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Based upon the great advice given here, as a 30 year self-taught handgun shooter, I finally swallowed my pride and took the beginner handgun class today at Oak Tree in Newhall.
Best advice I have ever been given. I refined my stance, changed my trigger grip, revised my sight picture and refined my breathing. My handgun shooting went from really pretty awful to halfway decent in one day. The two hours of basics of safety were pretty boring as I have been a shooter for about 40 years and am a pretty safe shooter and very aware of shooters around me as well. The instruction was excellent, Brian Dillon, the instructor there is great, very funny, knowledgeable and fun.
Revelations
1. I have never shot a Glock in my life. I have held them and examined them at gun stores but all of you Glockheads are right, the grip angle that seems to be "way off" in handling actually isn't bad when shooting. I was dinging half size torsos (12 x 12 basically) at 50 and 75 yards all day with the Glocks that we shot. I liked the trigger a lot more than I thought I would too.
2. Fell in love with the bigger wheelguns. We shot S&W and Rugers with 6 and 10" barrels in 357 and 45LC. Those were, surprisingly, the most fun guns of the day (we each shot eight different handguns in different calibers). I have always liked revolvers when I have shot them but when it came down to actually buying my handguns, I bought all semi-autos. After this, I think a larger caliber 10" wheelgun is in my future, talk about fun!
3. For all of the raves about SIGs? I also (sort of) shot my first SIG, a .45 ACP, not sure of the model. It jammed twice, the ergonomics were awful too. I know there are a ton of SIG fans here but for my first exposure to a SIG, it was not good. The gun kept jamming so they took it off of the firing line. Disappointing.
4. Shot my first Kimber 1911. I liked it, although I like my SA 1911-A1 better.
5. My first trip to Oak Tree also. If you are local, you must check it out, that place is just a shooting paradise. The really have everything short of long range rifle. If you like clays or handgun though, this is the place, just a clean, well run and beautiful facility. Makes Angeles look like a prison in comparison. I will definitely be coming back here, what a great facility and only an hour away for me.
6. There gun store just cranks. I was waiting for my class to begin and hung in the store for about an hour. Wow, do they sell a lot of guns. They have pretty good inventory too. Prices were just so so but you can price match and they did seem willing to deal a bit.
Some random observations from an experienced shooter but inexperienced handgunner. So now that I have done the beginning handgun class, what's next for me? What do you recommend? I am doing Appleseed with my son in August so I think the rifle education is covered. I want to get better with my handgun through and to be able to knock down those plates in a row type of shooting. They mentioned a three gun class, that sounds like a LOT of fun to me.
Best advice I have ever been given. I refined my stance, changed my trigger grip, revised my sight picture and refined my breathing. My handgun shooting went from really pretty awful to halfway decent in one day. The two hours of basics of safety were pretty boring as I have been a shooter for about 40 years and am a pretty safe shooter and very aware of shooters around me as well. The instruction was excellent, Brian Dillon, the instructor there is great, very funny, knowledgeable and fun.
Revelations
1. I have never shot a Glock in my life. I have held them and examined them at gun stores but all of you Glockheads are right, the grip angle that seems to be "way off" in handling actually isn't bad when shooting. I was dinging half size torsos (12 x 12 basically) at 50 and 75 yards all day with the Glocks that we shot. I liked the trigger a lot more than I thought I would too.
2. Fell in love with the bigger wheelguns. We shot S&W and Rugers with 6 and 10" barrels in 357 and 45LC. Those were, surprisingly, the most fun guns of the day (we each shot eight different handguns in different calibers). I have always liked revolvers when I have shot them but when it came down to actually buying my handguns, I bought all semi-autos. After this, I think a larger caliber 10" wheelgun is in my future, talk about fun!
3. For all of the raves about SIGs? I also (sort of) shot my first SIG, a .45 ACP, not sure of the model. It jammed twice, the ergonomics were awful too. I know there are a ton of SIG fans here but for my first exposure to a SIG, it was not good. The gun kept jamming so they took it off of the firing line. Disappointing.
4. Shot my first Kimber 1911. I liked it, although I like my SA 1911-A1 better.
5. My first trip to Oak Tree also. If you are local, you must check it out, that place is just a shooting paradise. The really have everything short of long range rifle. If you like clays or handgun though, this is the place, just a clean, well run and beautiful facility. Makes Angeles look like a prison in comparison. I will definitely be coming back here, what a great facility and only an hour away for me.
6. There gun store just cranks. I was waiting for my class to begin and hung in the store for about an hour. Wow, do they sell a lot of guns. They have pretty good inventory too. Prices were just so so but you can price match and they did seem willing to deal a bit.
Some random observations from an experienced shooter but inexperienced handgunner. So now that I have done the beginning handgun class, what's next for me? What do you recommend? I am doing Appleseed with my son in August so I think the rifle education is covered. I want to get better with my handgun through and to be able to knock down those plates in a row type of shooting. They mentioned a three gun class, that sounds like a LOT of fun to me.
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