I just wanted to take a few minutes to tell my story as a shooter. My father was not a shooter or a hunter but our family back in Texas is very much into it, more on that later. He got me involved in Scouting and that was where I fired my first shot in a bolt action single shot .22 short rifle at Camp Mack in Lancaster PA. I was hitting the 10 ring and fell in love with the feeling of putting my shots exactly where I wanted them. I was very proud of getting Rifle and Shotgun merit badge and being recognized as the best shot in camp. I am a firm believer in early success paving the way for whatever you undertake in life.
I was on my way and soon there after I was spending time with my cousin Ed in Texas where I got my first opportunity to fire some "real" guns including .243, .270 and .308 bolt action hunting rifles, the famous M1 Garand, the very first civilian AR-15 model and even a real sketchy KG99 9mm. I was in heaven. I was only 13 but he treated me like an adult and saw that I had a healthy respect for firearms and safety. A year later I was visiting my other cousin Craig in Iowa and had the chance to shoot my first real handgun, a stainless steel Smith and Wesson Model 29 .44 magnum with a 6 inch barrel. It was awesome and I still find myself drooling over them in the case at my local shop.
When I turned 21, the floodgates opened and I started shooting a lot with my buddy JV who had also just turned 21. We went shooting every chance we had and started buying up guns at a rapid pace. My first purchase was a Tangfolio TA99 that was basically a CZ-75 clone in 9mm. It reminded me a little of Don Johnson's Bren Ten from Miami Vice (more on that later) but had some chronic ejection port issues which led me to trade it in for a used nickel plated Taurus PT99 9mm which was beautiful and shot like a dream. I later traded that for a Beretta 92FS 9mm for no reason other than I wanted a new gun and a new Beretta at that ;)
We would hit up Target World in Chalfont and the crazy wild west show that was the free outdoor range at French Creek State Park (too many stories from that place). There JV and I would shoot everything. I ended up getting a nice cheap (at the time 75 bucks!) Chinese SKS and a real sweet Beretta 1201FP autoloading 12 gauge that (believe it or not) was awesome for knocking down clays with. I call this time the golden age. It was before the Brady Bill bullshit and ammo was cheap and plentiful. I took a defensive pistol shooting course from the Personal Protection Institute that was instructed by none other than Walt Rauch. I learned a LOT from that class. That in combination with a great book by Mas Ayoob called Stressfire and I was starting to get a real understanding on the tactics required for realistic defense.
So in 95 I got married and was so in debt that I had to sell off all my guns (worst regret of my life) and didn't return fully to the world of shooting until this past year. I have a lot of catching up to do but have come a long way in a short time. I joined a local club and shoot a few days a week consistently. I have been reading a lot and watching some great DVD's from Panteao and Magpul that have really improved my weapons manipulation skills and overall technique. I plan on taking more training classes and expect to move up the ranks in IDPA and 3 gun. Right now I only have 3 guns, a Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm, Daniel Defense M4V5 and a Mossberg 590A1 12GA and I love them all. I hope to add a long range rifle and a 1911 sometime soon. I don't really plan on getting into the whole online review thing too much. Sootch and NutNFancy have that angle covered. I just want to share my thoughts and experiences and hopefully expose more people to the world of shooting and defensive tactics.
So keep checking in, I hope to have a new update every day and I hope to see you at the range!
No comments:
Post a Comment