Locked & Loaded

[2manymustangs]

This may be a rerun for some...

Ignorance may be bliss...fear is debilitating and knowledge is power!

Over the past few months, I have been contemplating buying a gun for safety. But, I don’t know the first thing about owning a gun or what type of gun I want or will be most comfortable with. July 4th weekend, I went into a gun store and the three guys behind the counter, each with a gun holstered to his hip, looked at me like I had 4 heads or my breasticles were popping out from under my clothes. I was very uncomfortable to say the lease and quickly walked out. I decided owning...better yet, buying a gun was not for me and got the idea out of my head.

Last week, I was driving down the freeway and there was a brush fire and I decided to call 911. First attempt I got a busy signal...I tried again and another busy signal. I tried 3 more times before I finally got through to a dispatcher. I was a bit alarmed to say the least. That night I got to thinking if someone broke into my house, I have about 1 minute to do whatever it is I am going to do to protect myself. I even contemplated sleeping with a knife in my night stand. But, could I realistically over power a person who decided to break into my house? No.

Since January, I frequently post on a forum that has a predominately male membership. The forum has a section dedicated to discussions about guns, so I started a thread. Specifically, I asked what they would recommend for a petite woman for protection. I received a lot of suggestions; the men were able to advise me as to what they think based on what their wives prefer. However, one of the members Djunkie, actually offered to take me to a shooting range.

I was a bit surprised because a few months ago he and I got into a bit of a discussion that in my opinion didn’t go over very well. For the most part, I avoided him on the site. He’s a funny guy, but very opinionated and has a bit of a “of course I’m right and you’re wrong” attitude, which really clashes with MY “of course I’m right and you’re wrong” attitude. About a month after our spat, his daughter while crawling up his leg to sit on his lap; unintentionally kneed him in his junk. Of course being a typical guy who thinks being kicked in the junk is more painful than child birth the continued paid lead to the discovery of a lump. I imagine his first impression was, “I’m so awesome I have 3 nuts” quickly transitioning to a more serious situation. He shared his story on the forum and it softened me up to him. I figured what he lacks in nuts he makes up for in opinions. Not to mention, his offer seemed sincere and I got the impression he was going to have some fun teaching Eli how to shoot a gun. We agreed on a date and time. He suggested I go to his house to get a safety and gun handling lesson first.

Eager to get my first shooting lesson, I woke up at 4:15 Tuesday morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed. I had previously once shot a gun before, but I have never received any type of gun handling training. I hopped out of bed, had my morning coffee and headed to the gym, I figure if I'm learning something new, I should bring my A game, and my A game requires a tough morning workout. After my work out, I drove home and quickly got dressed and headed out to Torrance. Since Djunkie was offering to take me shooting on his free time and I had a 100 mile drive, I certainly was not going to be late. I headed out to his house. When I arrived there were no cars in the driveway and for a second I thought I may have the wrong house...until I saw the sign "Life is better at the river" and I knew I was at the right place. I ring the doorbell and a tall, slender man opens the door with an ear to ear smile and a warm welcome.

I can tell we are both eager to start playing (I use the term playing very loosely) with the guns because we get right down to business. He begins with a brief explanation of each gun. First, the revolver, I can tell by the twinkle in his eye, this may be his favorite. From my perspective this is one big mofo. He explains the benefits of being able to use two different types of bullets with this gun; I believe it's the .38 and the .357. If I am wrong, it's certainly not because I wasn't paying attention, but because I was focusing on the visual appearance versus the numbers. He shows me the bullets and has me handle them to see the difference in size, but he doesn't get too bogged down in the nitty gritty, which I'm sure he knows will be lost in translation as well as information overload. We then move on to his largest gun which from my perspective looks like a giant Glock. Just holding the gun was intimidating and dwarfed my already small hands. Finally, we moved on to the Glock 19, which looked the tamest of the three.

