anyone that knows me know's that I'm not shy around guns, and lately I've been wanting to get back into the shooting hobby. since the economy is hurting and we just bought a house it couldn't come at a worse time. Fortunately full service ranges like shooters world offer affordable rentals. I rented a Sig Sauer P226 9x19mm parabellum. The gun performed amazingly 150 rounds downrange and only 1 malfunction which was easily cleared.
I can't quite say the same for my Wife, she wasn't sure which handgun to rent, so I suggested she rent the Sig Sauer Mosquito chambered in 22LR, which I'd been considering purchasing myself as an inexpensive target shooter. she's not terribly versed with guns, but she's shot in the past in the desert and performed quite well despite inexperience, and did so as well tonight. Unfortunately the Mosquito has a bit of a strong recoil spring, and with all rentals per their policy require you to use their ammunition. unfortunately the 22LR rounds they offer don't seem to have quite enough kick to complete the cycle of ejecting the spent round and loading the next. Almost every other round I had to assist her in clearing the weapon. Failure to Feed, Failure to Eject, Double Feeds, Stovepipes, you name it. Luckily one of the friendly female range officers noticed her plight tried to assist, and when I showed her what was happening and offered to exchange the rental free of charge. After that she got a ruger mark II and had a fairly error free experience the rest of the time.
The highlight of the outing was when my Father-in-law accidentally walked out of the shooting bay with his unloaded GSG5 rifle. and when one of the range officers noticed him and warned him. And then when he did it again and was asked to leave the range area by the range master.to be fair he was trying to teach his wife who had never shot a round in her life how to shoot, and may have been a bit distracted.
Although I'm sure it was upsetting to him, after having been formally trained by law enforcement professionals in my brief law enforcement career several years ago. He violated safety protocols and rules set forth by the facility. I also got warned once when placing the unloaded, slide locked back P226 back into the rental bag, the bag was about 6 inches sticking out of the back of the shooting bay. I was warned but more politely reminded than a dressing down, and they merely recommended that in the future I bring the bag to the shooting bench for safety reasons.
I know beyond a doubt that I can handle a firearm safely, but I have to understand the view of the range officer in that they don't know how versed or experienced you are so it's necessary to treat everyone as a novice to ensure a safe and fun shooting experience for everyone. though I could see it as being offputting to someone that doesn't realize why.
All in all it was a very fun experience, the Sales staff was helpful in letting me see and handle a number of firearms when I arrived before the rest of my party. and the range was nice for a pistol range. It's also less than 2 miles from my workplace so I could definitely see stopping by here for an hour after a bad day.
Oh and I almost forgot the clerk forgot somehow I didn't get charged for my rangetime and I still have 2 1 hour rangepasses, so I may be stopping by sooner than you think. I know it's not something to rate a business on, but I doubt it ever upsets the customer. read more