My First Time Shooting

[J.R.W.]

Welcome thanks for sharing the experience with us.

[FrankMo]

I liked reading that. It reminded me of my first time with a pistol. Get yourself a .22 pistol of some type so you can get some inexpensive trigger time while you save up for a .45.

FRankMo

[geoint]

Dlombard, welcome to calguns!

I love seeing new shooters discover the joys of shooting. I just introduced my girlfriend to it in December and she can't wait to get more

I look forward to reading more about your experiences with shooting. Stay safe out there, amigo!

[desertjosh]

Very cool OP! Welcome to the party! Try a 9mm next to compare felt recoil. You might like it.

[MrOrange]

Not being sarcastic, but good share! Most guys don't want to admit having issues when they're learning something new.

Others have mentioned the peculiarity of starting off with a .40, that should be near the bottom of the list, especially a lightweight polymer one like the SD40VE. I'm guessing this was on an indoor range? That makes the noise and concussion much more pronounced. Even experienced shooters will be surprised if they've only shot outdoors before. When I'm at an indoor range, I use both earplugs and muffs. One thing about starting off as a youngster, the noise and blast are a big part of the fun, better than firecrackers! Of course, the traditional started-as-a-kid route involves a lot of BB gun shooting before getting a .22, then a lot of that before moving up to something bigger.

Interesting that you mentioned the Death Grip as being like driving a nail; that analogy is often used to describe the firm but NOT hard grip. I remember starting off with a .357, one of the hardest things for me to do was to divorce the trigger finger from the rest of the grip necessary to control the gun.

The one thing that helps more than anything is dry-firing at home. Non-gun folks will usually deride it as some yahoo playing quick-draw fantasies, but the reality is you need the reps, just like any other skill. Just getting used to handling the gun is a big part of it, but it's also the best way of mastering the trigger break. Even top competitors who fire in the neighborhood of 100,000 rounds a year do a metric ton of dry-firing as well.

Round of applause for the trigger finger discipline. Make the four rules part of your character, and you'll never hurt yourself or anyone else with a negligent discharge.

[Deadon]

Be ready for your wallet to be empty all the time. Lol have fun though!

[dlombard]

The NRA training class I took Only provides .22s for training. The .40 is mine and I decided I wanted to get familiar with my firearm through the training process rather than get comfortable with a .22 and then be surprised and overwhelmed by my .40. The good news is, while the .40 is A LOT to handle, it wasn't Too much. If it had have been, I would have had anxiety about returning to the counter with more ammo but I was raring to go, and I felt determined to "master" my machine. While I waited and watched others shoot the .22s, I thought to myself, "that's not so bad...so, uh, what am I about to shoot?" LOL. But no, this is great. I enjoyed myself and I'm really looking forward to my next instruction course in a couple of weeks.

And yes... Every single Day, I tell my wife, "you've GOT to come try this with me. This is AWESOME." I really, really want to do this with her. She's apprehensive about getting her FSC (she just hates taking written tests), but I've encouraged her to try, since it's not hard at all, and worst case scenario, she can take one of these classes, and they can issue one to her after taking the test immediately thereafter.

[Barang]

You are one attentive student and would like to celebrate and congratulate you on your first time experience with firearms.

This took me back when I first attended basic pistol training. All I remember was sight alignment, proper gripping , finger off trigger when not ready to shoot and point the muzzle in the safest direction.

We (students) were all introduced to .22lr all the way up to .45 caliber using either Glock or Sig.

Biggest mistake was buying guns without holding them long enough to get the feel of it, shooting it (renting them at the gun range), letting recommendation and what you read make the decision for you. I ended up buying a couple that ended up hating them and sold them at a lesser price. Eventually, I found that first firearm that had my name on it so to speak and it was .40 S&W. It stays with me every night on the night stand. Like many here, that first will multiply into dozens and if not careful, you'll be buying more than one safe to store aal your future firearms.

***Nothing wrong with recommendation and researching but in the end, it's what you like and prefer to own.***

Practice, practice, practice, and more practice. if no improvements after couple of months, seek professional instructor. Go out there and have fun kiddo!

[navydad2010]

I liked reading that. It reminded me of my first time with a pistol. Get yourself a .22 pistol of some type so you can get some inexpensive trigger time while you save up for a .45.

FRankMo

^^^^THIS^^^^

I shoot an average 100 .22s from my 22/45 before
practicing with center fire pistols. It allows you to reacquire
Needed skills....breathing, grip, sight picture. Welcome to the
Club and have fun. Be prepared for your wife to outshoot
You... Women are often great at this sport!

[dlombard]

I fully expect her to be amazing at this. She's Very physically adept.

FWIW, the .40 in question is one that I own. However, I'm considering a Walther P22 as a training pistol since it is not too much unlike what I have now. But since they have .22s in the training class, I may stick to those and skip to the hassle of figuring out storage, dealing with the 1-per-30 state law plus another DROS 10-day.

[Red-Osier]

Good choice on the .40 I love it.

[Wordupmybrotha]

I feel happy and sad for you dlombard. Happy that you have the means to protect yourself and your family and that you're part of the 2A community. Sad for your pocket book and the all-consuming nature of firearms... From reading your post, you seem very meticulous - a type of person who'll attempt to master a skill rather than the type of person who just goofs around with a firearm. What that translates into is, hours of watching gun videos on Youtube, reading about firearms and training. Wanting to try out different guns. First dabble in the .22 caliber, then 9mm, then .45ACP, from striker fire to hammer fired, then from semi-autos to revolvers, then from pistols to rifles, semi-auto rifles to lever guns to bolt action, then to shotguns...

Marketplace in the Calguns forum is especially dangerous for the pocketbook. Well, buying a used gun saved me money, but I've made quite a few impulse purchases.

But welcome to the forum, we're bunch of enablers here.

[Crazycomic]

Welcome aboard, now go get yourself a nice firearm.

[bsg]

welcome to the forum.