Midwest Gun Range In Elkhart

[Steve B]

Anyone go to the Midwest range in Elkhart that wants to take a new shooter? Here's the deal:

I picked up another M&P 40c at Midwest in Mishawaka today. They were having a sale and the price was decent. When I went to check out, they tell me they're out of hats and glasses. I was majorly bummed. It seems this is how it goes for me generally. If there's a free goody, they're all gone when I get there. They offered me a range pass. I have a range at home and have no desire to go to Elkhart to shoot. So if you know someone that's interested in trying shooting for the first time I would like to offer them a free single session range pass free of charge. Hopefully this will get one more person to try our wonderful sport and maybe even take that next step into firearms ownership.

A pic or two of them at the range would be cool.

 

[Cemetery-man]

They were having a sale and the price was decent. When I went to check out, they tell me they're out of hats and glasses.

Wow. When I was in there they had piles of hats, shirts and misc for the event. That's good. Evidently they sold a lot of S&W handguns since last Friday. I went to buy a shield but picked up a Beretta instead.

 

[Steve B]

I should have gone sooner in the week. I was having trouble deciding what I wanted for a backup/range weapon. I looked at smaller options in 9mm & 40 S&W. Then at 1911s and even a full size M&P. Friday morning I sat down with my wife to get her help as I couldn't make up my mind. A 1911 is high maintenance for someone who shoots as much as I do. The Shield wasn't small enough to make a difference. Plus, I can't get a FSS for it. Several gun shops and a lot of looking and nothing jumped out at me. What made the most sense was to get another M&P 40c. I have plenty of mags, holster (x3), 9mm barrel & mags and tons of ammo in 9mm & 40 S&W. It also means I will be training and carrying the same weapon. So that's what I did. When I came home I ordered a FSS for it. By the end of the week I'll have 2 matching guns. One just has a bit more wear on it.

 

[Steve B]

Awsome! Found someone who can use it. Have a great time! Don't forget to post a few pics if you can.

 

[Cemetery-man]

They offered me a range pass. I have a range at home and have no desire to go to Elkhart to shoot.

I'll be over!

 

[Steve B]

So what did you buy when you went to Midwest?

 

[Gluemanz28]

I'm a VIP member at the range in Elkhart so I go all the time. I bought a S&W 66 last week. They gave me a hat and a pass to the range. I will gladly give my pass away as well to someone that can use it.

 

[Cemetery-man]

So what did you buy when you went to Midwest?

I fully intended to get a shield. I have a M&P 9C and when I compared the two there really wasn't enough size difference to justify buying one. I decided to keep carrying my Kimber Ultra CDP II and so the trip wasn't a total waste I decided to pick something up anyway. As long as I can remember, I've always wanted a classic Beretta 92FS and since they were on sale, I opted for that instead.

 

[Gluemanz28]

I picked up a Beretta 92FS back about six months ago. It is a quality shooter and a great gun. I bought several factory mags for it from Botach.com. I only gave $300 for it

 

[KoopaKGB]

Thanks for the pass OP.

I should start out by saying my 29 year old sister works in a super corporate environment in the city and is very liberal which is fine with me but also very anti-gun, which is not fine. We've had some arguments on gun laws in the past and they usually spur up when she makes some bs comment after a mass shooting occurs and receives endless news footage. For years I've been trying to at least take her shooting but she never cared to go or even touch a firearm.

So I basically quit trying because she would just get angry whenever there was discussion involving guns. Her BF agrees with her but still had a desire to at least shoot. Well about a month ago she expressed desire to "shoot a nine" I laughed at that and asked her why a nine? She said because movies and music have made this gun the most popular. So I suggested I take her shooting and that she could shoot a Glock 19 or 17 some time. She agreed but our schedules never seemed to match up.
So this week we finally were able to get together at my place to go over safety rules and about an hour and a half of instruction and basic gun handling/shooting techniques. Since this was the first time they've ever even picked up a REAL handgun in their lives I went extra slow with them. I picked out a small assortment for them to try. Glock 19 gen 4, Zastava M88, S&W 638, Ruger LCP, CZ-82, XDM .40. I picked out the Zastava as a good example of a SA autoloader for them. Figured they weren't ready for a .45 yet. to do as I asked them after shooting which ones they liked the best. The brother in law really liked the XDM .40, and my sister the CZ82. I was using some cheap Tula .40 which was real light load made for a VERY soft shooting .40 and the fact that it was full size made it easier for him to use. At first my sister enjoyed using and dry firing the S&W due to the ease of loading it (she was having a bit of trouble racking the slide back on some of the other guns. I showed her the technique of holding the weapon close to your body, using your weak hand to overhand grasp the slide and pushing the grip with your strong hand but she still preferred the ease of loading the revolver. The S&W had wood grips and using the PMC .38 spl (132 grain?) FMJ loads she found the recoil unpleasant. The CZ82 had such a nice single action pull, that really sold her on it, plus the slide was still easy to manipulate for her and the sights were decent. They both agreed the Ruger LCP would be best for concealment due to it's tiny size but since neither of them have the desire to carry or obtain an LTCH, that was a moot point. Microscopic sights, plus long trigger pull and a slide that is difficult to rack made that gun possibly their least favorite. (I love the LCP since it can go anywhere, including non permissive areas) She was quick to point out that this would probably make it the most popular choice for a criminal to carry too, I tried to keep politics out of it, but I explained that

I forgot to take a fun "gun pose" photo of all of us, but they both kept some used "bad guy" targets to hold onto as souvenirs.

They both had a lot of fun and left with smiles on their faces. I told them that now we need to move onto shooting long guns.

 

[Cemetery-man]

They both agreed the Ruger LCP would be best for concealment due to it's tiny size but since neither of them have the desire to carry or obtain an LTCH, that was a moot point. Microscopic sights, plus long trigger pull and a slide that is difficult to rack made that gun possibly their least favorite. (I love the LCP since it can go anywhere, including non permissive areas)

I agree with them. Though it is cute and easy to conceal, the LCP is not a pleasant gun to shoot (for the very reasons you stated) even if you have ample experience. Letting someone with 0% experience shoot an LCP had to be an unpleasant, if not scary, experience for them.

 

[Steve B]

Thank you for posting pics. I'm glad you all had a great time at the range. Hopefully this will be the first of many range trips for your sister and her boyfriend.

 

[KoopaKGB]

I agree with them. Though it is cute and easy to conceal, the LCP is not a pleasant gun to shoot (for the very reasons you stated) even if you have ample experience. Letting someone with 0% experience shoot an LCP had to be an unpleasant, if not scary, experience for them.

It certainly wasn't a scary experience (well if it was they didn't tell me that). It showed them what features the manufacturer sacrificed to achieve it's size, say in comparison to the full size XDm which was most pleasant to shoot.