I have been taking my brother Erik shooting for years. (When his wife allows it anyway) He has always been a real crappy shooter. He could actually hit the targets with a rifle and bipod when we were younger. Today, not so much.
The last time I took him to Clark Brothers it was funny.
We started with skeet shooting. He brought one of his friends who had a brand new Remington 870. We were taking turns of 5 shots each. I did pretty good at 21 of 25. He missed them all, "How the Hell do you do that? It seems impossible. Too fast." I told him simply, "Use the force, Luke. Let go of your feelings..." It didn't help.
The funniest part was at the 7 yard handgun lanes. Its a good thing it wasn't crowded.
He wanted to try my Glock 21, .45 ACP. A 9mm was the biggest cal he had ever tried before this. I let him go first completely refusing, once again, any advice on form. 14 shots and not one hit the target. Then I step up and punch a nice group of 14 shots that you could be covered with the bottom of a coffee mug. "Oh my God. You are a really good shot." I demurred because I want to be able to carefully put all 14 through bulls eye and have the holes all touching the first hole.
My brother is 5' 9" tall and weighs 119 lbs. Less than half my weight, dammit. So the Glock is like a brick to his hand. He has the worse flinch I have every seen and the anticipation of recoil literally makes his hands tremble. It amuses me kinda. His combination of being hyper safe with the 4 Rules and total crappy form. Because despite all that he still loves shooting.
So the topper of that trip was that his pal wanted to shoot my S&W .44mag. He loved it. Was really doing well at 7 yards. Manly marks cause now he could say he has shot one.
Then Erik wanted to try it.
Keep in mind that Clark Brothers is an outdoor range. But it does have a roof over the shooting booths. Yes, you see where this is going. His anticipation was so high, his hands shaking so much, and at the last instant he actually closed his eyes BEFORE shooting.
He hit the roof.
--No more big guns for Erik. .22LR is his friend.
Oh man. My wife is like that. She hits the target now and then.
ReplyDeleteLots and lots of .22 in pistols and rifles from a seated position and rests, then work him up to .410 and 5.56 and/or .30 Carbine. Also, see if he's cross dominant. Hate to lose a potential shooter out there. Might need every body we can get. Never can tell when the Zeds may be coming to a neighborhood near you ; )
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