He continued to thoroughly demonstrate how to handle a gun, how to shoot, aim and what to do if the gun jammed as well as the intricacies of a shooting range. He even did a demonstration with "dummy bullets." He asks me if I have any questions and I confirm that I don't and we are on our way.

We drive to the range and my heart's racing as well as my hands shaking. I desperately tried not to be too obvious. I have to admit, I was a bit frightened. We walk in and I can honestly say, I didn't hear much of anything anyone said over the loud obnoxious pounding of my heart beat. I did crack an Eli style joke about bringing a photo of someone to shoot at and the guy behind the counter quickly informed me that it's illegal to shoot at the picture of someone, although he was grinning at me the whole time. Djunkie grabs a few body shaped targets and we head over. My Mr. Miyagi (Djunkie takes on a different demeanor when he's teaching) stops me before I enter and tells me to put on the protective gear. I get to sport his wife's pretty pink ear doohickie (that's the technical term) and goggles. We walk in and within seconds I hear a very loud bang and jump at least 3 feet. I apparently now have a twitch I never knew of before, because every time a gun fires, I jump and Djunkie giggles.

We walk over to our lane and he begins, range lesson number 1. How to clip on the target.

Attachment 29919

Then he shows me how to fill the magazine with bullets.

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Now we begin shooting. He suggests we start with the MOFO, he calls it the pussy cat...He shoots first so I can see how he handles it and how the gun performs. I don't take my eyes off the gun and when I look up at the target I notice the red bull’s eye is almost gone. He shoots with such precision, I am even more intimidated. He looks at me like that's just a normal day at the range and hands me the gun. This MOFO is heavy and has "Don't fuck with me" written all over it. I stand right foot in front, left in the back. Take a deep breath, finger on the trigger..."oh dear God, I can't believe I'm gonna shoot this giant gun" runs through my mind, I take a quick look back and see cool as a cucumber Mr. Miyagi smiling. I anticipate falling backwards at the "kick" this thing will give me. I replay my lesson in my head, I look down the barrel to line up the gun with my target and I can see my hands shaking. I don't give it another thought and I pull the trigger, and a deafening "BANG!" explodes from the gun and my arms, which I thought were in a tight lock, fly up as my torso follows. I pull the trigger again and once again, I'm overpowered by the strength of this gun. I pull again, hoping it will get easier with repetition...nope, it just keeps showing me who's boss. I pull again and again, until I hear a "click" and I sigh with relief. This gun is no pussy cat, it's a ferocious lion and I was its breakfast. I look at the target...not one bullet hit the target...

Next we move on to the Glock 19. Again, Mr. Miyagi goes first. He shoots 10 rounds smack in the middle of the target once again. Okay well, I'm not fooled. I know how difficult it really is!!! Next up Eli. At this point, I figure what do I have to lose? Missed all 6 last time, I can miss 10 this round. I get into my badass stance once again, click the magazine in and check to make sure it's locked, pull back the slide, and make sure my hand and left thumb are not blocking the slide. I aim for the target and I actually hit it...I was so excited, I really can't remember where I hit the target, but I'm sure it wasn't anywhere near Djunkies precision. I pull the trigger 9 more times and quickly decide this baby is badass in a good way! I'm not sure if Djunkie noticed, but I think I had my "don't fuck with Eli" glare.

Attachment 29915

Now that I'm feeling confident, I'm ready to move on to the next gun...well I was ready until I watched Mr. Miyagi tear up the target like it's nobody's business and I could see giant flames exploding out of the gun each time. Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!!! He empties the clip, turns to me with a mischievous smile and says "wanna give it a try" like he's asking me to taste ice cream. My reluctance and hesitation are more than obvious, I say "no it's ok" and he says, "just try it" again like it's dessert and I'm sure gonna like it. I take the gun, follow my steps, starting with the magazine and look down the barrel. This time, I'm shaking so hard the gun is visibly shaking. Part of me hopes Djunkie badass doesn't see, but wants Mr. Miyagi to say, "ok that was a joke, you're not shooting this one". I take a very deep and slow breath and I pull the trigger...I pull farther...and BANG EXPLODES from the gun. The trigger is certainly different then the first two guns. The only way I know how to describe the feeling was an explosion in my hand, with a continuous vibration up my arms, into my shoulders, down my shoulder blades and then a knot in my stomach...ten times. I didn't like this gun at all, but I was glad Djunkie suggested I fire it...now I know I will NOT be buying this monster! If the revolver is a lion...this is what I think it would feel like to have a herd of buffalo stampede over me.

