Aside from eating myself full and silly, shooting is one of my favorite things to do in life. It has stress relief, concentration and discipline all rolled up into one. Hours of rounds downrange with the stench of powder in the air and the indentations of brass casings under my feet as I take a step will leave me slightly tired, satisfied and relieved. I can shoot for hours, and people like Chad and Dan will remember those momentous Saturdays in Pascagoula, coming out just before lunch time and firing almost continuously until the sun is illuminating another part of the world.
Because of goals in my life I have decided upon, I have been ramping up my time in shooting. I let it slide a little over the years, but I’ve come back up. Not really trying to beat the frequency that I did while I was on the Cole…because the biggest priority during my time on the Cole when it came to shooting was just to blow off some steam.
It’s different now.
I’ve been challenging myself in wide varieties and have been fortunate to have a few people help me out in various ways. I’m not saying I’ve flown to Blackwater and was buried in ten million brass casings. I don’t have the time or money for something like that. I know that even in the littlest way, having another person can help you out…that person could just be a fellow buddy in the lane next to you on the range, watching you for about five minutes and giving his or her input. From there, you evaluate and adjust what you need to get better at.
In this way I’ve been “passing on” over to Christine. I’ve been doing the same before and she has come a long way from that first day in 2001 where she leveled five rounds out of a Glock 17 into a bullseye from 15 yards away…her first time to shoot a gun. This year has been a big year in that regard, and from the comments I’ve gotten from friends who have seen her shoot…I’m satisfied with the little instruction I’ve given her. Yes, just a little instruction.
This week it was time for her to get pushed. One of my friends and instructors did a course of fire which Christine just couldn’t get a full grasp on. She was in essence striking a human-sized target, but my instructor wanted more. Some of that is also attributed to a bad day of shooting. Those that have shot quite a bit know that every now and then you come across a day where it seems nothing productive is happening. Despite extreme adjustments that you may make, you cannot produce the intended results consistently, if at all.
Of course, there was later an opportunity for Christine to redeem herself. That opportunity was at Area 51. Area 51 has it where the targets can be a litle bit harder. The default targets in Area 51 are beer bottles that are thrown into the river. So you have the current moving the bottles downstream, moving targets…that, and the partially submerged bottles are now even smaller. You have roughly a 1.5″ x 1.5″ x 5″ bobbing target floating away. Not as hard as it seems, not too easy either…the closest the target is to you is about 20 or so yards, and you can practice your pistol artillery skills as it drifts off over 300 yards away.
Those of you that don’t remember, Area 51 is a location from one of my coworkers and I had briefly blogged about it some time ago (I was going over my website to see if I could find the post…it seems that post was older than the blog itself, MySpacers, Blogger and Xanga users may be able to find it).
Well, Christine’s tracking skills were quickly met up to task as she blasted away with various bottles. She might probably have PETA screaming at her, but it’s not as bad as the screaming I’ll get from PETA…AND Rambo!
And my suspicions are correct, Christine is a rifleman (okay, you PC wusses…a riflewoman, happy?…). Just like several months ago where she picked up my rifle and just started laying targets of opportunity to waste…she did the same here.
My friends and coworkers aren’t big fans of heavy kicking, larger caliber weapons like…oh, the M14/M1A rifle. Christine got to use their .22 rifles, though she was enjoying a .44 Magnum revolver as well. She did well with both the AR and the M1A, lots of times shooting while standing…well, time wore on and the M1A (with its extended LOP rubber buttpad) started making her a little tired. The year’s not even halfway through!
Christine going after the “shiny thing” about 200-250 yards away with my AR.
Looking almost like a screenshot from a video game, Christine buries another beer bottle with the M1A…
Then takes a breather and kneels for an easy kill on yet another bottle.
I know lots of small people on the ship complain about the size and weight of the M14 rifle, and most of the time I think they’re being lazy. Christine is my “Tactical Truth” test subject, firing moving targets that are smaller and further away than the M14 qualifications on the ship.
Well, I’ve already had a lengthy post as it is…maybe Christine will do her own movie review. But for those like me that enjoyed the show “Get Smart” in a previous phase in their life, you will probably enjoy the movie. The movie was good laughs, especially about obtaining the spider thread for the crossbow bolts…if you saw the movie, you know! It was good, lots of laughs, lots of crazy action and just when you thought the movie was over, it isn’t and you’re glad it isn’t.
Anyways, the last part of the movie involved scenes at some Disney music hall. I’m sure that thing exists in real life…but I don’t know, that is a very demented looking building to have the name “Disney” attached to it! Maybe it’s just me.
And speaking of movies, tickets for the movie theater showing of Glenn’s live Unelectable ‘08 Dallas broadcast has been on sale since Friday. For roughly $20, you can see the Dallas live show at a movie theater near you. I’ve went and checked where most of my friends are, and many of them have these theaters nearby. Some of my friends have texted me also seeing Glenn’s commercial in the theaters while they’re waiting for their movie to begin. If you’re lucky, you MIGHT even see me as the camera will probably pan towards me while I’m most likely doing something I would not want broadcasted throughout the nation, lol. Go check it out if you’re interested!
Fellow Dallasites are still welcome to actually be part of the live show!