Cool video! That looked super fun! And no one has crucified you in the comments for not making them wear eye pro! I'd never get away with that. Lol

Also, love their reactions! You are good for sharing with folks and I hope inspire some others....

It was fun...….but you should've started with the .50 BMG heheheheheehe

quote:

Originally posted by BigNC:
Cool video! That looked super fun! And no one has crucified you in the comments for not making them wear eye pro! I'd never get away with that. Lol

Also, love their reactions! You are good for sharing with folks and I hope inspire some others....

Didn't notice that. Would be kicked off every range I've been to (public and private) as well as any matches.

I took my cousin from Greece out a couple of years ago. He especially liked the Colt SAA. He held it every chance he got the whole time he was here. Some Chinese friends came by last year and I let them shoot a variety of rifles. Of course the liked the AK best. Last week they called and said they were coming again and wanted to make sure we went shooting.

Poor girl had no idea what she was getting into with that 50! I love taking noobs out for their first time.

The next time, introduce them to T-Rex.

My hunting mate is English, his wife is a bit nutty about guns...she knows I carry but does not want her husband to.

Most English expats here that I have met pick up a pistol as soon as they get their green card.

Sorry to be a downer but the sequence when they are firing the Shockwave bothers me. Not the gun or the shooters, the fact that the shooter is standing forward of an active firing line (e.g. there are muzzles behind them and to the their left, not much behind them but...). It appears to be the layout of the range but, as an RSO, anyone forward of an active firing line concerns me. It could be the perspective of the camera and, if it is, I stand corrected.

Good on ya for introducing newbies to the sport. To bad they can't experience the same back home.

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
Sorry to be a downer but the sequence when they are firing the Shockwave bothers me. Not the gun or the shooters, the fact that the shooter is standing forward of an active firing line (e.g. there are muzzles behind them and to the their left, not much behind them but...). It appears to be the layout of the range but, as an RSO, anyone forward of an active firing line concerns me. It could be the perspective of the camera and, if it is, I stand corrected.

Good on ya for introducing newbies to the sport. To bad they can't experience the same back home.

I confess that I was somewhat concerned about that, as well.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
Sorry to be a downer but the sequence when they are firing the Shockwave bothers me. Not the gun or the shooters, the fact that the shooter is standing forward of an active firing line (e.g. there are muzzles behind them and to the their left, not much behind them but...). It appears to be the layout of the range but, as an RSO, anyone forward of an active firing line concerns me. It could be the perspective of the camera and, if it is, I stand corrected.

Good on ya for introducing newbies to the sport. To bad they can't experience the same back home.

Not to really pick on you . . . but

So what?

First, it is hard to tell if they are really in any danger or what their relative position is.

Second, it is in the past, and making a remark now doesn't really help, does it? We know you shouldn't stand in front of the firing line, and do not need a reminder of that.

Third, this is about some folks having a good time shooting for the first time. Not range safety.

These "trigger finger" and "no eye protection" comments often come across as attempts to seem knowledgeable. Like correcting the use of "clip" when "magazine" is meant. They may be offered with the best of intentions, but they always seem a little pedantic.

OP - good on you. Glad everyone had fun.

When I was still at the PD we got UK constables show up to exchange patches. They had lots of questions about our firearms and gear. We asked them if they would like to shoot and they jumped at the chance. After shooting handguns, shotguns, and MP5's at our indoor range they told us it was more fun than Busch Gardens and Disney World. I gifted them a PR24 to take back. Word got around among the Bobbies in London and this became a regular occurrence. I miss that interaction.

Well, seems like you all had a good time, and that's the whole point of the exercise, right? Giving people the experience that they are very unlikely to have had any opportunity to try here in UK.

Seems like it's time to admit that I take Brits to the range here in UK, every month, in fact. Sure, I can't let them handle most of the things that you can show them, but they CAN shoot military firearms from your recent Civil War right up to the latest technology target rifles, although, on our max 100m range, not the .50BMG, it's true.

Every month we have a guest day - and last Sunday there were fifty-eight guests, most of whom had never fired ANY kind of a gun before.

Why would that be?

Well, there are 65 million people here, and only about 3 million of them are shooters. So unless they know a shooter, for them shooting just isn't going to happen at all.

To tell the truth, most people are not interested, and just don't follow up with a hail of questions when I tell them that my main sport is shooting. It really is not in their minds at all.

I'm grateful that there are people like you who understand that it's a privilege over here, and not a right, so that the ordinary Joe can't just to go to a range whenever he feels like it and shoot whatever he wants to shoot.

I'm grateful that you take the time to do this things for people who would otherwise not get the opportunity to do it where THEY live, unless they had a gun club buddy - ALL gun clubs in the UK have this 12 per year guest day thing for the sole purpose of introducing people to shooting sports in general, and it works, spectacularly in our case, with a 200% increase in membership numbers in the last four years.

I'm an ordinary Joe, and I CAN do some of these things, because I'm a full member of a gun club, and have government-issued authorisation to shoot what I can shoot whenever the club is open, which, to be fair, is every day of the week on the outdoor, and three nights a week indoors.

So again, I thank all of my American counterparts who use their range time for the less fortunate.

Of course, any of you who come over here will get the same treatment, but I rather think you'd be here to have a laff at my expense, like our one and only American club member who slums it here in UK for four months of the year as a DoD employee and therefore has a registered UK home address and is therefore entitled to have a UK Firearms Certificate.

He says coming back here after much of the year in AZ is like walking into a nightmare, but 'the pay is good'.

love the smiles

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Oh goodness. The looks on their faces were priceless.

Yep, made me grin. You could tell the guy felt like a solid gold badass shooting that Mossberg.

quote:

Of course, any of you who come over here will get the same treatment, but I rather think you'd be here to have a laff at my expense....

Nonsense, Tac. It would be an honor to shoot that beautiful rifle you showed off a few months back. I think you’d find that more of us would be grateful and gracious guests than perhaps you imagine.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Oh goodness. The looks on their faces were priceless.

Yep, made me grin. You could tell the guy felt like a solid gold badass shooting that Mossberg.

quote:

Of course, any of you who come over here will get the same treatment, but I rather think you'd be here to have a laff at my expense....

Nonsense, Tac. It would be an honor to shoot that beautiful rifle you showed off a few months back. I think you’d find that more of us would be grateful and gracious guests than perhaps you imagine.

You are very kind to say so, Sir, and of course, you would be very welcome to be my guest. It HAS happened, y'know, with a couple of fellow SIG-ists.

Everyone,
Thank you for the compliments.

Taking visitors shooting helps me to better appreciate the freedoms we enjoy. Although my goal is to teach the visitors, they always teach me about the country/culture and laws from their home country.

It is wonderful when they realize that gun owners in the United States are the opposite of what has been portrayed in the media and movies.