Glocks

When I was a kid staying with my Grandparents in Tennessee my Grandpa and I would go out sometimes and shoot .22 rifles at tin cans. Also, one time when I was probably eight my uncle let me shoot his 9mm pistol.

Other than that I've never really done much shooting.

I've kinda wanted to do a little pistol shooting for a while so last weekend I found a local firing range that lets you rent guns to shoot and gave it a spin.

It's a bit surreal. You walk in, show them your ID, sign a form saying you aren't high or drunk and they slide you a Glock and a box of ammo.

Here's what they handed me

Considering I've never really shot a pistol I think I did okay.

There are 40 rounds in the target below. Twenty shots from about 8 yards and twenty shots from 15 yards.

These were the last of the box of 50 that I shot and my arm was surprisingly tired. I didn't really think it would be a workout.

If you have never shot a pistol (or I suppose a gun of any sort), it's a wild experience. You squeeze the trigger slowly and nothing happens for a while as it's moving back.

Then, with a suddenness that's hard to describe, you are holding a controlled explosion.

It's over so fast you don't have time to react to it till a half second after the bullet has hit the target. It feels very different than it looks in movies.

No. I'm not going to turn into a "gun nut", but it was a fun experience. A little pricy though. Gun rental was $15 for two guns (I also shot the smaller Glock 26 as well as the 9mm Glock 17 pictured above.

Range fee was $10, and the box of 50 shots of ammo was another $10. About $40. I don't know if that feels expensive or cheap. But it was certainly worth it for the experience.