There are several “I finally”s in this, but the one that relates to the title is, “I have finally shot a gun that makes a ‘pew pew’ noise!”
At the moment, there is no shooting range in Rapid City. The old one closed after I had only been there once. The new one is not yet open. There is a place to go shooting, although it is not a range. It’s basically a forest service road with a ridgeline beside it.
I finally went! I’m not entirely comfortable just going somewhere, pulling over, and shooting into the trees. I didn’t want to go there the first time by myself (going with The Laird doesn’t count because he had not been there, either). The Laird arranged it with some friends from the dance studio (it’s South Dakota, even my florist has a gun). What a fun afternoon. I hadn’t realized that I needed some trigger therapy.
I finally shot my Christmas present. That would be “shot with” not “shot at”. I’m so glad that we went with an expert (at least compared to myself). The “gas break” (brake?) was not secure. It moved and was causing jams. I don’t even know what a gas brake (break?) is, but now I know where it is and how it should be attached.
I finally have dance posture – and it’s ruined my rifle posture. Another good reason to have someone along who knows what he’s doing. My elbows are too out and my stance is too upright. Elbows in, lean forward into the recoil. Standing properly did wonders for my accuracy – especially in as-fast-as-possible mode. I don’t even want to know what it costs to rip through a mag that fast, but wow is it fun! Hitting a plastic jug six times with a 30-round magazine is OK shooting, right? Hitting a plastic jug six times in 30 seconds sounds better.
I finally got it back together. For those who don’t know, the first step in breaking an AR apart is to remove the guts from the barrel. I’m pretty sure the “guts” are lower receiver, but I wouldn’t bet much on that. Two pieces come out: The charging handle and the chamber (probably not the right word – the place where the explosion takes place that needs to be cleaned after firing lots of ammo). This is quite simple. It is one of the things that he took apart while finding the gas brake (pretty sure it’s not “break”) issue. I didn’t pay much attention to putting it back together. After cleaning it, that proved to be more challenging than expected. There is only one way that it can possibly go together and work. However, the pieces would not fit together in that way. After much trial and error, I noticed things that stuck out (which also probably have words for them that I do not know; “flange” is wrong). By carefully manipulating those things, the puzzle pieces (all three of them) fit together easily.
I finally shot an AK-47. Despite being the most common rifle in the world, I had never even seen one. There was recoil. This is when I got the stance tip. In my ever-so-appropriate dance stance, it knocked the barrel into the air. Despite having iron sights, I managed to do OK. With one shot, you would probably have had good odds down-range. However, with a full mag and semi-auto, down range is not a place you’d want to be, even with recoil error.
And, finally, I finally shot a gun that goes “pew pew”. It was a .22 rifle with a suppressor. It’s so quiet that “ears” are not necessary (although with The Laird randomly firing his .45, it’s best to leave them on). The shot, itself, is more of a “pwoof” than a “pew”, but the sound of the bullet travelling is definitely a “pew”. One might think that the weight of a suppressor on the end of a .22 rifle would pull the barrel down. One might be right if the suppressor were not made of titanium. Being a .22, there is hardly any recoil. I was quite sad when the trigger stopped pulling. What a fun gun! I wonder if that was a “carbine”. It had a short barrel, but was definitely not a pistol.
This was so easy – and the few people we talked to so nice – that I should have done it much earlier. I will definitely being doing it much more often. With my own three guns (9mm, .45, and 5.56), it’s going to be a bit pricey, though. Off to the Intertubes to buy 3,000 rounds of ammo…
Sorry that there is no picture. I took my phone, but got so distracted by shooting bullets that I forgot to shoot pictures.
Marked Up 