Range report -- New NEOS and other toys!
So yesterday was a mini DC-get-together here in NC! I tried to kill several birds with one stone, and it all worked out almost perfectly. (More on that later.)
We have been trying for a mini DC gathering for a bit, but the first one, only two of us showed up, so this was definitely a "the more the merrier" scene. My friend, the Texan that I was trying to find a CCW class for, came into town to visit, so we were able to arrange a private NRA Basic Pistol class for him. At the same time, ASSA9 and IronMike were able to make it up and bring some range toys with them. Plus Bunny Jr. just took home his (oops, I mean "my" if Mr. Bunny is reading this!) :redface: new Beretta NEOS, so we practiced field stripping and cleaning it the night before, and we were ready to try it out at the range. Also, Mlong623 and his wife and daughter came out to famfire a sweet Sig that they ended up taking home with them, woohoo! And lastly, another friend (ex-LEO and certified firearms fanatic) came into town as well, and asked me if I wanted him to bring his Big Boy Toys.
Heck, yeah!!!!
I can't keep track of how many firearms were at the range, and who brought what, etc. All I know is that there were a ton of cool toys in a group of very cool people, and we all got to share in the fun!
Bunny Jr. came armed with about 350 rds of .22, ready to take on the world (well, okay, all 20 zombie targets, some shoot-n-c, and a few BG/Hostage targets) at the range. He got an incredible surprise when a very generous somebody showed up with a mega box of ammo for him as well! I think it was 500 rounds? From 1pm to 6pm, he managed to go through almost 700 rounds or something! :danceban: Well, he let everyone there try out a mag or two as well, but most of it was him. Poor kids was worn out but so wired from all the fun!
Texan immediately caught the bug, :hand10: qualified, and has decided to get with the NRA program and start qualifying on his own once he gets home. He already found a range buddy. He learned and qual'd on a .22 Sig Mosquito, and a Walther P22, but quickly moved on to my Sig P239 9mm.
ASSA9 and IronMike brought some fun things too, but I will totally get the names and calibers wrong here, so I'll let them post and not completely embarrass myself. :redface: I DO know that ASSA9 brought his Glock 26, which I do have a fondness for. That is a sweet little Glock!
Both of the NRA instructors who taught myself and Bunny Jr. were there, and one brought his wife's 1911. I've never shot one before, but I LIKED IT! I can't remember anything about it other than it was lots of fun to shoot, and a .45. And also too big/heavy for an EDC for me, so I will have to wait a while before I spend the money on another gun that I can't justify as anything other than "range toy" to Mr. Bunny. So disappointing.
Ex-LEO brought some seriously Big Boy stuff, which all of us got to try out, including Bunny Jr. He had a Sig P226 and P239, both in .40 for me to try out (because I love Sig, but so far have only tried the mosquito and 239 in .357sig and 9mm, and wanted to see what a .40 was like), which I loved, but were a little big and made me appreciate my Ziggy all the more. Though Texan sort of claimed it most of the day, with Bunny Jr. taking it for a spin here and there. Oh, and he brought another .40-cal, I can't remember what it was, but it was very teeny tiny. Unfortunately, it was a freaking HAND CANNON, and no matter how hard I worked on my grip, It totally flew out of my left hand every time! I was less than thrilled with it, probably mostly because I just couldn't handle it very well. *sigh*
He also brought a Sig 556 (.223) which looked like a total bad boy, but it turned out that none of us were very thrilled with it. http://i518.photobucket.com/albums/u...lo-detail1.jpg First of all, something happened with his scope, which he'd checked the night before -- but you know Murphy's law and all...as soon as you need to use it, it will not work. I kept saying "I can't see the crosshairs" and they thought I was just being a dumb bunny, but then we realized it was broken, so he took the scope off and we had to use the Iron Sights.
Again, I'm still new at this, and I've never used IS before, so when I asked "how do you use these?" I got weird looks. Turns out none of us had used them, so suddenly I didn't feel so dumb. But my shots were so WAY OFF, there had to be something wrong! So I again asked "are you just supposed to look through the hole or something?" And got the looks again. Go ahead, laugh. I'm used to it. :duh: HOWEVER, when others tried, it turns out the front sight wasn't up! Hah! Not so dumb now! :scruntiny: Once we had BOTH sights up and all, one instructor complained "the hole is just too big for me!" which was met with hysterical giggling and perverted snickers from me and the other instructor. I think that honestly, this particular 556 was just more trouble than it was worth. And personally, while I don't have to be the expert in the room, I don't like feeling like I have the lowest IQ, either. I blame the 556 (this time).
Now the REALLY fun stuff -- ex-LEO brought a niiiiiiiiice P90 and an FN Five Seven USG. (Both is 5.7x28) http://i518.photobucket.com/albums/u...eSeven_USG.jpg He told us that this is what the Secret Service currently uses. KEWL!!!! This was definitely the highlight here! A bunch of us, once we wiped the drool, gathered around to get our turn on these babies. Even Bunny Jr. took his turn! There was the brightest green laser I've ever seen on the P90, and we shot at some soda cans with it from about 5-7 yards. Holy cow was it sweet! It felt like absolutely ZERO recoil, and boy did it go bang! It's companion handgun was also fun to shoot, but the P90 was a real thrill! http://i518.photobucket.com/albums/u...009/P90TAC.jpg
I can't remember much else because (here is the only bad part of the day) it was 96 degrees, we were outside with only partial shade (firing line was in full sun), and it was huuuuumid! So I'm pretty sure I have brain fry. We were all kind of withering in the heat and humidity, but honestly...I had so much fun I would totally do it again in a heartbeat, weather be darned!
We will do this again when it cools off in the fall, and I will have to be better about getting pictures.
