Monday, April 14, 2008


Um, y'all: I shoot like a girl.


Sunday I got to go practice shooting at a local range, courtesy of a kindly member of the club, and accompanied by the lovely and gracious Holly & JPG. I took my Papa's High Standard Sentinel R-107 .22 from the mid-60s to practice shooting and get more comfortable with the whole process.
This gun has been used to dispatch a staggering number of Ozark squirrels, and it's really smooth and fun to shoot. I'm going to borrow it from Dad as long as he'll let me, or until another .22 catches my fancy and happens to be affordable.
The first 9 shots went in the very center in a sort of a bunch over what was the X in the center of the target. You can see there's really only one biggish hole. I thought that was kind of neat - all 9 shots staying together like a happy little family.
When I moved up the to the head for the second group, it got a little more loosey-goosey. I think I count 6 holes for the 9 shots I fired. Still, I'm not complaining.
I am surprised to find how tender my hands are. I do a lot of fine work with my bead stuff, and I tend to think of my hands as rather rough-around-the-edges, but Sunday I found that my right index finger was getting sore and would have soon blistered by the time I stopped shooting. [Then again, the grooved trigger on this .22 is probably just a bad surface for my finger, contrasting with the smooth surface of the trigger on my .38?) I suppose if I keep working on this as I should, then I'll build up a little callous there. Whatever works. Having discovered the heady scent of freshly fired cartridges (perfume!), I'll never be giving up shooting now, so my little digit will simply have to toughen up, won't it?
Let's just say I'm going to be using the tax money to join a local range so I can get some regular practice.

25 comments:

fuzzbert_1999@yahoo.com said...

Lookin' good!

phlegmfatale said...

Thank ye! I had a blast!

Christina RN LMT said...

Damn! That's some fine shooting.
And you've practiced HOW many times?!
Sweet.

Xavier said...

Ah........Now you see why I am a strong advocate of the .22 handgun to learn basic marksmanship with. Cheap, accurate and high volume shooting.

The old .22 pistols are some of the best deals out there, and still command good prices. High Standard made some good ones!

breda said...

Hooray for you!

phlegmfatale said...

christina - I thought so! Well, it's actually only my third time out shooting. Once I've joined and can go on my own, I'm going to try to go at least twice a week. Yays!

xavier - Yes, I see-- all the smart kids told me to do that. More bang for the buck, too, whilst building confidence. It was fun, and this is a nice gun to shoot.

breda - yes, YAYS for we shooty women!

NotClauswitz said...

Nice group, but what shoes were you wearing?!? ;-) The High Standard indeed set a standard for excellence, and so it seems do you.

Anonymous said...

Have fun and keep us posted.

You did VERY good ;)

phlegmfatale said...

dirtcrashr - I wore my cowgirl boots. Yee haw! Aw, shucks! It were fun! I can't wait to go back.

lainy - I WILL keep you posted. I'll prolly keep blathering on about it until I get in the habit of going at least a couple times a week. *excited!*

HollyB said...

It was fun to watch you shoot. I had a blast snappin' pics. I just wish i had permission to post the pics of your earnest little face aimin' at the target; your rapturous face sniffin' the air like a hound trying to catch a scent; and D gesturin' whilst in mid-explanation. They're all good pics, honest.

Carteach said...

Consider the second group.... probably has several bulets through the same holes.

Would be no surprise at all.....
You seem to be a natural!

phlegmfatale said...

Hols - Thanks so much, and thank you for the wonderful dinner afterward. I DO love that smell -didn't know you snapped a photo of my blissed-out earnest little face.

carteach - Yeah, they all landed within that range. All I know is that I love to shoot!

Assrot said...

Pretty fine shooting for a beginner. Welcome to the shooting sports, the land of the free and unfortunatley the home of a considerable amount of bliss ninnies that think they have the right to take away your guns.

Keep on shooting sister and I hope you enjoy it as much as the rest of us pro-2nd Amendment folks do.

All guns take some getting used to but I'm sure you and your fingers will be fine once you spend some time with that gun. If not, give pops his gun back and get another one. There are plenty out there and more than a few that are made for small hands.

Molon Labe,

Joe

Anonymous said...

Phlegmmy! How wonderful! I think you should celebrate your newfound talent with a new pair of shoes and I shall celebrate it with a new pockybook. Hey, any excuse!

phlegmfatale said...

assrot - why thank ye! It's great stuff, and I intend to work hard and improve. It's great therapy, too. I think since the .22 is just for practice anyhoo, I'll prolly put a bandaid on my finger in future.

kvegas911 - EXCELLENT ideer, 'ceptin' I was thinking of buying a red dress Holly showed me online. I'm pretty well stocked for shoes at the moment...

Tam said...

Day-umn!

Nice shootin', Tex! :)

phlegmfatale said...

*squeal* I'm officially hooked, Tam!

Rabbit said...

Feel free to holler and I'll lend you my little Browning Buck Mark to play with.

Regards,
Rabbit.

John R said...

That is some nice shooting Ma'am.

Some self adhering finger tape would work while you get used to caressing a trigger. A finger cot would also work, but much less sensitive.

The offer of range time in Alverado is always open.

Laughingdog said...

This doesn't surprise me at all. As an instructor, it has been my experience that most women pick up shooting far faster than most men. I don't know if it's genetic, or if it's just because they actually listen to their instructors.

Granted, this rule doesn't hold as well with the women I see at the range learning from their husbands and boyfriends. I've found that it's usually a bad idea to try to teach a spouse, girlfriend, or your own child. That's why a lot of us at the range swap up. I taught my friends kids, and he taught my wife.

MeatAxe said...

That sure is fine shooting.

Are you sure this is the right image, though? Those look pretty big for .22 holes... Or maybe the target is small er than I realize and my frame of reference for the size a .22 makes is off.

phlegmfatale said...

rabbit - thank you, sir! I may take you up on that generous offer!

jr - will look up that tape - sounds a great idea. In a pinch, I can make it go "boom" but as a practice, i'm okay with a higher degree of comfort

laughingdog - yeah, it does make sense. I tried to pay attention to the generous wisdom of the experts I've been blessed to meet recently

meataxe - that target is smaller than an actual human outline. I don't know the scale, but I'd say at least by half. Will look at it again when I get home. Thanks!

Faith said...

Your target was impressive! I like to shoot but have physical limitations now. When you become one with your rifle or revolver the target shooting can be satisfying.

Mattexian said...

NO, no, headshots you're supposed to make a smiley face, like Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. :D If'n you aint already got your CHL, I suggest you do it, shooting like that will ensure you pass the lab portion of the class with flying colors; the test over the lecture is pretty much common sense stuff, as long as you can pay attention.

Unknown said...

I've never shot a gun before, but that looked pretty damn good to me (b/c, you know, my admiration makes such a difference, doesn't it?) :)