Issue link: http://ssaansw.uberflip.com/i/251089
Try Shooting Recently I made the same silly mistake that most men make once (or twice) in their life. I decided to get married. Now they say that every storm cloud has a silver lining and with this particular storm cloud that silver lining is definitely the buck's night. I was adamant to make sure that my night of freedom was one for the ages so when somebody suggested we try shooting at the St Marys Indoor Shooting Centre, I jumped at the chance. About 20 of us showed up one Saturday to have a go. I have to say there were a lot of mixed feelings. Many had never shot guns before and were a little bit nervous about having a go for the first time, some had shot guns before and were focused on showing off to the rest of the group how talented they were and one particular gentleman seemed to have an Officer Tackleberry from Police Academy desire to get his hands on the biggest and most powerful guns possible. The first thing that struck me on the day was the emphasis on safety. Our instructor, Andrew, proudly mentioned that shooting has the record of being one of the safest participation sports and you could see that all involved were keen to keep it that way. Whilst my dreams of emulating a Chopper Read style pose were dashed we were grateful about how professional everybody was. Also luckily for me, since I was not allowed to pose with a handgun I, unlike Nick D'Arcy, can still dream of one day representing Australia in swimming! We got to fire fifteen rounds from each of the three different handguns and after the obligatory big noting and side wagers were handled we got underway. The first gun was a very manageable .22 Ruger. It was at this point that I realised that my years of training on Duck Hunt as a kid and Counter Strike as a teenager counted for nothing in the real world. I barely managed to hit the target even though it was only 7 metres away. In fact, if you go to eBay I'm sure you will find my target being sold with the title 'as new, never been touched'! The second gun was a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. No offense to the .22 but this was a real gun. You could really feel the kick as you fired each round. I liked this gun, I hit the target with every shot and got a few 9's and 10's. I was feeling really proud of myself until the instructor Michael said to me 'Ok, that's enough of the lady guns, let's see how you go with a man's gun'. The answer is not well. My effort with the 9mm Glock that followed was only marginally better than my efforts with the .22. Overall I had a lot of fun but it is fair to say that the Australian Olympic Shooters don't need to worry about me taking their place (just yet). Overall it was a lot of fun and a perfect start to what ended up being a great bucks night. All of my friends had a great time and I would happily recommend the 'Try Shooting' Day at St Marys Indoor Shooting Centre to anybody who was interested in trying out shooting in a safe, fun environment. Joseph Del Duca Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. 8