I went to the range today to do some shooting. Yippeee!!! My man, my son and meeeeeeeeee!!
Overall, I was pretty pleased. I basically shot where I was aiming or pretty darn close to it and I felt like I had much more control of the gun. The grip thing is really a big deal.
We were assigned to shoot in spot 12. When we got to spot 12, the person who shot before us had left his target and casings. Sweet! Love presents.
We did a little house keeping of the shells, but left his target up and just put our orange sticker targets over his.
So, your just gonna have to trust me that the shots outside of the orange circles are not mine.
Me shooting at the orange targets. I like double hearing protection inside. The blue cord is from the little plugs inside my ears.
The shots inside the bottom orange circle are mine as are the ones just below and to the left. Just below and to the left is a common place for my shots to go.
After taking turns with my husband and son, I decided to shoot with my “off” hand. For me that would be my right hand.
Right hand
From this distance. I actually am not sure what the distance is between the lines, but I think the first line is 5 yards, the second line is 15, the third 20 and then maybe 40 or 50.
Again, right hand, shot a couple of magazines. Inside the orange and the ones below are mine(not the ones above the target or to the left side). It seems I am more accurate with my right hand.
I am left handed. I write with my left hand. I eat with my left hand and when I shoot, I am much more comfortable shooting with my left hand, but each time I shoot with my right hand I do better.
I can’t decide if I should stay with what is comfortable, my left hand, and just train to be more accurate or try to get comfortable with my right hand, the one that is already more accurate.
Of course, the best plan would be to be equally as skilled with both hands and surely that is my long term goal, but what do I do now????
On a side note, I have always shot the same ammo out of my gun. Winchester .40, 165 grain, full metal jacket.(for my newbie friends…Winchester is the brand, .40 is the caliber, basically the size, 165 is basically the weight, full metal jacket, in it’s most simplistic description is usually a lead bullet encased. Not necessarily fully encased. There is more to understanding bullets than one would think, but this is the very basic, A Girl and Her Gun explanation)
Today, I branched out and shot something different. About a week or so ago I bought more ammo and the sweet kid who sold me the ammo suggested I try Remington .40, 180 grain, full metal jacket. He made the suggestion because I could get 50 more bullets for just a few dollars more.
Not a surprise to anyone, I am sure, I was nervous to take him up on his helpful hint. At first, it was a risk I wasn’t sure I could take. I love to stick with what works. Especially, when I don’t really know what I am doing, but in the interest of branching out and not being scared, I said ok, lets try that.
Also, because I hate to tell people no when they are trying to be nice.
This might be a character flaw.
One time I was at a restaurant with my son and daughter-in -law and I ordered a lemon lime something or other. Well, it was soda. I don’t like soda and this was one sweet drink. When the waitress came back, I asked if I could have an unsweet tea. She, very nicely said, I know this lemon lime thing is sweet, let me bring you something like it, only less sweet. She was being nice, so I said sure. I did not like it, but she was so, so nice, I made my son drink it and then I told her how nice she was for bringing it. I also cut off the meat of the cantaloupe she brought me as a treat, left the rind on the plate and shoved the meat into a napkin into my purse. It was not good. In contrast to the drink, this fruit was not sweet at all. She was trying so hard to bring me yummy things and I did not want to discourage her, therefore, I went to great lengths to hide the fact that it was not a pleasant dining experience for me. I may go a tad bit overboard in this area.
Anyhoo, this new ammo, shot without a lick of trouble. A more experienced shooter would probably be able to tell the difference in their shooting between the 165 grain and the 180 grain, but I am not that skilled. I was just pleased as punch that it did not jam up my gun(my husband had one jam in his) or explode it in my hand.
Baby steps to growth, but growth nonetheless.
Sounds like a fun afternoon! Good for you, practicing with your offhand! I haven’t done much of that yet. I know i should probably practice these various positions (offhand,single handed, kneelling or on the grond, etc.) but iit seems like once i get to the range I get obsssessed with getting better…lol, and shooting with my offhand would mess that up! I’ll get there eventually…
Molly, you sound so much like me. I am so concerned about personal defense and I know I have so much to learn, that I just want to concentrate on that. I don’t want to think about alternate carry or off hand, I just want to get gosh darn good at the strong hand etc, but those who know better push me to push myself. The peeps in the know remind me over and over again, that in a real life situation the odds of me grabbing my gun with my strong hand and shooting a nice, perfectly still target are slim at best. To practice the other scenarios is most beneficial in my overall training for self defense. The range limits me as I can’t go on my knees or draw from my holster, but it is better than not practicing at all. I expect a lot from myself considering I have only been shooting for about 4 months.
this is one thing i have to work on a LOT – I am very right hand dominant and on top of that when I am out – I often have kids in tow. You can’t really practice shooting with kids under your feet! So I do the best I can – but I have certainly been lacking lately in getting to the range – must improve in that area.
Are you right eye dominant or left? That could be the difference in shooting. Most people have the same eye dominance as their handedness – ie right hand right eye / but their are exceptions to the rule.
