by Eric Vall
After we grabbed a couple shovels from the shed, Rolly and I went to work. The most important part of our little shooting range was going to be a backstop. It would not only help us judge range but ensure a safer shooting environment overall. We wouldn’t want be firing off blindly into the forest, because that would help scare off more animals than the noise already would, and may even wound a creature or two.
Digging was tedious and heavy work, and it quickly felt far too warm out despite the cool breeze and cloud cover. An hour in, I took off my vest as I felt the sweat build up under it. The black t-shirt I wore was already drenched where the vest had been sitting.
I stopped for a moment and stuck the blade of my shovel into the soft earth.
“How you doing?” I asked Rolly.
The grey haired man threw another shovel full of dirt onto the backstop before he turned to me and gave a thumbs up, but he looked pretty worse for the wear to me.
“We should pace ourselves,” I said. “We’ve been working hard, and I would hate to burn us out so early in the day.”
“Sounds good to me,” Rolly wheezed before he buried his shovel into the ground and leaned heavily on it. The old man was practically panting as he stood there.
I frowned and wondered if I should have done this alone. I hadn’t thought that he might not be fit for a day of digging. So far he had been more than capable of all that I had asked, so I hadn’t really thought about that.
“I think I'm gonna keep going,” Rolly said once his breathing slowed to something a little more steady.
“You sure?” I asked.
He nodded, pulled up another shovel of dirt, and got back to work.
I shook my head. That old man was more determined than some of the soldiers I served with. Every day I felt a little more grateful to have him around, he made all of our lives easier and didn’t once complain about the long days or hard work.
I picked up my shovel and followed Rolly’s example. It wasn’t long after I started to work again that I decided the shirt had to go. It was drenched with sweat and was good for little except making me uncomfortable, so I stripped it off and tossed it aside.
“Careful, one of the girls might see you,” Rolly said with a chuckle.
“You let me know if you see one of them coming,” I joked. “I would hate for them to get too distracted.”
We worked for a while longer and the mound had started to take shape when I noticed Rolly stumble, drop his shovel, and take a step back. He hunched over and sucked in rapid breaths for a moment before he groaned and clutched at his chest.
“Hey, you need to take a break,” I ordered him.
“I’m alright,” he said once he could breathe enough to speak again. “Just need a bit of water.”
“You sure?” I asked. “I’ve asked you to do a lot, so if you need to slow down then let me know.”
“I said I'm fine,” the handyman snapped.
“Sorry,” I said. “Just trying to look out for ya.”
“I didn’t mean to snap like that,” he muttered. “I just don’t like repeating myself.”
“Noted,” I said as I walked over to him and tossed him a water bottle. “At least we’re almost done.”
“Yep,” he said after he took a drink. “It’s looking good.”
I chuckled and looked to the mound of dirt we had just moved. It was roughly twelve feet long and we had managed to build it up about three feet. It wasn’t perfect, and I knew as it settled it would shrink but for today it would function as desired.
“You still feel up to shooting this afternoon?” I asked.
“Oh, hell yeah,” Rolly replied. “I love letting off a few rounds. It’ll be a nice treat.”
“Good, I wouldn't mind having an extra range officer to keep things safe as they learn.”
“I can do that,” he said with a smile. “Kinda nice to use some of my other skills for a change.”
“Hey, we’re almost done here,” I said. “How ‘bout you go grab the guns, the girls, and about a dozen old soda bottles for us to set up as targets.”
He looked at the backstop, and then to his shovel and nodded. “Yeah, if you’re sure you can finish up, I’ll do it.”
“Of course,” I said. “By the time you have everything gathered up we will be ready to shoot.”
“Alright, sounds good,” he said. Rolly then threw the water back to me, picked up his shovel, tossed it over one shoulder, and headed out.
“One more thing,” I called out before he got too far away. “Bring me back some food and find some of us all some ear protection. Don’t want you all going deaf.”
He gave me a thumbs up and kept on walking.
I grinned and went back to work. My arms would be so sore by the end of the day, but it was worth it to have the range set up, and maybe I could convince one of the girls to give me a massage.
By the time the group joined me at our little shooting range, the backstop was done, and I waited on top of it with a half full bottle of water. I had put my shirt back on in a hope to keep distractions this afternoon to a minimum. Every one of my companions, Rolly included, had an excited energy about them, and each one of them wore a big smile, but the girls did look nervously at the guns.
“Anything I should know about the morning?” I asked.
“No, it was pretty quiet out there today,” Paige said. “No rabbits, but we got a couple fish.”
“No sign of the mountain lion?” I asked.
“Nothing new anyway,” Bailey said.
“Good,” I said as I walked over to them.
Rolly handed me the duffle bag of guns and a small lunch wrapped in tin foil.
I pulled open the tinfoil and pulled apart some of the meat that sat inside. I shoved it into my mouth before I set the duffle bag on the ground and started to pull out the guns. The Ruger 10-22 would be my primary teaching gun for the rifles. It was simple to use, lacked the recoil of our other guns, and came with plenty of ammo.
