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New shooter report

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 7:46 pm
by Greg
ME! Well more or less. I've only been shooting a total of 3 times before, each time on private land with the watchful eyes of either my father or father-in-law bearing down on me.

Today was the occasion of several firsts. First time shooting by myself. First time at an actual range. First time shooting with my own gun.

I took myself, my 617 and some other odds and ends to The Bullet Hole in Belleville (NJ). Very convenient for me, 20 minute drive- I used to live only a few miles away, and I've bought tires at a tire shop down the street (Washington Ave) from the range. Looks like a hole in the wall (and it is) but they have a well-ventilated 10 port public range, and they allow rifles. More on that later.

I have today off (but I work tomorrow, don't ask) so I expected to have the place to myself. Nope. There were 3 other people while I was there. The first guy had a bloody battle rifle. 7.62N. I was curious, and while he was setting up I looked over and smiled, but he wasn't feeling social. It was a bit unpleasant in the fairly small enclosed space when he fired, but I got used to it. The next guy wanted some help with a malfunctioning Glock- that's all I overheard. The third guy had a 9mm Glock. He was at the port next to mine, and I swear half his empties landed in my hair. I know it was a 9mm, I had plenty of his brass to look at. :) Fortunately he got going just as I was finishing up.

I burned through 300 rounds of Federal bulk. Had plenty of ammo left, but I was getting tired. I fired 200 of those DA, and my hand was getting unhappy. My DS-10 and loading tray were great- worked well, definitely worth the money. The RO thought they were cool too, especially the loading tray.

I had one huge shit-eating grin on my face the whole ride home. I even had a smile for the guy who tried to ram me on 46. Now it's time to clean.

Re: New shooter report

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 7:56 pm
by drice
Excellent. Welcome to the [strike]cult[/strike], errr, [strike]the hole into which all your spare money falls, errr,[/strike] the club!

Re: New shooter report

Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 5:09 am
by Combat Controller
Super news, glad you had such a good first experience!

Re: New shooter report

Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 5:33 am
by Dub_James
Excellent report. My first time was with my wife (don't get any ideas). Shot the .22mag and my recently purchased S&W Sigma. A good day all round. Have to get back again soon.

Here's to many more!

CORRECTION: My first time here in the U.S. Actual first time was with a friend back in Ireland (again, don't get any ideas)

Re: New shooter report

Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:23 am
by Denis
Splendid! Happy shooting...

Re: New shooter report

Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 8:46 pm
by Greg
Update: I had the day off, so I went again today. Fired another 400 rounds, more Federal bulk. Here is a picture of one of my targets, also shown are the gun and ammo used. The circles are aiming points I drew on with a Sharpie (very high-tech, I am) and are just a tiny bit over 2" in diameter. Each of those "groups" is 50 shots fired offhand. Cheap 7" plastic ruler added for scale. These were at 20'. The 20 yard targets don't look as nice. :)

Re: New shooter report

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 2:48 am
by cu74
Congratulations. That twenty-foot target shows some pretty nice shooting. I'm told that practice, and more practice, will turn a twenty-yard target into the same....... 8-)

Re: New shooter report

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 3:00 am
by mekender
DS-10 and loading tray?

explain pls?

Re: New shooter report

Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:04 pm
by Greg
mekender wrote:DS-10 and loading tray?

explain pls?
Sure!

When I went looking online for speedloaders for the 10-shot 617 I found a whole lotta nuthin.
Then I found something interesting on the old Internet.

Someone else who owns a 10-shot 617 had the same problem. Except he's an engineer, so he made his own. He also came up with the idea of a loading tray, it's a flat square of plastic with patterns of holes drilled into it, that line up with the speed loader (and also the chambers in your cylinder).

Place cartridges nose-down into the holes in the loading tray, "pick them up" with the speedloader, and load your shooting iron. Maybe his official name for the device is 'DS-10Speed'... anyway, http://groups.msn.com/Speedloader is the link where you can look for yourself.

I can say they work, I've seen some positive word of mouth online, people say the fellow who makes them is a good guy and in my limited interaction with him I'd tend to agree. Worth a look if you own a 617.

Re: New shooter report

Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 1:30 am
by Rumpshot
I don't shoot one, but if I did, these look like the cat's pajamas.