For all of you bullseye shooters out there, a day at the range is almost as good as mama’s down home fried chicken!  For those of us who are novices at the art of shooting, a day at the range may be considered as an hour or so spent with your gun nut buddy telling you every move to make.  Trying to tell you things as you wear these aircraft rated earmuffs, you cluelessly look at him as if you understand, nod your head and prays he shuts up!!!  What you don’t know is that your gun nut buddy is trying to prepare you for the day (lord forbid the day never comes!) that you actually need this esoteric skill (yes my dear…being able to safely handle and effectively discharge a firearm is a skill!!!!).  All you want to tell him is:  I already took a class…

Shooters everywhere across our spectacular country, and even worldwide, are now understanding the importance of putting in much needed practice with our personal protection firearms.  As a kid I can remember…even on Feasel’s Day (Don’t act like you have never celebrated Feasel’s Day!!!), my granddad would pile us up in the station wagon and take us all to the local gun range.   So while most of you were out looking for Feasel’s, I was out at the range putting in practice with my granddad’s Ruger P89.  But seriously though guys….practice makes perfect (or very close).  Even with our personal protection firearms!  Having a firearm and not knowing how to operate it effectively, in essence makes that firearm an expensive paperweight!  The best firearm in the world is of no use without proper training.  If you deem it important enough to purchase the firearm, please people, take the same approach when it comes to learning how to operate it…..and then PRACTICE those skills.  You can’t just stop at:  I already took a class…

Practice until the actions of safely handling the firearm becomes part of your muscle memory.  Practice loading/unloading drills (dummy rounds only).  Practice rapidly clearing stoppages and malfunctions  (dummy rounds only).  Practice field stripping and cleaning.  Practice on how to quickly draw, aim and fire the firearm (DUMMY ROUNDS ONLY).  Practice….. Wait..wait a minute.  I think I should address this before any critics begin to scream at us.  When I say practice using dummy rounds, that is for doing these drills inside of your home (or some area of the sort not at the range).  If you are doing live fire drills with any of these practice suggestions that we offer, please do so under competent observation inside of approved facilities.  Or…maybe I should just stop here because I already know…you know how to do these with any firearm, even the new model that just came out that you had on back order because guess what?…?… You already took a class.

My fifth grade teacher had a saying:  “A word to the wise is sufficient.”  So in echo of those words, the Creative Department at PSA suggests that if you aren’t familiar with firearm safety, please do us all a favor:  sick out of work, find a reputable, knowledgeable, proficient firearms instructor and BEG him/her to teach you how to safely handle and operate that firearm you’ve been riding around with for the last 3 and a half months!!!  No joking on that one guys.  SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT.  Period.  Point blank.  And once you get done with the class (that you already took), PRACTICE!!!!!!  Different firearms have different capabilities, features…dare I say: limitations.

***When handling firearms for practice on the range please be sure to observe all safe handling rules, range rules, and PLEASE use common sense! 

We want to thank you guys for stopping by our lane at the shooting range!!!  Please follow for alerts of our next post.  And don’t forget…contact us with any topics you’d like to see posted!!!

And as always…..remember to watch your six and stay low.