“Load this up,” I said as I handed the gun to Rolly.
He nodded and started to fill the detachable magazine as I pulled out the shotgun. The Mossberg 500 was a solid pump-action shotgun known for its reliability and ease of use. I set down the all-black gun and pulled out the Remington Model 783 rifle.
“So who gets what?” Anna asked.
“Everyone will shoot every gun at least once,” I said. “I want you to get used to how they feel, how they sound, and how they are different from one another. Having a favorite is fine, but you will each know how to fire everything we own.”
“Sounds daunting,” Paige said as she watched me set down the rifle, and pull the first of many pistols from the bag.
“It’s not,” Rolly said as he finished filling the twenty-round magazine. He put it in place on the rifle and set it down by the others. “They all shoot the same, more or less. Some just kick harder than others.”
“Wait, these things kick?” Tara gasped as she raised an eyebrow.
“Well, yeah,” Anna said. “All that force has to go somewhere.”
“Right,” Tara groaned. “I kinda thought the force all went to the bad guy.”
I chuckled and looked at our arsenal. It was fairly sizable at this point, and our ammo would let us train for at least a couple days.
“First, we need to go over the basic rules of gun safety,” I said as grabbed a handful of soda bottles. I waved for everyone to follow as I headed down range.
“Do we really need rules still?” Bailey asked. “I mean, it is sorta the end of the world.”
“Safety is our first priority when handling a firearm,” I stated. “Even I abide by these rules. Nothing will ruin your day more than shooting yourself or your friend because you failed to follow a couple simple rules.”
“Wow, that sounded a bit harsh,” Anna said.
“Sorry,” I replied as I turned to face them. “I wasn’t trying to be mean, but this is important. Guns are dangerous, and they demand your respect
. If you are going to carry a firearm, you need to not just know this stuff but follow it.” I turned back to the backstop and started to set the bottles in the dirt.
“Alright,” Bailey said. “What are the rules then?”
“There are four rules to gun safety,” I started. “Number one, all guns are always loaded.”
“Wait, how is that possible?” Paige said. “I mean a gun can only hold so many bullets right?”
“It’s more of a way of thinking,” Rolly said. “If ever you find a gun, or take a gun from our stash, you always treat it as if there is a bullet in there and ready to fire. If you treat every gun as if it is always loaded then you lower the risk of doing something dumb.”
“Make sense?” I asked as I placed the last bottle and headed back towards the guns.
“Yeah, you can continue,” Tara said.
“Second rule is to always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction, and to never point the gun at anything you are not willing to shoot,” I explained. “If you point the gun at something and pull the trigger you will destroy what you are aiming at.”
“Right, because the gun is always loaded,” Bailey said with a nod. “Alright, I am starting to get why this stuff might be so important.”
“Good,” I said as I returned her grin. Then I pulled out my Springfield XD, and raised it, muzzle pointing at the sky, so the girls could see it in my hands. Most of my hands were wrapped around the grip but my trigger finger rested against the gun above the trigger well. “Third Rule: Do not put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to shoot.”
“Oh yeah, I’ve heard of this one,” Tara said. “Trigger disciple right?”
“Correct,” I said. “Guns don’t go off on their own. The gun cannot fire if you are not pulling the trigger, and you cannot pull the trigger if your finger isn’t on it.”
“What about misfires?” Anna asked. “Couldn’t the gun go off without a person’s help then?”
“Yes, a mechanical failure could cause an unexpected discharge,” I said with a nod. “But if you are already following the other rules that doesn’t matter. It won't be pointed at anything that wasn’t already going to get a bullet anyway.”
“I’m ready to bust caps, how many more of these rules do we have?” Tara asked as she eyed the guns.
“Just one,” I replied. “Identify your target and know what is behind it before you pull the trigger. The first part seems obvious, but a lot of people don’t think about the second part of that rule.”
“Got shot at by some hunting buddies once because the dumbasses didn’t think to look which direction they were shooting,” Rolly said. “If they had followed rule four, they might have known that me and the truck were off a little way behind the deer they wanted.”
“Holy shit,” Bailey muttered.
“They missed you though, right?” Paige asked.
“Oh yeah,” Rolly said with a nod. “Still scared the shit outta me.”
“Perfect example of why it is important to know what you are shooting at and what is behind it,” I said. “If we get in a fight and things get hectic, this rule becomes especially important. Always make sure you are not shooting towards your team, or something important like your vehicle.”
“Wow, this is a lot more involved than I thought it would be,” Anna said. “The last people who taught me to shoot did not go over safety like this. They were more concerned with my accuracy than my safety.”
“That’s a shame,” Rolly said.
“It really is,” I agreed with a nod.
“Well I was training for a nordic biathlon,” she explained. “My coaches were very good but very singularly focused on getting me the gold.”
“Still not a good reason to skip away from basic safety,” I said. “This will do it for now, but there is still more to discuss. Once you have the basics of handling the guns, I will teach you about the different types of rounds and what sort of penetration they have. Then you will all have a general idea of what gun will go through what sort of object.”
