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[None]

I got to shoot handguns at the gun range today!

I'll stick to shooting DSLR, I think.

[Lord Shonus]

That can be quite scary if you're not used to it. They're loud, they make a bright flash, and the experience of recoil is something you're not likely to experience in most contexts. I do hope you had decent ear protection.

[None]

Yeah. It was a cheap headset that left my ears ringing up through my arm. Just, I dunno, having something in hand that can do massive destruction if handled carelessly (or intentionally) really, really unnerves me. I'm timid and my life is mundane enough that I'd never warrant having one for self-defense. Precision shooting for sport could be fun, but I'd have to get over myself (and drop all kinds of dosh) and frankly I'm in no hurry to do either of those things.

I'd never shot before, and so now I know a little better, so I don't regret it.

[Lord Shonus]

Oh, that's bad. Real bad. You shouldn't be experiencing any ringing from handguns with proper ear protection. Hope you didn't suffer any permanent damage.


I'm missing a significant amount of hearing in my right ear because of a shotgun when I was 12. Noise hazards are no joke.

[Frumple]

Eyup.

Also in all seriousness, if you're looking to precision shoot (or just recreational in general), you want longarms of one sort or another. Handguns are fiddly, inaccurate pains in the ass (more likely to be literally on that front, too, if you're not handling it right), but a nice rifle or shotgun is a much better shooting experience, if you're interested at all in it. Least that's been my experience, heh.

[Lord Shonus]

Learning the fundamentals with a .22 at short range and trying to get as much precision and range as you can with a serious caliber is an immensely satisfying experience. I find that the greater difficulty of shooting a handgun accurately is more rewarding, because the rifle does too much of the work for you, but both are fine skills to acquire.


Of course, it helps if you buy a handgun that is actually big enough for your hands. My APX Compact is a bit hard to shoot just because it is so small. Twas the only gun in the store when I bought it, and I wish I'd been able to get the full-sized model.

[None]

Tried the 1911 and CZ-75, which were full-sized handguns. Wouldn't want to own one, no. Always had an ideological soft-spot for the mosin nagant, though- some cheap lubed up soviet surplus for precision shooting sounds about my speed, but I am not nearly that invested. Also, them's big bullets!

It was the sort of ear-ringing that faded after a few seconds, so it was mostly benign- just the shock traveling up my arm, I reckon. I've had worse from marching band.

[Lord Shonus]

Mosins are not particularly precise, and they're brutal to shoot. Also, you can't get a barrel of them for a nickel anymore, which greatly reduces the appeal.

[None]

Welp, guess I don't need to own a firearm, then. No loss there. Appreciate the heads-up!

[King Zultan]

Ammo is also rather hard to get, as I got a Mosin back when they were cheap and it took a few years for me to find some ammo for the thing, probably would have gotten some sooner if I had gone to a sporting goods store but there aren't any near where I live.

Also they are way louder than a lot of the other guns I've been around.

[LordBaal]

Ammo is also rather hard to get, as I got a Mosin back when they were cheap and it took a few years for me to find some ammo for the thing, probably would have gotten some sooner if I had gone to a sporting goods store but there aren't any near where I live.

Also they are way louder than a lot of the other guns I've been around.

It was designed that way to scare germans, sadly, as the troops found out later, they failed to realize germans are mostly deaf from hearing other people speak german all the time.

[Lord Shonus]

The cartridge was designed for the original Mosin rifle, and most Mosins you see today have a noticably shorter barrel. This means that it has a much louder report and heavier recoil than you find in cartridges designed for a short rifle such as .30-06 or .303 British. There isn't really a shortage of 7.62x54mmR ammo in the US (and it is probably more common in Europe, where I understand it is a popular cartridge), but the lower popularity means most stores won't stock it very often. Of course, this refers more to the Before Times, when you could readily get ammunition of any sort. Online prices are trending down, but a lot of gun stores still have gapingly empty shelves.

[Eric Blank]

Gaping and empty being in the literal sense. I've owned a .300 Winchester magnum for 4 months now and haven't fired it once because there isn't a single store in the region that doesn't sell their ammo to the first customer that walks into the store on stocking day. The damn doomsday preppers and right wing militias are buying anything and everything in bulk.

I won't be hunting this year, that's for damn sure. I would hope the asshokes that shoot from the road while drunk wouldn't be either but that's probably asking too much of the universe.


I'd try a crossbow, but I don't think I could find one of those or bolts for it either.

[Lord Shonus]

It isn't just preppers and militia. It also isn't entirely the fault of scalpers banking on the price rises. Production's down because of a lack of components (particularly primers) and COVID restrictions on factories. Meanwhile, genuine demand is up - there's several million new gun owners right now, and if they average 100 rounds a month (not a particularly high amount, I shoot 400 in an hour every time I go to the range, and I'm not unusual here), that's a few billion extra rounds desired per year. Everyone I know who owns a gun (including me) has been buying whatever they can get because you don't know when you'll see it on the shelf again. It took me almost 3 months to get enough for one trip to the range. That's ending now, because online stores are starting to get inventory so you can just order it, but it's been a rough several months.

[King Zultan]

The cartridge was designed for the original Mosin rifle, and most Mosins you see today have a noticably shorter barrel.

I think I have the one of the longer types as it has a way longer barrel than other rifles.

I've also been noticing the lack of ammo where I am, as any time I'm near some where ammo should be the shelves are always mostly empty, and when people at the counter are asked it's apparently almost always the same people buying it all up as soon as they get more in stalk.