We're starting a new club, and a local gun dealer has "filed the papers" with Browning to see if we might get some Buckmarks at lower cost. Of the seven others, two have fired before and the others never have. I'm being looked at as the coach since I've been shooting since 1956 and have even fired pistols (my Ruger Mark II and an Uberti/Cimarron .357 SA) recently.
Anyway, what are some of the downchecks on the Brownings? These would be starter guns, fired at 10 meters with a two-hand grip to start with.
I should note that everyone except me are women, ranging in age fro 62 to about the mid-thirties. They are also all quite excited about this.
I originally posted in the "Shooters' Lounge" but it was suggested that I could get more help over here.
Buckmarks
Moderators: pilkguns, m1963, Isabel1130
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Steve Swartz
I think they'll serve you just fine for your purpose. Buckmarks and Rugers are the choice for beginning target shooting on a budget. I'm starting to shoot in a summer league at my range, which is 75%+ beginners. I do it to keep sharp, but it's main purpose to get people into the sport. It's sponsored by a big, local company, and they get 100+ people every summer for this league. Many of whom have never held/fired a gun. They provide the guns, which are Buckmarks, MarkI's/II's, and some High Standards.
P.S. Having just seen Steve's reply... I'm assuming you meant Bullseye, given the forum you posted in. Then again, if you're looking for guns in the Buckmark $ range, I'm not sure what other options there are, regardless of discipline.
P.S. Having just seen Steve's reply... I'm assuming you meant Bullseye, given the forum you posted in. Then again, if you're looking for guns in the Buckmark $ range, I'm not sure what other options there are, regardless of discipline.
Since the two who have some experience haven't fired in years (one was a deputy sheriff and the other took marksmanship in college) and the other five have no experience at all, I thought we'd start with "spinner" targets. This would give them immediate audio and visual confirmation of hitting the target.
When they can consistently hit the spinner targets, we'll move to NRA B-3 targets.
In both cases a two-handed grip will be used until they consistently shoot >200 on the B-3s, after which we can move on to a one-hand grip.
Iron sights, or brite-line, or whatever comes on the guns. I've generally been of the opinion that you should be able to shoot open sights well before moving on to glass or red dot or lasers or whatever is the soup of the day. (I've nothing against these sights, I'm just a surly old curmudgeon who likes to tell these young whippersnappers about the old days when we had to make our own lead ore before we could refine it and make our own bullets, uphill both ways in snow up to our chins.)
All of this AFTER several hours of safety and other pre-range training. Since we're all librarians there is also a bunch of reading involved....
The goals are 1) team building; 2) relieve stress by having fun doing something completely different; 3) develop some new skills; 4) have fun; 5) beat the local police administration in a target match just like the Senior Citizens Center recently beat them in pool and, of course, 6) to have some fun.
When they can consistently hit the spinner targets, we'll move to NRA B-3 targets.
In both cases a two-handed grip will be used until they consistently shoot >200 on the B-3s, after which we can move on to a one-hand grip.
Iron sights, or brite-line, or whatever comes on the guns. I've generally been of the opinion that you should be able to shoot open sights well before moving on to glass or red dot or lasers or whatever is the soup of the day. (I've nothing against these sights, I'm just a surly old curmudgeon who likes to tell these young whippersnappers about the old days when we had to make our own lead ore before we could refine it and make our own bullets, uphill both ways in snow up to our chins.)
All of this AFTER several hours of safety and other pre-range training. Since we're all librarians there is also a bunch of reading involved....
The goals are 1) team building; 2) relieve stress by having fun doing something completely different; 3) develop some new skills; 4) have fun; 5) beat the local police administration in a target match just like the Senior Citizens Center recently beat them in pool and, of course, 6) to have some fun.
