Range Report-First time handgun shooting

[T3hK1w1]

Well, some of you folks may have read the message I posted a few days ago regarding where to rent a Ruger revolver in Houston. Longtooth was one of the people who responded to that post, and to make a long story short, today I made the 135 mile drive from my NW Houston home to the shooting range Longtooth frequents to meet him and Flintknapper, and to try my hand at shooting his Ruger GP100 and Flint's SP101. After a long but pleasant drive, I arrived at about 1:15 pm and met Longtooth and Flint. They are very nice people and excellent instructors. We ended up going through a very hands-on and detailed lesson on revolver and semi-auto shooting that had me learning all of the right habits in the beginning. i tried my hand at a Ruger .22 semiauto, then the GP100 and SP101 with 38 special, after which Longtooth proved the rumors about him correct by producing a beautiful Kimber 1911 and urging me to try it I was suprised to find that the recoil was heavier than the GP100. After some practice with the 1911 (Which IS a nice gun btw), I decided I wanted to try some .357 mag rounds. Well, it turned out all we had availible were 5 rounds of +P+ with 125gr (I think) hollowpoints I tried these, with some trepidation, and found that they were very managable. After a few more loads of .38 Special we decided to call it a day, and headed home.

Summary
I had a wonderful time and am now confident that I can handle normal-sized revolvers and 1911s with safety and reasonable accuracy. Now all I need is practice
The Guns-Ruger 22 semiauto-it's a 22 pistol-what's not to like?
Ruger GP100-I love this gun! Accurate, low recoil, fits my hand well
Ruger SP101-Like the GP100, but not quite as comfortable
Kimber .45 1911-kicks hard but is very accurate and I'm sure with practice the recoil would not be an issue
The People Longtooth-A wonderful guy who is a great instructor
Flintknapper-Another great guy who really helped out with the few issues I had.

Was it worth the 270 mile drive? Absolutely
Can i shoot decently? According to the mutters I heard, I think I did pretty well.

I would highly recommend that anyone who get the chance to learn from these people do so, you won't regret it.

[longtooth]

Thank you young sir.
You are very kind.
We are glad you had a good time & I assure you that we did.
LT.

[KBCraig]

I made the 135 mile drive from my NW Houston home to the shooting range Longtooth frequents to meet him and Flintknapper, and to try my hand at shooting his Ruger GP100 and Flint's SP101.

Good people. I haven't met Flintknapper in person yet, but I know that he's Good People. I've shot with Longtooth, and I know he's a good instructor ("preacher" and "teacher" are pretty much the same!)

Was it worth the 270 mile drive? Absolutely

Please. This is Texas. I've driven to Dallas and back (360+ miles round trip) for a lunch date! I know gas prices are high, but c'mon!

Thanks for the report. I'm not surprised at all, because you hooked up with some very good folks.

Kevin

[jbirds1210]

I agree........you hooked up with great folks....worth a 500 mile drive. I wish I could have been there shooting with you fellows. Thanks for the report!

[flintknapper]

Can i shoot decently? According to the mutters I heard, I think I did pretty well.

Targets tell the story. You can be proud of yours.

You just know... a couple of decrepit old men are not going to tell you: "Ya done good there Lad", (well, not too much).

Glad you could make it, practice safely.



And............."Ya done good" rookie.


Flint.

[The Marshal]

Excellent choice!

When I go to the range, I note that most people do not have a good stance, grip, etc, and their target shows it. Yet they are confident they can shoot a gun.

I told someone yesterday that the saying "practice makes perfect" is wrong. Only "PERFECT practice makes perfect." If you shoot sloppy in practice, you get to perfect your sloppy shooting habits.

Therefore, to make the drive, humble yourself, an listen & learn from these two gentlemen shows wisdom on your part!
I have found that if its worth having, its going to be worth the effort to get it.

~Bill

[Tim the Teacher]

all this brotherly gun love is making me cry......

It's great when those that know are willing to teach those that don't!!

[Crossfire]

LT, looks like you converted another one. Good work!

Every Basic Pistol Class I have taught, someone has wanted to take my GP100 home with them. (We have to make sure that Marty doesn't hear about this, since he would trade my pretty blue gun in on a stainless model in a nano-second.)

The first and second firearms I ever personally owned are my Glock 19 and my Ruger GP100. And I will have them both until I die.

[Skiprr]

all this brotherly gun love is making me cry......

'Tis a beautiful thing to behold, isn't it?

[flintknapper]

LT, looks like you converted another one. Good work!

Every Basic Pistol Class I have taught, someone has wanted to take my GP100 home with them. (We have to make sure that Marty doesn't hear about this, since he would trade my pretty blue gun in on a stainless model in a nano-second.)

The first and second firearms I ever personally owned are my Glock 19 and my Ruger GP100. And I will have them both until I die.

T3hK1w1 made the comment (several times) that the GP100 "felt" the best to him, and even though he had several other popular weapons to choose from, he kept returning to the revolver.

I knew his chief interest was in the wheel guns (that is what he came to shoot), but.... I have found that most people will pick a Semi-Auto once they have shot both types of guns. Not so....with this young man.

Regardless, he shot everything surprisingly well for a first time....and I believe he learned enough about each weapon to make an informed decision when its time for him to make a purchase.

Good thing we didn't have a Colt Python in the lot. He would really have revolver fever.

[Venus Pax]

T3h, you definitely chose two good characters to meet at the range. I've learned a lot from both just reading on the forum.