's over,,, But I had an absolute blast! Aarond .
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Never ever give an enemy the advantage of a verbal threat. Caje: The coward dies a thousand times, the brave only once. Kirby: That's about all it takes, ain't it? Aarond is good,,, Aarond is wise,,, Always trust Aarond! (most of the time) |
August 25, 2014, 09:58 AM | #28 |
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Awesome job... & great write up...
BTW... did you get her autograph ???
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August 25, 2014, 10:03 AM | #29 | |
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No autograph, dangit!
Quote:
But in the excitement,,, It completely slipped my mind. Aarond .
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Never ever give an enemy the advantage of a verbal threat. Caje: The coward dies a thousand times, the brave only once. Kirby: That's about all it takes, ain't it? Aarond is good,,, Aarond is wise,,, Always trust Aarond! (most of the time) |
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August 25, 2014, 10:14 AM | #30 |
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maybe your friend that hooked you guys up, could get a request through, & you could get something to remember the occasion... though I'm sure you'll never forget
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August 25, 2014, 10:14 AM | #31 |
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Great job! Sir,you are a fine ambassador for the shooting sports.
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August 25, 2014, 05:21 PM | #32 |
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Weren't you going to say any more about the Lebel?
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August 25, 2014, 06:34 PM | #33 |
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Thank you for doing that.
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August 26, 2014, 08:05 AM | #34 | |
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About the Lebel,,,
Quote:
You and the person from the other forum,,, Seem to be the ones who have a problem with it. It was a gesture that was well received by my Canadian friends. If that somehow bothers you,,, In all honestly, I could not care less. Aarond .
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Never ever give an enemy the advantage of a verbal threat. Caje: The coward dies a thousand times, the brave only once. Kirby: That's about all it takes, ain't it? Aarond is good,,, Aarond is wise,,, Always trust Aarond! (most of the time) |
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August 26, 2014, 11:58 AM | #35 |
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You did good.
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August 26, 2014, 02:12 PM | #36 |
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Aarond, so many of your tales are fantastic to read, this one must be right near the very top!
Personally, I think that is just too many people to corral in one group, but you did have an assistant and it definitely sounds like you had a fine group of people to work with and THEY had one heckuva leader running the show. Truly, that makes all the difference in the world. I have done sessions like these also, I find that it works better for me to keep a group sitting together while I work, hands-on with the subject shooter. Of course, many of my experiences have been with kids between 8 and 14 or so years old. Typically, when it's an adult, I'm working with a single one. I also like to have a sit-down session well before, and NOT on the range. We use that time to do the safety stuff and also to have a conversation about the different guns, which parts move (and can slap/cup fingers/hands) or which areas BLAST (flash gap on revolver cylinders) and I very much prefer to do that somewhere that does not have any gunfire constantly popping off, which can make it extremely difficult to communicate. Lastly, I much prefer to do the shooting outdoors as you did. Indoor ranges, IMO, are a slightly advanced platform. Noise level is radically increased, as is the blast from each & every shot in the room, and then when someone brings in some kind of a big bore, it gets even worse. I find an indoor range to be just too much for most brand-new shooters. Also, just not much space to work with almost all of the time and you really can't vary the targets a whole lot, either. Phenomenal story and what an accomplished young lady mixed in with the group. It's no shock whatsoever that someone of that stature can take instruction well. Aarond does it once again!
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August 26, 2014, 07:41 PM | #37 |
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Canadians, like Australians, are often not shy around guns. It's quite often ducks to water territory if they don't already own one.
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August 27, 2014, 07:43 PM | #38 |
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You were brave to take on such a large group. Awesome job.
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August 27, 2014, 08:15 PM | #39 |
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Excellent read. Good job promoting the shooting sports. We all owe you a debt of gratitude.
I'd clean a gun or two for you, if I were local.
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August 28, 2014, 02:52 PM | #40 |
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Very impressive, and a great job by a thoughtful host & goodwill ambassador!
When a Brit friend visited here in Texas for the first time several years ago, his prime request was to go to the range. So I took my S&W M29, a Springfield Armory 1911, a Ruger SP101 (.357), and a Colt New Frontier .22 SA. Being a veteran of the Falklands War, he was well acquainted with firearms and needed little instruction. After 6 rounds of the .44 Magnum, he said, "Enough of thet one". His favorite was the 1911. |
August 28, 2014, 05:11 PM | #41 | |
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August 28, 2014, 06:20 PM | #42 |
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Wow...just found the post, best news I've heard all week! Canadians enjoying guns...who'd have thunk it?
Laura
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August 28, 2014, 08:55 PM | #43 |
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Aarond,
I wish I knew you. I live in the city and I'm a certified RSO. It would certainly have been my pleasure to assist you, although it appears you needed none! Well none from a fellow Okie and PM me if I can ever be of service . I get up to Stillwater fairly regularly. Bob Last edited by rightside; August 28, 2014 at 09:55 PM. Reason: sp |
August 29, 2014, 09:35 AM | #44 |
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Thanks for all your kind words gentlemen,,,
Thanks for all your kind words gentlemen,,,
I appreciate your good thoughts. This is how I try and counter the anti-gun folk,,, I don't argue with them or engage them,,, They are too entrenched in their ways. But I take every opportunity I can,,, To introduce new people to the sport of shooting. I firmly believe that's the only way to keep our 2A freedoms. So find a fence-sitter or a newbie,,, And take them plinking. It's one of the more satisfying things to do with your guns. Aarond .
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Never ever give an enemy the advantage of a verbal threat. Caje: The coward dies a thousand times, the brave only once. Kirby: That's about all it takes, ain't it? Aarond is good,,, Aarond is wise,,, Always trust Aarond! (most of the time) |
August 29, 2014, 03:41 PM | #45 | |
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August 29, 2014, 11:53 PM | #46 |
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Excellent AaronD! One helluva great way to teach and have a lot of fun showing others our sport! I've been in (smaller) similar situations where a "couple friends" wanted to try out guns and several more showed up than anticipated - too bad I didn't see this thread BEFORE you went. BUT it looks like you pulled it off with skill and aplomb - BRAVO Sir!
And I'll be the first to guess: They shot about $300 in ammo.
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