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Ladies Day II: Gawd Bless America

Ad Astra

The Instigator
A writer I know - an actual author named "Gus" - had been asking me about a trip to the range. Today we finally got it done.

Gus comes over for coffee, and pulls out of a front pocket a fully loaded S&W M&P M360 - an aluminum frame 357 with tritium sight. He carries it daily, apparently, and only had vague notions about its use. To his credit, he did have a bag with "eye and ear," and a few boxes of SD ammo. Gingerly, I unloaded it, took it to the shop, and blew out the lint. It looked like snow. He doesn't use ANY pocket holster at all, just carries the d@mn thing. Which, to my surprise, actually works. Somehow it did not print on him. Anyways.

We headed to the range, where every Friday is Ladies Day - which can be both a (great) joy and a (great) danger. We headed in to the pistol side and with the first few BOOMS, he flinches so bad I wondered if he could shoot at all. As we set up I take in the other shooters. To the far right was a most handsome woman, a blonde in business attire. We exchanged smiles and surely would have talked if I didn't have my hands full with jumpy Gus. Anyways.

I let him acclimate to the noise while loading all my SA-35/BHP magazines. It worked. After a few wild shots all over the paper, he settled down (over time), started getting groups to the left, then fixed it! and started getting 7s, 8,s, 9s and Xs. Towards the end, he was ignoring the ambient noise, and wanted to push the target to 50', so the day was a success. But the best part was the entertainment.

erytyy.jpg


Two young women, typical tatted 20s, came in and set up next to us. As with any group, female shooters can vary, so I kinda kept my eye on them. Hostage-taker targets called "Susan" were trotted out, along with pink and mint-green polypistols with lasers. This was getting interesting ...

You can't NOT notice when the next lane is using a laser. In seconds, the hostage-taker took about six head shots. I blinked. Stood back. Chica No1 proceeded to take out the guy's elbow, then neatly broke his arm with a row of shots to finish the mag. I nod my head with approval.

The other target and Chica No2 go out and do something similar, neatly eviscerating the baddie and leaving poor "Susan" unharmed. At this point the two girls are howling with laughter, like a group of 12-year-old boys with a bag of far'crackers. I was smiling myself!

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Then - perhaps bored - they changed up the rules and took "Susan" out, and by howdy, "Susan" didn't suffer much. They shoulda shot her first. Shrieks of laughter now followed "Susan's" graphic demise. (Perhaps it seemed a waste to only shoot half the target. Perhaps the rules changed and "Susan" WAS the baddie. I'm not judging).

Meanwhile Gus is plugging center-mass reliably, and - I'd like to think, with aplomb - I put a few 15-rounders into our "Pinkman" target's thinker.

The girls dashed out out for more ammo and "Susan" targets - I guess - and Gus and I split.

GBA! What a fine 2A day. Thankful for young shooters of every type; may they all have fun at the range.

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AA
 
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Kentos

B&B's Dr. Doolittle.
Staff member
Those targets are not allowed at my local public range. As a matter of fact we can’t stack targets as it simulates head and center mass shots. I guess they don’t want anyone practicing to shoot two legged animals.
 

OkieStubble

Dirty Donuts are so Good.
A writer I know - an actual author named "Gus" - had been asking me about a trip to the range. Today we finally got it done.

Gus comes over for coffee, and pulls out of a front pocket a fully loaded S&W M&P M360 - an aluminum frame 357 with tritium sight. He carries it daily, apparently, and only had vague notions about its use. To his credit, he did have a bag with "eye and ear," and a few boxes of SD ammo. Gingerly, I unloaded it, took it to the shop, and blew out the lint. It looked like snow. He doesn't use ANY pocket holster at all, just carries the d@mn thing. Which, to my surprise, actually works. Somehow it did not print on him. Anyways.

We headed to the range, where every Friday is Ladies Day - which can be both a (great) joy and a (great) danger. We headed in to the pistol side and with the first few BOOMS, he flinches so bad I wondered if he could shoot at all. As we set up I take in the other shooters. To the far right was a most handsome woman, a blonde in business attire. We exchanged smiles and surely would have talked if I didn't have my hands full with jumpy Gus. Anyways.

I let him acclimate to the noise while loading all my SA-35/BHP magazines. It worked. After a few wild shots all over the paper, he settled down (over time), started getting groups to the left, then fixed it! and started getting 7s, 8,s, 9s and Xs. Towards the end, he was ignoring the ambient noise, and wanted to push the target to 50', so the day was a success. But the best part was the entertainment.

View attachment 1622681

Two young women, typical tatted 20s, came in and set up next to us. As with any group, female shooters can vary, so I kinda kept my eye on them. Hostage-taker targets called "Susan" were trotted out, along with pink and mint-green polypistols with lasers. This was getting interesting ...

You can't NOT notice when the next lane is using a laser. In seconds, the hostage-taker took about six head shots. I blinked. Stood back. Chica No1 proceeded to take out the guy's elbow, then neatly broke his arm with a row of shots to finish the mag. I nod my head with approval.

