Thursday, November 1, 2007

mental health day

I have the day off today (a trade-off, since I have to work all day on Saturday), Mike is home sick from work, and my friend Nicole wants to go to the range. Last night, she saw my target from shooting the 9mm, was a little bit jealous and wanted to give it a try herself. So I'm packing up my gear and heading out. (right after I eat this bowl of chili)

I'm also going to try shooting the Ruger Mark II at 50 feet, to see how badly I'd embarrass myself if I joined the range's Tuesday night .22 league.

I have noticed a bit of progress in shooting. I no longer have to double plug. I'm kind of proud of that.

7 comments:

Less said...

Remember, the target used for 50' is a bit bigger than what you use for 21'. BTW, I dug this up for you: The Army Pistol Marksmanship Training Manual!

http://www.bullseyepistol.com/amucover.htm

It gets really into it and may seem a bit of information overload at first, but it starts to makes sense after a few reads. All this stuff seems pretty intimidating at first. Personally, I spent a long time just getting over my fear of the unknown. I had to keep reminding myself that in the end it is just shooting: Inhale, frontsight, press, exhale, repeat as necessary!

Anonymous said...

I shot on Tuesday and put it out to 25 yards to see how I could do.

Let me say this about my $30 red dot site.

7 yards it is lethal (nothing but bullseye).

15 yards it is pretty accurate.

25 yards it is useless. The dot covers the entire center making it impossible to discern where I'm shooting.

But I'm planning on shooting longer a little more. You've inspired me to at least try.

Take pictures.

Mulliga said...

"Double plug"? Do you mean using earmuffs along with earplugs? I tend to use both, just because you can never be too careful when it comes to your ears.

breda said...

Thank you, Less, I'll bookmark it!

Robb - yay! Let's both take photos.

Mulliga - yes, I only wear the earmuffs now. But I keep the plugs handy, just in case.

Anonymous said...

Back in my days in the Marine Corps, I worked on a variety of jet powered aircraft. The Cobra Helicopter had two engines, small as they were they were still jet turbines and loud.

Quite often the oil pressure sending unit would rattle loose. You'd not know it until the bird was turning so often you'd be called out to fix it before takeoff. The best way to get to it in a pinch was to open a small access panel and reach in as far as you could to try to find it. This required that you shove your head in the intake of the right engine.

It took once or twice of my earmuffs (we called them cranials) to slightly twist and come off my ears to make me appreciate ear plugs as a backup.

The range in no different. Well, there is a considerably smaller chance of dying by rotor blade, but the concept is the same.

I sweat when I shoot and rubbing my forehead with my arm sometimes hits my hat which dislodges my earmuffs. With my luck, that is the precise second the dude with the .44 magnum lights one off.

I've lost enough of my hearing via jet turbines to want to take extra precautions. YMMV.

Anonymous said...

robb, HAH?

I spent 1972 in a glass tempering plant, wearing plugs, a skullcap over that (at 105F) and the "cranials" wrapped around a hard hat. After a week of nights at an ambient 135 dB, working in front of a stack of Marshalls on the weekend was like meditation.

When a .44 Mag goes off in an indoor range, the concussion will flinch your hand even if you're wearing ANR's and don't hear it.

Anonymous said...

It's actually a pretty good idea to wear both plugs and muffs. You'll get better protection with both then with either one used alone.

Remember, hearing loss is cumulative and permanent. Every little bit of damage now adds up later in life.

The plugs underneath the muffs are also a nice back-up. If you shoot long enough eventually there will be a time where you take off your muffs too early because you think everyone is done and someone will fire unexpecdently. If you keep the plugs in until your off the range, at least you'll have some protection when that happens.