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Shots Fired: A Reporter Visits Vermont’s First Indoor Gun Range
Seven Days (Vermont Hippy Rag) ^ | August 4, 2021 | KEVIN MCCALLUM

Posted on 08/05/2021 3:47:02 PM PDT by absalom01

...

While the pistol was manageable, even comfortable to hold and fire, the rifle was a different beast altogether. Everything about it — its weight, tactical scope and overall lethality — was downright intimidating.

The fact that the first magazine refused to click into place didn't help either, further unnerving me. What if I just broke a $3,500 rifle? A fresh magazine worked just fine, though, and after loading it, I sent the target out to 15 yards.

When ready, I lined up the target in the cross hairs, pulled the stock onto my shoulder, squeezed the trigger and — BA-BOOM!!!!!

It is difficult to describe the impact — physical and personal — of that first shot. It felt like a meteor had struck the earth in front of me. A deep shock wave coursed through my body, the recoil rippling through my arms and right shoulder with astounding power. Being that close to an explosion of such magnitude — controlled and focused as it was — rattled me.

I composed myself and continued to fire round after concussive round, the puffs of acrid gunpowder smoke carried downrange by a powerful ventilation system. My accuracy gradually improved until it became easier to hit the target with the rifle from 25 yards than with the pistol from five.

It was exhilarating, but I never got comfortable firing it. I'm not sure what scared me more — the power of that weapon or the fact that I could have taken one home that day.

...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Humor; Local News
KEYWORDS: ar15; hipsters; soy
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To: absalom01

The writing style indicates possibly the writer’s day job is pulp romance books.


41 posted on 08/05/2021 4:56:06 PM PDT by lurk ( )
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To: BenLurkin

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-eVuUtVldS4


42 posted on 08/05/2021 4:59:18 PM PDT by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: 1FreeAmerican

👍


43 posted on 08/05/2021 5:00:38 PM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this? 😕)
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To: absalom01
Gun-Poster
44 posted on 08/05/2021 5:07:52 PM PDT by AlaskaErik (In time of peace, prepare for war.)
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To: absalom01
When ready, I lined up the target in the cross hairs, pulled the stock onto my shoulder, squeezed the trigger and — BA-BOOM!!!!!

LOL I would have said KA-BLAM but I guess that's just me. /s

45 posted on 08/05/2021 5:08:52 PM PDT by higgmeister ( In the Shadow of The Big Chicken )
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To: Lurkinanloomin

Or 45-70, tell him he will hardly notice it when he pulls the trigger...


46 posted on 08/05/2021 5:18:06 PM PDT by Made In The USA (Ellen Ate Dynamite Good Bye Ellen)
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To: Inyo-Mono

One year I needed a rifle for deer hunting and a friend offered to loan me his 30-06. I had shot a 30-30, shotgun with slugs etc. so I went out and bought a box of 20 to sight it in. We went out to shoot it and said something about shooting the whole box. After about 4-5 rounds, I was done. It kicked my ass but I did get a nice deer that year from quite a ways away.


47 posted on 08/05/2021 5:22:13 PM PDT by Mean Daddy (Every time Hillary lies, a demon gets its wings. - Windflier)
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To: cdcdawg

If I read the story correctly, he was talking about firing an AR-15/.223 ammo.

The first time I shot an M-16, the only thing I noticed was the noise the spring made.


48 posted on 08/05/2021 5:31:18 PM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: absalom01

Anyone else hoping the author tries being close to an uncontrolled, dispersed explosion next?


49 posted on 08/05/2021 5:31:28 PM PDT by Do_Tar (To my NSA handler: Just kidding.)
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To: absalom01

Can only imagine the reaction at kissing a girl the first time.


50 posted on 08/05/2021 5:37:23 PM PDT by ealgeone
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To: ealgeone

Now you’re just baiting...


51 posted on 08/05/2021 5:39:06 PM PDT by absalom01 (You should do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, and you should never wish to do less.)
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To: DuncanWaring

I emptied a magazine on full auto last year, and it was a little hard to control at the very beginning. The kick, such as it is, is cumulative. By the time I got used to it, I was empty. A very fun and very brief experience.


52 posted on 08/05/2021 5:42:00 PM PDT by cdcdawg (It's all so tiresome.)
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To: absalom01

Reminds me of the show the range NCO put on in basic training when we were to learn how to fire the M-79 grenade launcher, aka “the blooper.”

He had a 3-4 inch wad of padding between his shoulder and the stock of the M-79 and fired it, with him seeming to barely able to remain standing from the recoil.

I got “selected” to be the first to fire. And discovered that it had equal or less recoil than firing the M-16 rifle. I had used a 12 gauge shotgun in civilian life, and prepared myself for a similar recoil...it didn’t happen.


53 posted on 08/05/2021 5:49:32 PM PDT by GreyFriar (Spearhead - 3rd Armored Division 75-78 & 83-87)
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To: DuncanWaring

***The first time I shot an M-16, the only thing I noticed was the noise the spring made.***

Same here. Basic Training in 1966. We were warned that the spring hitting the back of the stock might scare us if we had never fired an M-16 before.

A few rounds and no one noticed it anymore. Now they have added more weight to the spring making less of a thump.


54 posted on 08/05/2021 6:00:33 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (30 days! FB jail for mentioning a Monty Python script about tranneys, and the 1936 Olympics.)
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To: dynachrome

Hand him a Remington 870 with 3” brenneke slugs. Let’s see how long it takes the bruise on his shoulder to heal.

CC


55 posted on 08/05/2021 6:03:21 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
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To: lurk

It was a dark and stormy night ...


56 posted on 08/05/2021 6:03:55 PM PDT by gloryblaze
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar

My initial reaction was “What the heck? Is this thing made by Mattel?”.


57 posted on 08/05/2021 6:09:12 PM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: absalom01

They closed comments on the article. Guessing too many people were making fun of the writer.


58 posted on 08/05/2021 6:31:07 PM PDT by gunnut
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To: absalom01

Wow, from reading it, I was sure the writer was a woman.


59 posted on 08/05/2021 7:22:47 PM PDT by Burma Jones
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To: Chode

However, he can suck start a leaf blower...


60 posted on 08/05/2021 7:48:57 PM PDT by jonascord (First rule of the Dunning-Kruger Club is that you do not know you are in the Dunning-Kruger club.)
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