I love the smell of gunpowder on my lunch break...
I went to the range today during lunch - just about the only thing I'll put off food for. There's something quite relaxing about it that I can't explain. Anyway, it was the busiest that I've seen it in a while so I was sandwiched between a couple of other guys that were sharing a lane (and were all there together). Not sure why the rangemaster didn't put them all together on side by side lanes, but they didn't bother me. While I enjoy having the range to myself, having it nearly full really makes me work on my concentration (it's an indoor range, so things can get pretty loud). As is done at every gun range I've ever been to, I start checking out what people around me are shooting (my wife has affectionately referred to me as the Rainman of guns). Sure enough, I'm surrounded by Glock.
Now, please don't get me wrong. I have tried a Glock 19 and it's a good gun; I have no doubts that if I were in an emergency situation, a Glock would get the job done. It just didn't "wow" me when I shot it the way the Walther P99 did. What I have noticed, though, is that most Glock owners (the majority of whom have never shot a firearm before they shot a Glock) tend to act snobby towards anything else except Glock.
So I absolutely love it when I walk up to the line and start loading the mags on my Walther. Most of them haven't seen it, or if they have, it's only known to them as the Bond gun. And mine has the pretty titanium coated slide (which makes it a pain to keep clean, especially around the muzzle). It's kinda funny seeing these guys do double-takes at my gun.
Now, when I shoot (or do most anything else), I am very hard on myself. I don't know why, when, or where it started - maybe I do it just to compete with myself or to better myself. Who knows? Nevertheless, anything that's not in the 10x ring (unless I'm aiming elsewhere) is just not acceptable to me. So, in my head, I had a rough day at the range - at 25 ft. I only had about 5 touching the red of the 10x area (out of maybe 120 - 130 rounds).
As it was time to go, I started grumpily wiping down my gun to get rid of some surface discharge residue and staring at my target I had run forward. My eyes glanced off to one side, and I couldn't help but smile - the Glocker on my right was shooting terribly at 10 feet, not even hitting the paper with at least 2 shots. The one on the other side of me was fairing no better. I looked back at my target, and realized I could account for every single bullet that left my gun since I last changed the target - there was a corresponding hole somewhere on the paper. 58 of 60 shots were inside the silhouette.
I started feeling a good bit better after that. Fondling the new Beretta PX4 Storm helped, too.
Now, please don't get me wrong. I have tried a Glock 19 and it's a good gun; I have no doubts that if I were in an emergency situation, a Glock would get the job done. It just didn't "wow" me when I shot it the way the Walther P99 did. What I have noticed, though, is that most Glock owners (the majority of whom have never shot a firearm before they shot a Glock) tend to act snobby towards anything else except Glock.
So I absolutely love it when I walk up to the line and start loading the mags on my Walther. Most of them haven't seen it, or if they have, it's only known to them as the Bond gun. And mine has the pretty titanium coated slide (which makes it a pain to keep clean, especially around the muzzle). It's kinda funny seeing these guys do double-takes at my gun.
Now, when I shoot (or do most anything else), I am very hard on myself. I don't know why, when, or where it started - maybe I do it just to compete with myself or to better myself. Who knows? Nevertheless, anything that's not in the 10x ring (unless I'm aiming elsewhere) is just not acceptable to me. So, in my head, I had a rough day at the range - at 25 ft. I only had about 5 touching the red of the 10x area (out of maybe 120 - 130 rounds).
As it was time to go, I started grumpily wiping down my gun to get rid of some surface discharge residue and staring at my target I had run forward. My eyes glanced off to one side, and I couldn't help but smile - the Glocker on my right was shooting terribly at 10 feet, not even hitting the paper with at least 2 shots. The one on the other side of me was fairing no better. I looked back at my target, and realized I could account for every single bullet that left my gun since I last changed the target - there was a corresponding hole somewhere on the paper. 58 of 60 shots were inside the silhouette.
I started feeling a good bit better after that. Fondling the new Beretta PX4 Storm helped, too.
posted by misawa at 1:25 PM
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