Mike... if nothing else, keep us posted here. I'm also a *cough* Librarian. Err, I mean I'm a long time IT drone who's working in a Library. :) The ladies in my library system (we're set up as County systems here in Wyoming, so I have 3 main branches and 3 active community branches) were all excited for me when I went down to Co. Springs for the Olympic Team Trials this past march, so there May be some interest. I've wanted to organize a training day (or two), just to offer the experience to those who want it. But we're in the middle of a $5.9mil building project at our main branch, and time just seems to be limited.
But I'm going to point my director to your initial post here in the main forum and plant the seed.
Cheers,
Brian ~ Fremont County Library System, Lander, WY
ShootingAir.com
But I'm going to point my director to your initial post here in the main forum and plant the seed.
Cheers,
Brian ~ Fremont County Library System, Lander, WY
ShootingAir.com
Last edited by Brian M on Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Steve Swartz
Brian, Mike:
My recommendation was simply for an organized/structured approach to developing fundamentals, without necessarily being discipline specific. Some level of "structure" should be appealing to librarians or as we say nowadays "Information Systems Retrieval Center Specialists" on my campus!
=8^)
There a couple of very good "programs" for developing the basics.
Steve
My recommendation was simply for an organized/structured approach to developing fundamentals, without necessarily being discipline specific. Some level of "structure" should be appealing to librarians or as we say nowadays "Information Systems Retrieval Center Specialists" on my campus!
=8^)
There a couple of very good "programs" for developing the basics.
Steve
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Fred Mannis
- Posts: 1298
- Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2004 8:37 pm
- Location: Delaware
In my experience women make much better (shooting) students, so that is a real advantage.Since the two who have some experience haven't fired in years (one was a deputy sheriff and the other took marksmanship in college) and the other five have no experience at all, I thought we'd start with "spinner" targets. This would give them immediate audio and visual confirmation of hitting the target.
When they can consistently hit the spinner targets, we'll move to NRA B-3 targets.
Thinking back to some beginner shooting courses I was involved in a number of years ago - we started the students with a blank sheet of paper at 10 yd and worked on grip, stance, NPA and sight alignment. As you point out, that can be a bit dry, so we added balloon targets at the end of each session. Inexpensive, plenty of audio and visual confirmation, and it also taught them the importance of sight alignment while the front sight wobbled in the balloon 'center of mass'. Also added a bit of competition.
Best of luck with the course
Fred
It has also been my experience that women make better students than men.
I remember back around 1959 when one of my old shooting instructors was talking about teaching shooting. All three of his kids, all of whom were NRA Distinguished with target rifle, were in the group. Responding to the question, "Who was the easiest to teach to shoot well?" he disconcerted his sons when he replied, "Joan. She listened to what she was taught."
I've read various things over the years about why this seems to be so, but I'm not convinced that there is one single reason for it.
I remember back around 1959 when one of my old shooting instructors was talking about teaching shooting. All three of his kids, all of whom were NRA Distinguished with target rifle, were in the group. Responding to the question, "Who was the easiest to teach to shoot well?" he disconcerted his sons when he replied, "Joan. She listened to what she was taught."
I've read various things over the years about why this seems to be so, but I'm not convinced that there is one single reason for it.
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Marc Orvin
- Posts: 358
- Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2004 12:23 am
- Location: Colorado
Miked,
I just have one concern. That is shooting spinners at 10m with a .22 pistol. I hope you are not talking about steel spinners. I'm fairly certain that the manufacturers of steel spinners recommend a much longer distance between the shooter and the target than 10m. Too much chance of the bullet coming right back at you.
I have a few of the urethane spinners that work well for close distances as the bullets go right on through them, yet they swing and give instant feedback like you are looking for.
Good luck with your club. I grew up in Idaho (Caldwell area) and my Mom and brother are still there. Nice to know that folks up there are still conservative enough to give this sport a chance.
Marc
I just have one concern. That is shooting spinners at 10m with a .22 pistol. I hope you are not talking about steel spinners. I'm fairly certain that the manufacturers of steel spinners recommend a much longer distance between the shooter and the target than 10m. Too much chance of the bullet coming right back at you.