The other target and Chica No2 go out and do something similar, neatly eviscerating the baddie and leaving poor "Susan" unharmed. At this point the two girls are howling with laughter, like a group of 12-year-old boys with a bag of far'crackers. I was smiling myself!

View attachment 1622686

Then - perhaps bored - they changed up the rules and took "Susan" out, and by howdy, "Susan" didn't suffer much. They shoulda shot her first. Shrieks of laughter now followed "Susan's" graphic demise. (Perhaps it seemed a waste to only shoot half the target. Perhaps the rules changed and "Susan" WAS the baddie. I'm not judging).

Meanwhile Gus is plugging center-mass reliably, and - I'd like to think, with aplomb - I put a few 15-rounders into our "Pinkman" target's thinker.

The girls dashed out out for more ammo and "Susan" targets - I guess - and Gus and I split.

GBA! What a fine 2A day. Thankful for young shooters of every type; may they all have fun at the range.

View attachment 1622682


AA

Looking at the almost smiley face shot out on your pink man, I had images of Sgt. Briggs in the very first ‘Lethal Weapon’ installment of the famous 4 series movie franchise. :)
 

Ad Astra

The Instigator
Those targets are not allowed at my local public range. As a matter of fact we can’t stack targets as it simulates head and center mass shots. I guess they don’t want anyone practicing to shoot two legged animals.
🤔 Personally, I shoot 5-bull targets. When I have a guest that is carrying for self defense, I'll get a couple silhouettes. Also, the sheet of paper is huge! 🤣 Was needed. But in fact, I don't like them. Gloomy. Have shot round bulls since I was 12.

But I recall Colonials shooting their muskets at an image of a horned King George III - and the bullseye was his can. So. See if you can run a repro of that at your range! 🤣


AA
 
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Ad Astra

The Instigator
Looking at the almost smiley face shot out on your pink man, I had images of Sgt. Briggs in the very first ‘Lethal Weapon’ installment of the famous 4 series movie franchise. :)
Seeing the next generation at the range is what makes me smile. 😏 Crazy targets, pink guns, whatever it takes. Picturing those girls drinking wine and high-fiving while they cleaned their guns. Good.

🤔 Hopefully one of them will save me if I get robbed at the gas station...

AA
 

OkieStubble

Dirty Donuts are so Good.
Seeing the next generation at the range is what makes me smile. 😏 Crazy targets, pink guns, whatever it takes. Picturing those girls drinking wine and high-fiving while they cleaned their guns. Good.

AA

I understand perfectly. Took my 14 year old grandson to the range yesterday. I love watching his facial expressions as his young brain processes his shooting techniques in order to adjust his various target groupings. We probably shot a 1000 rounds Together thru my Ruger Single Six, 10-22 and the Browning Buckmark at various targets filled with small yellow ducks, pink flying pigs with wings, and various sizes of bullseye targets. He shot very well.

Time has flown by since I started him out on a small Daisy BB rifle at 7 years of age. So after our 2.5 hour range session and the .22’s were put away, the targets were in the trash bin and the .22 brass was swept up. As he stood there on our range lane looking at me perceiving to himself that we were getting ready to leave…. I asked him; “how old are you now grandson?” He said; “14, getting ready to be 15.”

I responded; “do you think you might be ready?” He answered; “ready for what?”

I quietly, hung up the one and only Blue Smurf Silhouette I purchased in the lane. Forwarded it out to about 7 yards and answered him;
“ ready for this.” I quickly pulled my G43X out from its AIWB and just as quickly placed 5 shots; 3 center mass and the last two centered cranial into the blue Smurf target. I lol’d at the wide eyed jaw dropped expression he gave me, that showed, ‘old man grandpa’ is still full of surprises… ;) I set the loaded G43X down on the lane bench in front of us and told him if he thinks he is ready to move up to 9mm and learn the use of a serious defense pistol, then he could pick it up and shoot the last 5 rounds in the G43X to end our session and the our day at the range.

He did well. He’s a pretty skinny little fella at 14 and the smaller 9mm muzzle blast and concussion in first person, was quite the new experience for him then just watching me in 2nd person.

I will definitely move him up to a larger 9mm from here on out. :). But I could tell easily tell by his holding of the pistol and stance and his follow thru after each time of pulling the trigger, his years of shooting .22 pistol and rifle and watching and gleaning information over the years he is definitely ready.

As he learns 9mm, I need to be tracking down a .410 shotgun and getting him up to speed in shot spreads. When I got him home, he took off to a friends house to go spend the night. His little brother is now, 7 years old. Him and I went into the back yard and spent 2 hours shooting up Dr. Pepper cans and some old plastic Dominoes with an old Daisy BB gun.

It all starts back over. :)
 

jar_

Too Fugly For Free.
My experiences watching ladies shoot has been that they take it seriously, pay attention to what happens and compensate rapidly. Seldom to I see them make the same error twice.

Plus reality was summed up by Kipling one hundred and twelve years ago:

When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
He shouts to scare the monster, who will often turn aside.
But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.
 
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