Range Day

Posted Wed Oct 22, 2008 in Hardware

Sunday afternoon I decided to go back to the range and work a bit more. I met a friend for breakfast and we talked shop and other things, much like we always do. I worked part of the morning (reading a thesis) and visited some with Young Son. He was picked up about noon, so I was released.

I drove to Walmart to buy some .22 ammunition so I could practice. When I arrived at the station, the attendant was busy with another customer. Then he left. Another clerk wandered by, asked if I needed help, then paged the original attendant, who then showed up, said “I’ll be right with you,” and promptly left. After another ten minutes, another clerk came by, and paged the original again. By this time, my patience ran out. So I left.

As I walked out the door, the original attendant held up the keys and we made eye contact. I continued walking. I’d wasted enough time. I’m a patient man, but I have my limits and they were reached.

I drove over to the new Gander Mountain store and browsed there while talking to Wife on the phone. I found what I was looking for, made my purchase, and then headed for Patriot Range. I visited with Rick for a moment, checked in, and took my place on the line. I ran my target out to 10 yards and began loading magazines.

I spent the next hour or so working through the 300 rounds of .22 LR I brought to the range. I split most of my time between weak hand and strong hand shooting, with a little freestyle in between, first strong side on the trigger and then weak side. This time I wore my computer glasses so the front sight was in focus.

Jason brought a couple of students to the line and I listened to him teaching. He’s a great teacher and anyone in Lubbock could do much worse than Jason for firearms training. He’s also a fine shot.

I swapped the slide back to 9mm and fired about 50 rounds to return to the feel of a larger caliber. The target is my results. The left side is weak hand, the right side is strong hand, the upper is two-handed weak hand operating and the lower is two-handed strong hand operating. I still have a lot of flyers, some from the startle reflex from firing in the neighboring bay; many from operator issues. But I had fun and I feel like I accomplished some good practice and I was far more relaxed at the end of the session than at the beginning.

I returned to the hotel and retrieved the thesis I’m reading, then walked next door to the Denny’s. I sat down, ordered coffee and water, and started reading. The server took my order and left me to reading. I worked my way through the document. It wasn’t a bad read — it needs a lot of editing to make it a thesis, but the work is there. The student will defend tomorrow, then take my comments and finish up the document. It will pass muster if the student does the job.

It was easy to return to my hotel room and begin the process of settling in for the evening. My work was done and any day at the range is a good day. I may have a chance to get back a couple more times before I head back to Nevada. If I do, that will be lagniappe.