So the goal for yesterday was to find the people that had been selling the gun I liked last time. Hopefully, they would still have it and I could finally have the pistol I wanted for my CCW. If you've never been to a gun show, it can be pretty overwhelming at first. People sell all kinds of guns. Yesterday, I even saw a collector that was looking to buy Japanese arms, particularly from WWII.
I'm not going to lie...a lot of the customers are old guys, hill billies, and people that probably have no business owning a firearm at all because they don't know much about them. The last type are the people that give the rest of us a bad name. These are the people that think it's "cool" to own a gun, and don't properly know how to handle one.
A particular couple from yesterday reminded me of this even though I'm no expert on guns, either. There was a man, probably in his late twenties, with a female companion. He had something to say to her about every single gun...but he was pretty much just reading what the information cards on the guns were saying. My father and I were looking at a Bursa .380 Thunder, which is a semi-auto pistol that can be used for CCW. We were minding our own business and checking out the price (roughly around $350 if I remember right) when Mr. Know-it-all interjects with:
"Man. That Thunder kicks really hard!"
He meant that the recoil or reaction of the gun after you shoot it was strong. Basically, when a shot is fired from the gun, the gun is forced backwards and up in your hand because of the pressure in the barrel as the gun goes off and the bullet is pushed forward.
Now, my Dad and I just kind of looked at each other, and I had to suppress a giggle as the man and his companion moved on to the next gun. Like I think I've mentioned before, I'm a pretty small person, and I don't have much experience shooting. However, prior to looking for guns, I had shot a .380, and it kicked about as much as a baby in the womb. Either this guy was a total wimp, and should only be shooting bb guns or maybe an air soft pistol (shoots small plastic pellets and are commonly used by young teens like paintball guns) or else he just didn't have a clue about what he was saying. I'm going to go with he didn't have a clue because he wasn't a small guy. Haha.
Anyway, we found the dealer from last time and luckily, they still had the gun I wanted, which was a .380 Firestorm. If you have read my other posts related to firearms and CCW permits, you'll know that my Mom also took the CCW class. We (my father and I) decided that my mom would probably like the same gun. So, he ended up buying one for me, and one for my mom (thanks Dad!). Of course, the gun is registered in my name...so if I do anything bad with it (which I won't), he can't get in trouble.
I also bought a holster for Loretta (my name for the gun) which fits inside the waistband and an extra magazine for her. Then on the way to my parents to try her out, I stopped at my gunsmith's business and purchased some target-grade ammunition. I'm not going to buy any self-defense grade ammo until I have my permit in my pocket (still haven't turned in my application because I'm not a morning person and I can only take it to the sheriff between like 7-11 on Mon-Th.).
Let's jump to target practice. There I was, with my two magazines loaded, each with 7 cartridges (bullets). I assumed proper shooting stance (standing with feet shoulder width apart, with the gun held with two hands directly in front of my body) and I took aim at my father's target.
Bang!
My very first bullet ever fired out of Loretta hit the bulls-eye. AWESOME!! I thought that I wouldn't have any trouble with her after my first shot. However, the more rounds I shot, the more my aim was off. Loretta kept shooting wayyyyy low, and I wasn't even hitting my target anymore. :-( I'm not sure why this happened, but I even tried to adjust my aim both by aiming higher on the target and then utilizing the sights differently to try to compensate for what was happening. I took turns shooting with my Mom, who was shooting her new gun, and with my Dad, who was shooting a gun he had bought a few days before yesterday. One of my brother's friends was also shooting my Dad's gun. However, I shot probably four magazines of bullets and couldn't get my aim back on track. Plus, Loretta even jammed a few times. :-( I was not pleased...and the sunny and enjoyable day ended up pissing me off because I was frustrated with shooting. I called it quits and tried to calm myself down.
It was my first day with Loretta, and she let me down. But I'm going to try again soon, and hopefully I can figure out what was going wrong yesterday. I haven't given up. There could even be something wrong with Loretta. If so, I need to find out and have the problem fixed.
Anyway, I do like the gun I picked out...I just need to make friends with her before I start carrying her around once I have my CCW permit.
Here are some pictures of the type of gun I bought:
I like this gun because it is pretty small and light. The rubber grips are fantastic and I really feel like I can hold onto it properly without worrying about my grip moving. The finger grooves guide my hand so that I hold it properly. Likewise, as you can see in the picture to the left, the rear sights form a U-shape which I like much better than the traditional 3-dot setup. While the sights are not streamlined like some other CCW firearms, they stand out and allow me to aim better. The magazine holds seven cartridges but it is also possible to have one in the chamber, making it a 7+1 capacity gun. The magazine also extends the grips, so the gun is long enough for my entire hand to fit on. Of course, the gun also has a safety, which was a necessity for me. Some guns do not have a safety at all, or if they do, it is located on the trigger, which I don't like. Instead, the safety is traditional and is located on the left side of the gun as a switch near the chamber. (I do not own the photographs I have used in my post. They belong to www.gunreports.com).
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