Reply #76: I developed an interest in shooting as a child when my mother told me how ... [View All]

[spin]

she had stopped an attacker back in the 1920s. She got off a bus and was walking home at night when a man who had been hiding behind a bush rushed her. She fired two shots over his head from a .22 caliber S&W Ladysmith revolver which she drew from her purse and he turned and ran.



My father was opposed to firearms and did not own any. However my mother still had the Ladysmith in a drawer in my parents bedroom. Of course I found it and played with it. There was some ammo in the box with the the gun but while I did load the weapon, I never pulled the trigger while it was loaded. If I had, nothing would have happened. My father had anticipated that I would find the weapon and he had disabled it by removing the firing pin. My mother kept the little revolver as a cherished possession as it may have saved her life.

My mother had plenty of experience with firearms growing up and she told me that my grandfather was an excellent shot. I found out after his death that my father also had shot handguns in his youth and carried one when he was an investigator for Naval Intelligence during WWII. He never explained his opposition to owning firearms to me.

After my father's death, I convinced my mother to buy me a single shot .22 caliber bolt action rifle. I practiced a lot but I was lucky if I could hit the side of a barn with it.

I joined the Air Force and shot an M16 in basic training and qualified but was a mediocre shooter. Every year I had to re-qualify with an M1 Carbine and I never shot expert but I always passed. I never was fond of shooting while I was in the service and when the yearly qualification approached I used to bitch about the requirement to my wife. She did notice that when I came home after the yearly shooting, I said that it was more fun than I thought it would be.

I left the service and moved into a trailer park. There were rumors of a prowler and my wife was nervous as I was working the night shift. I bought a cheap .38 caliber revolver from a co-worker who took my wife and me to the range to practice. I found I enjoyed shooting handguns and bought a better handgun, a Ruger .357 Blackhawk single action revolver. My wife and I went to the range often and practiced but I never really was satisfied with my skill level.

We bought a home and moved from the trailer. The neighborhood we moved into was peaceful and safe so I decided to trade the Blackhawk in on a Ruger .22 caliber target pistol. I visited the range frequently and finally began to master shooting a handgun. One advantage of a .22 caliber target pistol is that the ammo is cheap and you can learn the basics of sight alignment, trigger control, grip and stance. The recoil of a .22 round fired from a heavy handgun such as the Ruger Target Pistol is negligible.

I would recommend a Ruger target pistol for anyone interested in learning to shoot a handgun. It's not necessarily a good home defense weapon but it can be used for one in a pinch. You can learn how to shoot and the money you save in ammo can finance the purchase of a larger caliber weapon.


Ruger Mark III Competition

After a year, I decided to buy a larger caliber revolver and started accumulating a gun collection. I enjoyed the challenge of shooting a handgun and it became my hobby.

I learned how to reload ammunition and for many years I saved a lot of money making my own rounds. Reloading is a fascinating part of the hobby and you can often make ammunition which is more accurate in your firearm than factory ammo.

About 15 years ago, I decided to get a concealed weapons permit. I started practicing defensive shooting which is quite different from target shooting. However target shooting is a good foundation for the skill of defensive shooting.

I carry a firearm not out of paranoia or fear but because I have a concealed weapons permit and it makes no sense to have spent the money and invested the effort to get one and not carry. While the chances are slim that I will ever have a reason to use a firearm for self defense it is possible. If I ever found myself in a situation where I faced a violent attacker who intended to severely injure or kill me and I had left my carry weapon behind in the safe, I would feel like a fool.