my first gungungungungungungungungun - dillon precision · when i bought my first gun i knew next...

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By Serena Wood Buying your first gun is like having your first kiss;

it is a moment that will never be forgotten. No mat-ter how many other guns we buy in our lifetime,nothing will replace the memory of the first time weplunk down our hard-earned cash and walk out ofthe store with the gun we’ve been dreaming about.

When I bought my first gun I knew next to noth-ing about firearms. Most of my friends and familymembers weren’t “gun people” so I’d had very littleexposure to guns. I had nevereven fired a handgun, but forsome inexplicable reason I’dbeen wanting one since I was ateenager. I’d gone shooting withfriends and fired .22 LR and .223caliber rifles, but that was theextent of my experience. As my21st birthday drew closer, Ibecame more and more excitedat the prospect of owning ahandgun. Part of it was the desireto be able to protect myself, butmostly I just wanted to learn howto shoot because it seemed fun. Iwas a bit nervous because I had-n’t been raised in a pro-gun envi-ronment and a bit of that wassticking with me, but that was aminor obstacle, which I intendedto quickly overcome.

As the day that I could legally purchase a hand-gun drew nearer I began to prepare. About twoweeks before my birthday I found a small gun storejust outside of town and stopped by to see whatthey had. To be honest, I had no idea what I waslooking for, although it seemed prudent to start witha small caliber so that I had something easy to learnon that wouldn’t intimidate me. I had no idea whatbrands I should consider or avoid, or what featuresmight be best for a novice. The gun store employeewas very knowledgeable and helpful; I told him thatI had no idea what to get but I wanted something ina small caliber. He showed me a few revolvers,which didn’t appeal to me much at the time, thenshowed me a few girly looking guns that would fitin the palm of my hand.

I realized I wanted something larger and hepointed me towards the used Ruger 22/45 targetpistols on consignment. Now, this is more like it! Ithought. A semi-automatic, built more for accuracythan concealment, that took cheap and easy-to-find.22 LR ammunition, sounded like a good first gunfor me. The model I chose featured a stainless finishand a 5-1/2 inch bull barrel. All the controls wereeasy to operate, and I could easily reach the safetyand the magazine release while holding the gun.Being right-handed helped here because both ofthose are on the left side of the gun.

The next step was to complete my homeworkbefore I could actually buy the gun. The gun storeemployee informed me that I would need a HandgunSafety Certificate issued by an authorized dealer or

instructor, and then I’d have to go through the 10-daywaiting period before I could bring my new-to-me gunhome. I searched online for someone who could issuethe HSC and found a range nearby. A few days later Itook a (very simple) safety test whose questions seemedto center around keeping guns away from children andnot pointing a loaded gun at a person you didn’t intendto shoot. A little basic, I thought, but no big deal. Iwalked out, business-card-sized certificate in hand. Atthat point I just had to wait four days until my birthday.

Because it took place on a Sundaythat year and the gun store wasclosed, I had to wait until the fol-lowing day – oh, the agony! Iwalked in, showed the employeemy HSC, filled out the paperwork,and paid for the gun. A week and ahalf later I returned, demonstratedthat I knew how to safely load andunload the gun and apply the safe-ty, and walked out a gun owner.

I picked up some cheap prac-tice ammo and headed out to anearby range with a friend.Although I’d love to talk abouthow I picked up the gun andshot a perfect group the firsttime, I have to admit that’s nothow it happened. At that point Iwas feeling a bit apprehensiveand asked my friend to shoot

first. After watching him fire 10 rounds through mygun, I decided it was my turn. I loaded 10 morerounds into the magazine, released the bolt, took afirm grip, pointed towards the target, clicked off thesafety, aimed, and squeezed the trigger. I didn’t hitthe center of the target, but I hit close enough that Iwas satisfied with it for the time being.

Being a bit large for a .22 LR pistol at 9-1/2 inchesin total length and relatively heavy at 35 ounces(unloaded) made it very easy and comfortable toshoot with very little recoil. This allowed me to learnto shoot with something that wasn’t intimidating theway a .40 or .45 might be to a novice shooter. It was,in my opinion, the perfect introduction to shooting;easy to handle, cheap to shoot, and accurate.

I found the gun to be quite reliable overall withvery few misfeeds. I shot whatever cheap ammuni-tion I could find and had significant problems onlywith the CCI Stingers the gun-store owner gave mewhen I purchased the gun. As many as one ofevery five rounds jammed and the bullet lube wascaked on so thick it actually filled the hollow-points, and built up inside the gun to the pointthat it made cleaning more difficult, so I switchedback to the cheap rounds I could pick up at localsporting goods stores.

Since that day I’ve fired quite a few other gunsand picked up a Springfield Armory XD-9 as myprimary defense gun, but I still have my 22/45. Idon’t shoot it as much as I used to, but I alwaysthink about it fondly. It was, and always will be,my first gun.

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November 09 Blue Press Section 4 9/14/09 8:17 AM Page 65