Second Outing: Results

Dude! That's Cheating!

Hey everyone.

So, just went to shoot for the second time. So I thought that I’d post the results. The venue was an indoor range. I was shooting the Beretta m92fs (my favorite gun so far) and I took 25 rounds from 20ft (6.6yds) and 25 rounds from 40ft (13.3yds). I basically just wanted to set a benchmark for myself seeing as the first time that I went to shoot I was focusing more on how cool it was and less on accuracy. I also threw the targets away the first time, and didn’t take any pictures. At any rate, all that to say here are the results of the outing.

Beretta m92fs from 20ft

So here’s the deal. I loaded five rounds at a time into the magazine and focused my firing on one of the five targets. First, I fired at the one with the 1, second the one with the 2, and so on. As you can see I did okay. I mean frankly I feel I did pretty good considering it was my second time ever firing a gun. There were definitely some miscues though, you’ll notice to the left of the paper there is a stray shot that was meant for target #2, also there was one shot off the paper when I was going for #2. Other than that what you see is what you get.

So, at this point I doubled the distance from 20ft to 40 ft, here were the results.

Beretta m92fs 40ft

As you can clearly see here, things got a lot dicier for me at 40ft and I realized just how much work I have yet to do. Not that there weren’t a few decent shots here when I calmed down, focused and allowed the gun to do its thing, but there were also some rather comedic notations. Feel free to click through to the full size and you’ll be able to see some pretty wild shots. for example you can make out a hit at the bottom of #3 that was meant for #5 it is entitled “#5? wtf”. lol.

So all-in-all it was a great trip (is it ever not?) but I did learn a lot more about myself and my shooting. Anywho, it’s late and I am ready to hit the hay!! Oh BTW while I’m thinking of it, don’t you safety nuts (I know because I am one of you!) don’t get on to me!! lol. The gun in picture #2 had been fully cleared and safety checked before it was laid on the table for it’s closeup!!

As always, Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

comment below or:

danielshootsstuff@yahoo.com

And hey! Subscribe why don’t ya?!

Nerd Trivia: Bruce’s Beretta m92fs

Well, seeing as that I haven’t quite payed off the CZ yet, it looks like it’s time to kill some time with some fun (albeit extremely nerdy) trivia, about one of my favorite guns, the Beretta m92fs or m9.

Now most of the gun community is familiar with this weapon’s sterling service record as an integral part of the United States military but what you may not know is that Mr. m92 has another job other than fighting the bad guys. He’s an entertainment mogul. To date the m92 is one of the most frequently used guns in movies, television, and video games. From The Boondock Saints to Diehard, from The Matrix, to Underworld, from Modern Warfare 2 to Resident Evil, the Beretta  m92fs has become a staple of pop culture gundom. Whether you’re watching Mel Gibson catch the bad guy in Lethal Weapon, or running away from a deranged monster groaning, “STAAAARRRRS!” You’re watching it happen with a Beretta m92fs. Why is this? Is it the distinctive “floating barrel” design? Was there a military surplus? Are they simply “pretty” guns? Well, I’ll leave you to answer those questions on your own, but here’s an item of m92 trivia you may not know!

Twelve Terrorists! One Cop! The odds are against John MacClaine, and it’s just the way he likes it! Armed with his trusty Beretta m92fs he takes on the bad guys!

But wait…

Take a closer look. Did you know that the Beretta used by Bruce Willis in the film was actually custom made specifically for Bruce with a custom mag release and slide release! Check it out!

This is the actual m92fs used by Bruce in the film.

As if Bruce Willis wasn’t cool enough already.

Comments? Questions? Corrections? Wanna offer me a sponsorship deal to sell Squirt?

danielshootsstuff@yahoo.com

or simply comment below!

Oh and don’t forget to subscribe. Stay Tuned.

P.S. I should say that I came across this information while i was randomly surfing at IMFDB. It’s a pretty rad site with ALOT of excellent movie firearms information!

The Story So Far…

It started out like any great story starts out, at a all you can eat Mongolian joint. Well, okay … maybe not ANY good story. But, hell are you going to argue with me on the merits of all you can eat Mongolian cuisine? You sir, will fail. At any rate, there I was. It was myself, my wife, and two of my very close friends. It was my birthday celebration and they had started in on the inevitable, “Should we tell him?” conversation. After a few moments of pretending that they might try and keep the surprise a secret (yeah, right) they revealed to me a very amazing truth. They were taking me to a gun range after lunch! I would finally be shooting a gun. Time for a flash back.

You see, my parents were both very anti-gun when I was growing up. My father especially. He HATED the things. I mean it was literally like having Macgyver as a father…. although, I’m pretty sure my father never had a horrible gun accident when he was young, or anything like that. We never really got into the “why” of the whole thing, but all I can think is that he didn’t like it for the same reason many people don’t. To them, guns represent war and death and nothing more.

I never felt this way about guns. I mean blame it on my American upbringing if you will, but hey having heroes like Bruce Willis and Clint Eastwood, and playing a healthy dose of video games (especially anything involving blowing large amounts of zombies away… I know .. I’m a dork.) It’s hard to avoid falling at least a little bit in love with guns. It’s not only that though. I’ve also always been quite impressed with guns just looking at them from a purely engineering standpoint. The task which they perform and the precision with with they perform it are to me, awe inspiring. I’ve always been curious about how they work and what it’s like to shoot them. Also, I’ve always been curious about actual firearm tactics as well, careful to point out in movies who is exercising exceptional trigger control, (see Tom Cruise in Collateral) and who is just asking to be slide-bit (Tommy Lee Jones in just about every movie where he carries a gun … sorry Tommy Lee … but Really.)   But, flash back to Anti-gun Macgyver dad, and the closest I ever came was a Beretta M9 replica BB gun. And, lets just say the act of firing a BB gun leaves much to be desired. Basically I’ve always been a gun dork, just the kind of gun dork who never has been fortunate enough to shoot a gun.

