The Importance of Range Time

The Importance of Range Time – I hope that if you have read anything of what I have posted in the last few years, one that you have taken to heart is training, and when I say things like that, I am telling you almost as much as I am telling myself. It is hard to get out there and shoot, I know, between work, bad weather, ammo cost, time, kids, spouse, chores, and trying to relax before the work week…it seems near impossible. However, it is a necessity. I went out this weekend because I deliberately planned to go. I wanted to test some reloads, go shooting with a buddy and take advantage of a 70-degree sunny day. Unfortunately, every other person who had a firearm decided they too wanted to participate…which can be frustrating. Let me explain. The range I went to is pretty good, rifle range out to 200 yards, target stands provided, and good Range Safety Officers but is heavily controlled, and for good reason. I love when people are getting into shooting for the first time, but holy cow there are a lot of things people have to learn, and it can be daunting. For example, there was one individual that decided he wanted to show off his AK style rifle to his lady friend, which if you know what you are doing and are getting her on board, go for it. However, he didn’t, and he put a hole in the roof of the building…. he was promptly ejected. This was something that had he asked for help, he could have prevented. I watched how two young gents brought out their brand new ARs to go shoot, and were all over the place, and couldn’t get it to group at all, not even hitting paper…. because they didn’t zero their iron sites, and thought it was like Call of Duty…after some guidance and a hundred dollars in ammo later they were out to 100 yards reliably hitting the bullseye.

On the pistol range, the one thing I noticed was that most of these people didn’t have a holster.

Now to be fair the range said you can’t draw and fire, which I understand from a liability standpoint, but still think its dumb. However, the lion share of the folks there brought their guns in everything from an army green duffle bag (yes, they were loose inside), to the factory case and even one Walmart sack. I got placed next to the Walmart sack guy, and I had to ask the question. How do you expect to carry that firearm if you need to use your hands, like when he had to post the target up. His answer was just tuck it in his waistband. Now he is using a Glock, and if you know anything about them, they don’t have an external safety, so when I asked if he was going to carry it loaded like that, he said “hell yeah, why not?”. I asked him if he had kids or planned to, as he was indicating he carried appendix carry…. he looked at me weird….and I proceeded to explain how his shirt could get into the trigger well and end his thoughts of a family quickly…. now I had his attention, funny how that got him. I showed him my Original holster, and how I carry and why I went with JM4, I even took him to the website. He had never had anyone do that for him or took an interest. We are now texting as acquaintances, and he has hit me up a few times asking about gun related topics, from ammo to latest gee wiz thing. Did it take away from my range time, absolutely, but in the end, we have one more person that hopefully won’t end up on CNN as an anti-gun segment for blowing off his crown jewels, and I have instilled that mentorship to him and that will grow to others. Author: Ian Bolser