I can tell from your posts you do expect a lot of yourself! You get up the learning curve a lot quicker than the average person that way. I think that is great – as long as you’re willing to cut yourself a break when you need to. 🙂
Poniegirl, I hear you about getting to the range. I don’t get there nearly as often as I would like to. It’s usually a coordinated effort to get out there when my husband goes. Do either of you gals go shooting on your own? I’m only considering it now that I am typing this…It reminds me of many years ago when I took up a great interest in fly fishing. My husband and I had taken a class together and I fell in love with it. He enjoyed it but wasn’t fully taken with it, thus he wasn’t as keen on getting out on the river as I was. There came a point that I crossed that I decided I was just going to go out on my own into the (at the time) “male world” of flyfishing. I was rather intimidating to me to be out on a stream with a not a woman in sight, getting looks from at least half of them that inferred I didn’t belong there. LOL, it was usually the older grandfather types who would be smiling at me, and come over and start chatting with me. They were so encouraging and sweet. As I gained more confidence, it didn’t bother me as much and I think I came into my own one afternoon when I walked up to a crowded NJ stream one spring morning and there were at least 12 men scattered about in the stream and on the bank. I ignored the uncomfortable stares (hated that moment of “entry”), stood for about 10 minutes watching the signs on the water, figuring out what fly to use and then tying on my fly of choice. I walked up to a spot on the bank where some man had just moved out from, (still ignoring all the stares) cast exactly where I intended to cast (lol, a blessing from God!)…and hooked a nice trout. I guess no one else had caught anything for awhile. I tried to be nonchalant and to keep from beaming. The looks around me changed – respect, a few smiles. Several of the men closer to my age actually came over, and asked me what I was using and treated me respectfully…NORMALLY. it was a great confidence boosting moment for me. After that, though I never had that perfect performance moment among a big audience again (LOL, I guess God didn’t want me to get a big head! :D) I never had an issue with feeling as if I didn’t “belong” out there, even if I WAS the only woman. With guns, now, it is different…I do still feel out of place. It doesn’t help when some rude man walks by at the outdoor range we go to and says something like, “Oh, look out! A woman with a gun!” Anyway, all that to say, I’m not there yet, where I want to get out there on my own…but maybe that will come.
I love the fly fishing story!! Awesome!
I have gone to the range without my husband, but not alone. I have gone with my son or with a friend. I absolutely was terrified to go by myself in the beginning. I am comfortable enough, now to go by myself, but time never seems to allow. The weekends work best in terms of time and someone to watch the younger kids. When school starts all of my kids will be in full time, so I am hoping for lots of range time.
I have been fortunate that the men I have come in contact with have been very supportive and encouraging, but I have ran across a few that were less than cordial.
As you know I am a work in progress, but in an effort to be more assertive, I would say, do not let them take your power. Go shoot, with confidence!!
I usually go by myself – not by choice but more if necessity. We live about 80 miles outside of the DFW metroplex (Dallas/Fort Worth TX). I work in Dallas and commute in every day. The ranges in our area are okay – they are all out door though. There are a couple of indoor ranges in Dallas and the surrounding area that I/We have been to. So if I am going to go it will be on my way home from work. I don’t mind going by myself per sey I find the range staff to be most helpful and I kinda like the solitude but it is still not necessarily the best setting – since I am tired from work and ready to be home with my boys. The husband and I would love to go together and actually get to shoot together – but to date we haven’t been able to do this. Sometimes we can sneak down to the pond on our property while the boys are napping and put a few rounds through the ole’ pea shooters. Soon though the boys will be old enough to tag along and we can all at least go to one if the local ranges together.
Yea! Another lefty! I was just telling my hubby last night that I feel like I should be drawing from my right side (or at least carrying), even though I am left handed and left eye dominant. I do most things with my right hand, like batting and golfing, but write with my left. When I think of which hand to grab the grip, I naturally think of my left hand, but the holster feels more comfortable on my right side. SO weird! I don’t carry yet, although I can conceal carry in AZ without my CCW. And we can open carry, but I am not quite ready to do that yet. I am just now getting comfortable with the idea of shooting a gun, let alone owning one, let alone carrying one all the time 🙂 Baby steps! I will have to try using my off hand next time we go. We’re going to pick up a Steyr .40 cal this weekend, God willing, so I will be there soon trying it out.
Our local range has Ladies Night, so I wouldn’t feel bad at all going by myself. I have class the same nights for the next few months (BOO!) but once this class is over, Mama is heading out to the range! Love your blog! Sounds like we have some things in common! Go lefty’s! 🙂
Hi Andrea!! We sound like twins!! I am left handed and left eye dominate, but I too do several things with my right hand. I eat and write left handed, but when I was in school many years ago I opened my locker lock with my left hand,I gold right handed, when I water sky, my right leg is in the back. I used to joke that since I used both of my hands, I was neither left brained nor right brained. I was neither creative nor intelligent…lol It will be interesting to see what we both ended up doing in terms of our dominate hand. Looking forward to the process.
Thank you so much for your comment. Please let me know how the shooting goes this weekend!! I am so excited to have another woman to share the experience with and I am excited follow you on your journey to what I hope will be everyday(or almost everyday) carry:)
I read several of the gun forums. It is very educational. The members talk about dry-firing, several members talk about every day practice, if not shooting then dry-fire, for conceal & open carry.
You talk about off hand shooting. I am now trying to build up my muscles to allow me to shoot off-hand which is my left hand, without loosing control. I have a very weak left side.
Anyone else “work out” to build up those muscles? Does anyone have any tips on which exercises? Thanks!
Enjoying the Blog~