Anyway, flashback to lunch and here I am, grinning like I’m clinically insane and keeping it pretty cool on the exterior all things considered. Of course, inside I am basically freaking out. I guess that’s what happens when you pent something up for like 20+ years and then unleash it all at once. I am finally going to be shooting a gun. so we drive down to the range and get out of the car. I take a moment to walk around the “store” part of the establishment, just kinda taking it all in. Looking at row after row of beautiful steel and polymer, I began to get even more exited.  I actually started to get a bit nervous, as we walked down the stairs into the “range” portion of the establishment.

So there we were, looking through the rows of rental guns while the range master helped another patron. Glocks, Berettas, Springfields, oh my! The range master made his way over to us and asked us to fill out some paperwork and then said, “Boys go ahead and read my white sign over there… CAREFULLY!” Before me was a white sign which read “Range Rules”. I read each line extremely carefully, taking care to be sure to visualize each step of the process in my head as not to make any mistakes as not to give me away as a newbie.

Quick aside here. I should mention that firearms safety is SUPER, SUPER, RIDICULOUSLY, INCREDIBLY important to me, to the point where I actually obsess over it. Before I ever went to the range, I had literally read 10+ gun manuals cover to cover, watched videos and seminars on the basics and read up on any potential events that might occur, jams and the like. Manuals people! I read manuals. I know … I’m a dork. Get used to it if you plan on reading this Blog. But! I am unashamed sir! I think that too many people ignore the fact that a gun wielded by someone who is careless is one of the more deadly things in the modern world. Aneeeeways.

We finished the paperwork, grabbed our targets, and stepped up to the display case holding all the rental guns. I think I finally realized just what it felt like to be a kid with a golden ticket going into Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory. But the question remained, what to shoot? In keeping with my theme of wanting to be extra safe and not make any dumb mistakes I selected a gun that I had read the manual to …. several times … ((sigh)) lol. The Springfield XD .45 ACP. I pretty much was familiar with the functionality of the weapon and knew that with the double safety there was no way that I could get confused about whether the gun was ready to fire or not, and there was nothing for me to disengage. So we walked over to the loading table and loaded our clips up. I was surprised at the size of the .45 round, and was amazed at how differently everything looked and felt than what I expected from looking at so many movies, games, pictures, magazines, etc.

So there I was, I stepped up to the firing line. Being sure to keep the weapon pointed down range and keeping my finger OFF the trigger! (Yes, it’s true I’m obsessed with trigger control, but that’s not a bad thing) I carefully loaded the magazine into the gun, and cocked the slide back. The slide stuck open and so (still pointing the gun downrange finger off the trigger!) I remembered from the manual (yes yes, I’m a nerd, I get it) that I had two options. I could either pull back on the slide firmly and let it go, or depress the slide lock toggle thus sliding the slide forward. I decided for the safety of my fingers I would go with the former.

So there I was, holding a real gun in my hands, cocked locked and ready to go. I aimed down the sight, squeezed the trigger and…

BOOM!

Look guys … I’m a man, and I am not ashamed to admit. That gun scared the shit right out of me! lol. I had a rough idea what to expect in terms of what “recoil” might feel like, but whoa, I had no idea. And from that moment on, I was absolutely hooked! I might have had more fun that day than I’ve ever had. We ended up shooting three other guns that day. Glock 19, Beretta m92fs (my fave so far!!!), and a S&W .38 Special revolver (did not care for the revolver).

So now I know, I’m in it, I’ve felt the recoil, and the shock-wave and the power, and I am not looking back! I’ll say this little side note for non-gun people (I hesitate to call them anti-gun people because not all of them are anti), for those of you with worries that shooting a gun makes one more likely to use the gun in an act of violence or other dangerous pursuit, I found the case for me to be quite the opposite. I used to throw around phrases like, “I’d like to blow his head off” and the like, but as much as I didn’t like the idea of using a firearm on another human being before, now that I’ve stood behind a firearm as it discharged and felt the raw power that the weapon is capable I do not EVER and I repeat in ANY WAY EVER want to be forced into using that weapon on another human being, and I will not carelessly throw around such phrases anymore either. Shooting a gun if anything makes one more safe and more respectful of it’s deadliness and power.

Now that I’m off my soapbox, lol. I’d just like to wrap the story off by saying that I will soon be the proud owner of a CZ 75b, I have it on layaway at a local shop and I am just about paid up on it! I CAN’T WAIT!!! I can’t wait to shoot it, and learn to clean it, and field strip it and…. (more nerdy comments here) ;p

At any rate, hopefully you reader can help to guide me in this journey of just sort of go along for the ride. I plan on documenting much of this, as I am frequently finding myself wanting to undertake some sort of project to stay busy.

Questions? Comments? Hate-mail? Have I won a lottery in Bangladesh you’d like to let me know about?

Feel free to comment below! OR

danielshootsstuff@yahoo.com