The steel

There's something satisfying about sending rounds downrange. It's the feel of the recoil, the sound and violent explosion in the moment the firing pin strikes the primer and the resulting ignition sets off the gun powder...the release of energy that sends the projectile hurtling towards its intended target at 1200 feet per second...Then that all-important ding when the copper-washed lead bullet strikes the steel plate and virtually disintegrates. It's just what I need after a difficult week at work.

I'm heading to the range early on Saturday morning and am looking forward to a casual morning of shooting. It's a nice way to shrug off the stresses of the week and, of course, keep my skills on point which is very important to me. It takes so much effort to acquire them and I see no value in letting them backslide. So, I shoot a lot and stay good.

The match isn't one I'm very keen on. It's very basic and involves no running or stragegy which doesn't excite me too much; I prefer to run and gun, to be challenged...that's next week though. This week it's a static match and not much effort is required.

A single shooter stands in place, under command of the range officer, and when instructed loads then holsters and awaits the beep of the timer to begin the shooting stage.

Arrayed at intervals downrange at distances of twenty to thirty metres are five steel plates. Four are rectangular and human torso-sized and one is about the size of a human head and round. That last is called the stop plate as it's wired to stop the clock when impacted. The plates are spaced left to right with about twenty metres between extreme left to extreme right with the stop plate somewhere in between.

The shooter, on the timing beeper, draws from the holster and puts a single round on each torso-sized plate in a predetermined order and then hits the stop plate to stop the clock, so a total of five rounds. That takes me about 3.8 -4.4 seconds depending on how focused I am. The shooter does that five times for a total of twenty five rounds and the first string is over. After all the shooters have transitioned through the plates are rearranged and each shooter goes again for a second string.

For new shooters it's fun, and a good way to learn how to draw and acquire targets quickly, but I find it rather boring and I attend mainly to hang out with a few mates and talk some shit. Like I said, I prefer more dynamic shooting, running and gunning, which simulates real-world military and law enforcement situations but...what the hell, shooting is shooting right? Besides, a few of us will hang around after and run and gun a little for practice so it'll not be a total loss.

I'll probably shoot around two hundred rounds on Saturday morning, be somewhat social and will leave feeling relaxed and looking for lunch which I'm having with a couple friends. It's a good way to kick off the weekend and if you've not done it...You need to get you some! Trust me.

Have a good weekend folks.