A Trip to the Range with my Brother

My brother, and his friend Ken, on the firing line

I like to shoot guns. I find that the hobby helps relieve stress in a big way. I know that may sound odd, with the loud bang and hot lead screaming down a barrel, towards a target, but the stress just melts away with each press of the trigger.

My brother recently decided to get into the hobby and asked if I was up for joining him at the range. Straight off I was a little concerned. Because he is not a member at any of the private ranges, and the ones I belong to do not permit visitors to shoot, it meant that we would be going to the public range, made available by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

While I have never been to any of these public ranges, I have heard all types of horror stories. None of these stories have revolved around people being shot, but they do raise safety concerns. Occasionally I hear of a negligent discharge, but most common is someone sweeping others with the muzzle of a loaded gun. Setting my concerns aside, I agreed to go and check it out.

When we arrived, I was a bit surprised by the number of people shooting. All of the 50 yard benches were occupied and all but one bench at 100 yards was available. Unfortunately, all I brought were pistols, which are not suited for such long shooting. Fortunately, my brother brought rifles and we were in business.

As time went on I decided to break out the pistols and give those 100 yard targets a try. While shot grouping was not possible, we placed the majority of shots on target. in the grand scheme of things, we had a good time. Next time I’ll have to bring along my SKS so that my brother can give it a test drive. He seems rather fond of my Springfield XD and Smith & Wesson M&P.