I look over at Djunkie and he smiles with a "proud" look and suggest we go back to shooting the Glock. I think he was proud that I didn't give up.

We each take turns shooting, I the Glock and Djunkie the Stampeding Herd of Buffalo.

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My last 30 rounds...I aimed for the stomach and then the head. 28 of the 30 rounds at least hit the target.

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Djunkie, you rock for volunteering to take me. It was a wonderful experience, I learned a lot and I will never, ever forget everything you taught me as well as the great experience! Each time I forgot one of the steps, as I listened to you patiently remind me...I thought...he has one hell of a lucky daughter!

I'm hooked and as Mr. Miyagi suggested, I will be trying a few other 9 mm to see which my favorite to buy is! Go Second Amendment!!

Cool, very cool Eli, sounds like your hooked

I purchased these about six months ago and have been trying to decide if they are worth keeping or not... I really love them and the ammo is cheap, these are M57 Tokarev pistols made in Croatia, the other versions only hold 8 rounds, this version holds 9 and the grip is the perfect size for my fat hands... Shoots a 7.62x25 polish sub machine gun round and the polish surplus ammo is about $21/50 rounds... AND has enough energy to pierce light body armor, its a very mean little round...

I build the 300 AAC brass from cut down .223 brass and I can also build the 7.62x39 brass from the .223 OR my used up 300AAC brass... All are shown...the small one is the 7.62x25 tokarev round, next up is the 300AAC, next is the empty .223 brass...

[Eli]

Cool, very cool Eli, sounds like your hooked

Im going to post up my new PAIR in a second...

Load 'me up!


Sent from my Bat Cave

[2manymustangs]

7.62x25 * 7.62x35 (aka 300AAC) * 5.56x45 (aka .223 kind of)

[2manymustangs]

I'm not ready yet! I need to go out 2 or 20 more times first. Besides who will fill my magazines for me?


Sent from my Bat Cave

Exactly, you wouldnt want to break a nail doing that!!! ^^^

Here is another favorite one that my neices/nephews like to shoot... Pistol version of the Draco AK47...

[Eli]

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Wow! Who ever said size doesn't matter doesn't have these!


Sent from my Bat Cave

[2manymustangs]

Wow! Who ever said size doesn't matter doesn't have these!


Sent from my Bat Cave

The MIDDLE (300AAC / 300BLK) is a fantastic all around ammo for the AR15 platform and only requires a barrel change on the ARs...

I'm going to have a barrel built to run the 7.62x25 through an AR for my next gun project...

[Eli]

The MIDDLE (300AAC / 300BLK) is a fantastic all around ammo for the AR15 platform and only requires a barrel change on the ARs...

I'm going to have a barrel built to run the 7.62x25 through an AR for my next gun project...

Calling Djunkie to the curtesy phone...I need translation please!


Sent from my Bat Cave

[2manymustangs]

Calling Djunkie to the curtesy phone...I need translation please!


Sent from my Bat Cave

The middle bullet shown above goes through THIS (which is equal in power to the AK47)... Im going to build another that uses the far left Tokarev bullet...

[Eli]

The middle bullet shown above goes through THIS (which is equal in power to the AK47)... Im going to build another that uses the far left Tokarev bullet...

You bought the bullet before the gun?


Sent from my Bat Cave

[2manymustangs]

You bought the bullet before the gun?


Sent from my Bat Cave

I built the gun, THEN changed the caliber a few times (didnt like the way it cycled when set up for AK47 ammo), THEN built the 300AAC ammo... The 300AAC is kind of new on the scene...