Hey there. Remember me? Cool. Whatcha been up to? Me? Mostly this…

and a whole lot of this…

Today my friend Adam and I decided to do something neither of us has ever done. Shoot a real gun. Handguns were the choice and we went down to a local shooting range and did just that. It was quite an interesting experience to say the least.

We started with a 9mm and sent the target 20 feet away.We each took 10 shots and here is what our target looked like after.

Not bad for 2 guys who’ve never actually held a real weapon in our hands before. I took aim at the chest, plus a couple head shots and Adam went for the head with a couple at the chest.

We did some more shooting with a different target that was twice as far, but I didn’t take a picture. The results weren’t as accurate, but still pretty good.

Then we decided to up the caliber of what we were shooting to a .45 glock. Like the rappers always talk about, and what most police officers seem to have. The rounds were noticeably larger and so was the pop when you squeezed the trigger.

See the target way far away(40 feet)? That’s the “bad guy” target. After my first set of shots with the new more powerful weapon, the bad guy looked like this…

Sorry bad guy, I win. Turns out, I’m a decent shot.

Overall, I had a good time and enjoyed the experience. I would certainly do it again, perhaps with rifles next time to try out some of the things I saw in the range shop. I would also like to try the .357 magnum as well just to know what that feels like.

What I walked away from this was with a completely new respect for the danger and power of these things. The recoil on what we fired was strong, but not overpowering. A proper grip gave me complete control and not like what you see in movies and television, those grips would make you hurt yourself and certainly miss your target. The most shocking part of the experience was the sound. You can see I was wearing ear protection, but the sound was still loud. The lane next to us had one of those magnums and I felt each of those shots in my bones even though I was 6 feet away.

The power of these things is impressive. Every shot you see the explosion and feel the heat off each casing as it pops away. I can’t see myself ever owning something like this, be it for recreation or protection. I’ll just use the local range. I did not get a feeling of empowerment as I fired round after round at the targets. I felt a little more afraid of the power if anything else. It was fear born from respect of what that thing in my hands is capable of.

Happy Veteran’s Day people. If you served or are family of someone who served, I offer a heartfelt thank you for all you have done for our country.

Picture belongs to Food Network. I don’t bake that well!