“I’ll listen to you talk about penetration any day,” Tara sighed as she licked her lips. “Though I prefer a more hands on learning method.”
“Then I will have to give you a private lesson some time,” I said before I gave her a wink.
“Well if you’re offering, I feel I could probably use a private lesson,” Bailey said as she went bright red.
We all laughed, and I shook my head. This was the sort of distraction I had been trying to avoid when I put my shirt back on, but I should have expected at least some of this.
“Alright, we need to get serious now,” I said as I dropped my smile. “I want you to have fun, but I also want to get through this with you guys without any issues. At least until we get you comfortable with the weapons let’s stay focused.”
“Now would probably be a good time to put your ear plugs in,” Rolly said as he walked over and handed me a pair. They were the squishy orange kind that you rolled up and set in your ear before they expanded.
“Thanks,” I said as I started to put them in place after I holstered my pistol.
Then, after the girls all had their ear protection, I picked up the Ruger 10-22. I walked over and handed it to Anna.
“Why am I first?” She asked as she took it.
“I thought I would start easy on myself and go with someone who has a little experience,” I explained.
She nodded and I had her step forward so that she was ahead of the others.
“Alright,” I yelled. “So here is what you are going to want to do. First make sure you are gripping the gun tightly. You don’t want to pull the trigger and have it jump out of your hands. Next, with long guns, you want to shoulder them properly.”
I raised my right arm and started to poke around my shoulder with my left hand. “There is a little pocket kinda where you shoulder meets your torso. If you poke around, you can feel it. That is where you want to position the gun.”
Anna checked herself with her one free hand and then, once sure she found it, she set the rifle into place. “How’s this?”
“Perfect,” I said after I walked over and double checked her placement.
She grinned at me and rested her cheek on the stock. It was clear that she was already a few steps ahead of the program.
“Alright, now that we have the rifle in place we need to know how to aim,” I said. “You glue your cheek to the stock and look down the top of the gun. Everything we have except for the hunting rifle has simple open sights, and that means to aim you want to line up the front stick between the two posts at the rear of the gun, and then you line up the top of that front post on your target.”
“Sounds easy enough,” Paige said.
“Yeah, I don’t know why, but I was expecting it to be harder than that,” Bailey agreed.
There was a sharp snap as Anna pulled the trigger. Tara and Bailey jumped as a soda bottle at the end of the range toppled over.
“Holy shit,” Tara said. “Warn us next time!”
“Hold your fire,” I said as I chuckled.
Anna nodded, removed her finger from the trigger, and pointed it towards the sky.
I jogged downrange, grabbed the bottle, and returned to the group. I set the green plastic bottle down where everyone could see the small holes in one side. Just like that all of their nervousness seemed to fade.
“That’s awesome!” Bailey said as she picked up the bottle. “I want a turn!”
“Rolly can get you set up for your first shot,” I said with a smile before I took the rifle from Anna and passed it off to Rolly.
I then grabbed the shotgun and asked for a volunteer.
An hour later all four of the girls stood on the firing line and chatted excitedly. At the other end of the range was a mess of clear and green plastic. They had all learned quick and Bailey seemed to be quite accurate.
“So then, do we just get to keep shooting?” Tara asked as she gave me a hopeful smile. The shotgun was n
estled in her arms and a pile of spent shells littered the grass under her feet.
“Not quite,” I said as I picked up the Colt 1911, and one of the 9mm glocks. “Now we learn to shoot these.”
“I’m kinda okay with that,” Tara said. “This shotgun is starting to, like, kill my shoulder.”
Teaching them to shoot the long guns had not been hard, but Rolly and I barely had to do anything once they were all given a pistol. They were excited by the feeling of the gun and spent a little more time shooting and a little less time aiming than I would have liked. However, not once did I have to yell at anyone for pointing the gun in the wrong place or keeping their finger on the trigger when it didn’t belong there.
“This is amazing,” Tara said after she finished unloading another magazine of 9mm ammo from her glock.
“Yeah, just shooting these things makes you feel powerful,” Paige added with a nod.
“I actually thought I was going to hate this,” Bailey admitted, “but, this is totally amazing. I kinda don’t want to stop.”
“Well there was a turn I didn’t see coming,” Anna said.
“Right?” the blonde hippie sighed. “I spent years hating guns and everyone who liked them. Now that I’ve shot them, they are really cool. I can see why people like them so much.”
“I didn’t exactly hate guns, but I wasn’t really sold on them being so easy to come by,” Paige said. “Now I just wish that I had learned to shoot sooner.”
“Yeah, this stuff is awesome,” Tara said with a large grin.
“I guess maybe I learned that I should try something before I judge it,” Bailey said with a shrug.
“Seems a pretty good way to go about life,” I said.
“It only took a world-changing event to make me realize that,” the hippie said with a laugh.
“At least you were willing to change,” Anna said with a shrug.
“It helps that so much of what I was missing out on is freaking awesome,” Bailey replied.
“Agreed,” Paige said. “My heart is pounding in the best of ways right now.”