I have a few of the urethane spinners that work well for close distances as the bullets go right on through them, yet they swing and give instant feedback like you are looking for.
Good luck with your club. I grew up in Idaho (Caldwell area) and my Mom and brother are still there. Nice to know that folks up there are still conservative enough to give this sport a chance.
Marc
I don't know about "conservative" exactly. I am sure that there are those in the Idaho library community who think that those at our library are all slightly nuts and this will probably help them prove their point. But we've pulled off some things others have only thought could be done, like initiating the first bookmobile and the first public access television station in the state (not at the same time).
I didn't know about the urethane spinners. Yes, I will find and use those as I too was concerned about ricochet from the steel ones.
Maybe we could have postal matches between library shooting teams.
I didn't know about the urethane spinners. Yes, I will find and use those as I too was concerned about ricochet from the steel ones.
Maybe we could have postal matches between library shooting teams.
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Marc Orvin
- Posts: 358
- Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2004 12:23 am
- Location: Colorado
I'm going to attempt to post a link here for you for the urethane targets. The company is Just Shoot Me. They make a wide range of targets that are very high quality and easy to use.
Hope this helps.
http://www.justshootmeproducts.com/
Hope this helps.
http://www.justshootmeproducts.com/
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infantrytrophy
Buck Mark pistols
The Buck Mark is a good choice for a beginner Bullseye pistol. When you consider the specific model, I would recommend that you choose the models that have a Weaver sight mounting rail. You will probably want to add an inexpensive red dot sight later, after you have learned the fundamentals of sight alignment and sight picture. If you get the one of the models with a Weaver sight mounting rail, installation of the red dot sight will be quite easy.
You will want to check on this because the models change frequently, but I believe that the "Target," "Field" and "Contour"models have the sight rails already installed. The "Hunter" model also has a sight rail, but it is only a half length, not a full length rail.
If you have any middle-aged to older shooters (over 40 years old), you will definitely want to consider the red dot sights. Vision problems typically appear at about age 40, and the red dot sights are very helpful.
You will want to check on this because the models change frequently, but I believe that the "Target," "Field" and "Contour"models have the sight rails already installed. The "Hunter" model also has a sight rail, but it is only a half length, not a full length rail.
If you have any middle-aged to older shooters (over 40 years old), you will definitely want to consider the red dot sights. Vision problems typically appear at about age 40, and the red dot sights are very helpful.
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Guest
Hello again...I'm just now back from two weeks in Ireland, but I wanted to say that before I left I investigated spinner targets and elected to purchase urethane ones over the Internet. The steel ones for sale here all suggested that they be used beyond a minimum distance that was greater than what we'll be shooting at. They should be in my office when I get to work tomorrow.
Just Shoot Me Products has shipped my spinner targets, and I have the members of the team eager to start working out on the actual range. We'll be using the 4 x 4 inch blue spinners to start (at 10 meters) and when they get good enough we'll move on to paper targets at the same distance.
I'm thinking of starting them off with the back of the target to them, forcing them to shoot for the middle of the paper. This way they won't have to worry about sight picture until I turn the targets around.
I'm thinking of starting them off with the back of the target to them, forcing them to shoot for the middle of the paper. This way they won't have to worry about sight picture until I turn the targets around.
Well, we had six people and myself out to the range this morning. We shot at the 4x4 urethane spinners at 10 meters, which worked very well. One of the people, who had never handled a firearm of any sort before, hit the spinner 8 out of 10 times before she quit for the day.
More importantly, they want to do it again soon. They're quite proud of themselves, and I proved myself a very courageous boss when I went downrange to check the targets and left them behind with the arms and ammo.
So far so good...and thanks to all for the advice and help!
More importantly, they want to do it again soon. They're quite proud of themselves, and I proved myself a very courageous boss when I went downrange to check the targets and left them behind with the arms and ammo.
So far so good...and thanks to all for the advice and help!