drmweaver2
Active Member
Hey all,
As implied by the title, I once considered myself a shooter but that was ages and a few pounds ago. Now retired from the Navy (with years of Army and National Guard time also), I need to fill up some open time and throw some money away - so I'm taking up shooting again.
Just bought a S&W SD9VE after doing too little research on it, on local range locations, costs and availability, AND routine stuff like what it costs to "outfit" myself from scratch in addition to the pistol and ammo. Damn I forgot that this hobby can be a "money sink"! Lol.
Today I went out and looked at Nick's in Garyvillle (just west of Reserve/LaPlace) and then went to the St. Bernard Indoor Shooting Center in Arabi. I live halfway between the two and had visited the Shooter's Club last week as it was nearest to me. Those 3 seem to be representative of what I remember as far as range setups and their associated conveniences go (from decades ago). What I mean is that Nick's seemed okay but a bit bare (then again, it's an outdoor range, what did I expect? He certainly seemed friendly enough!). The SBISC struck me as basically an adjunct to the store itself but the range was functional though a bit dark for my taste. The Shooter's Club in Harahan had a cleaner, slightly higher-tech indoor range feel to it - just my impression, not a slight on either of the other two. I may still go check out the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Firing Range in Raceland, but that would be an hour's drive each way for me...(not very cost attractive despite my driving a Prius - lol).
Having put under 100 rounds through my SD9VE, I think that I may have an interesting time adjusting to its long, somewhat "sloppy" trigger pull in comparison to my memories of my service-supplied 1911/.45 cal pistol. I bought the SD9VE primarily based on its cost, a recommendation from a guy at Jefferson Gun Outlet and a strong, impulse-buy feeling while at the recent gun show in Kenner. Sigh.. patience never was my strong suit (maybe I just shoulda left my credit card at home that day - ya think?).
Now I'm doing the research I should have done before actually buying the pistol and am going about doing my due-diligence on where to shoot and so as to not actually put myself in the poor house because of it.
So, that's me.. a "once again noob" returning to my youth in a way. Older, not necessarily wiser. Looking forward to destroying lotsa paper targets and maybe even taking a self-defense pistol class or two just for grins (I'll probably have to eat rabbit food for a couple weeks to pay for them - lol!).
Probably too wordy for a forum intro. But.... it's what you get with me.
John
As implied by the title, I once considered myself a shooter but that was ages and a few pounds ago. Now retired from the Navy (with years of Army and National Guard time also), I need to fill up some open time and throw some money away - so I'm taking up shooting again.
Just bought a S&W SD9VE after doing too little research on it, on local range locations, costs and availability, AND routine stuff like what it costs to "outfit" myself from scratch in addition to the pistol and ammo. Damn I forgot that this hobby can be a "money sink"! Lol.
Today I went out and looked at Nick's in Garyvillle (just west of Reserve/LaPlace) and then went to the St. Bernard Indoor Shooting Center in Arabi. I live halfway between the two and had visited the Shooter's Club last week as it was nearest to me. Those 3 seem to be representative of what I remember as far as range setups and their associated conveniences go (from decades ago). What I mean is that Nick's seemed okay but a bit bare (then again, it's an outdoor range, what did I expect? He certainly seemed friendly enough!). The SBISC struck me as basically an adjunct to the store itself but the range was functional though a bit dark for my taste. The Shooter's Club in Harahan had a cleaner, slightly higher-tech indoor range feel to it - just my impression, not a slight on either of the other two. I may still go check out the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Firing Range in Raceland, but that would be an hour's drive each way for me...(not very cost attractive despite my driving a Prius - lol).
Having put under 100 rounds through my SD9VE, I think that I may have an interesting time adjusting to its long, somewhat "sloppy" trigger pull in comparison to my memories of my service-supplied 1911/.45 cal pistol. I bought the SD9VE primarily based on its cost, a recommendation from a guy at Jefferson Gun Outlet and a strong, impulse-buy feeling while at the recent gun show in Kenner. Sigh.. patience never was my strong suit (maybe I just shoulda left my credit card at home that day - ya think?).
Now I'm doing the research I should have done before actually buying the pistol and am going about doing my due-diligence on where to shoot and so as to not actually put myself in the poor house because of it.
So, that's me.. a "once again noob" returning to my youth in a way. Older, not necessarily wiser. Looking forward to destroying lotsa paper targets and maybe even taking a self-defense pistol class or two just for grins (I'll probably have to eat rabbit food for a couple weeks to pay for them - lol!).
Probably too wordy for a forum intro. But.... it's what you get with me.
John
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