Helping newbie blend in
It’s Sally’s second trip to the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office range. She is wearing a frilly, scoop-neck blouse. With a multi-stone necklace and several gaudy rings, she looks like she’s out for a night on the town.
“Sally!” I call, as she closes her car door. “Don’t you look pretty today!”
“I thought I’d dress up,” she responds. “After last time, when I accidentally pointed my gun at you, I’d lost my confidence. So today, I thought I’d feel better if I dressed up. We gals always get a boost when we know we look good.”
“And you sure do look great,” I reassure her. “However, we don’t want to ruin your silk blouse. If a hot casing were to come your way, the silk could melt. It’s so delicate.”
“Oh. I like this blouse.”
“And you should. Looks nice on you. I just happen to have a T-shirt in my car. Why don’t you go to the office and switch them out?”
“What if something happens to your shirt?”
“Don’t worry. A cotton T-shirt? Don’t we all have lots of them in our closets? It will be fine!”
Sally returns from the office. “The man at the desk wanted to know who I am. He had me sign in and review and sign a paper before I came back out.”
“Yes, Sally. Always check in the office before you go to the range. The sheriff’s deputy there keeps track of who comes in and who leaves the range. He’s always available if you have questions too. He has a vast background in firearms, and he’s there for your safety, as well.”
Sally is wearing my shirt. She looks down.
“This neckline is high,” she winks at me. “It doesn’t show off my… assets.”
“True,” I grin at her. “But imagine a hot casing flying toward you. What if it hit your neck and slid down your shirt? If you ever see a shooter hopping around and holding her shirt away, she’s doing what we call ‘the hot shell Watusi’!”
“I get it,” she says. “Is there any other thing about what I have on that you would change?”
“Looks like your shorts are a heavy cotton. They’re good. But your rings…”
“What’s wrong with my rings?”
“Let’s go to the shooting bench. It’s OK: the range is hot right now. We’ll take your gun out of its pouch, always making certain the muzzle points down range. Let’s dump the magazine. Now, we’ll pull back the slide to inspect the chamber.” I show her the empty chamber.
“OK. The gun is empty,” she says.
“Good. Now, even without putting in the empty magazine, keep pointing down range and grip your gun. That’s a good grip. Now, without placing your finger on the trigger, squeeze your hands firmly on the grip.”
“Ee-ow!” Sally puts the gun on the shooting bench and rubs her fingers. “That smarts! I’m taking off these rings!”
“I’ve found, too, that rings are distracting from a good grip when you’re shooting. You might want to leave them at home next time. But for now, place them in your purse.”
“OK. A T-shirt and no rings. Got it. And I did remember to bring my hearing and vision protection. I even wear the stick-it-in-your-ear kind as well as ear muffs, like you suggested. What’s next?”
She picks up her gun, muzzle down range again.
“Sally, your gun’s not loaded. Do you plan to shoot?”
“Oops.” She fishes her UpLula out of her bag and fills the magazine of her 9mm semi-automatic Equalizer. She pushes it into the grip, giving it a tap to make sure the magazine is firmly in place. She picks up her gun, about to aim.
“Let’s put the gun down,” I say in my calmest voice.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“First, remember the Big 4 Rules we discussed last time?”
Sally thinks for a moment.
“Oh, yes. Rule #3: Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. I knew better: I really did!”
“Yes, you remember that from last week. Can you tell me another rule that might apply?”
“Number 1. The gun is always loaded?” she looks at me. “Well, we did load it. And I’ll consider any gun loaded until I check it myself.”
“Is it ready to shoot yet?”
“Um.” Sally looks at the gun. “We didn’t jack the slide.”
“Right. How about you do that now?”
Sally picks up the gun, pulls back the slide and follows it forward to rest.
The slide doesn’t close fully, and Sally notices.
“What happened? Isn’t the slide supposed to close all the way before I shoot? And why do I see a little brass where it hasn’t closed?”
“When you jack the slide, you pull it towards you. But then, instead of following it back to its original position, you let it pop forward.”
“Why?”
“Because if you don’t have sufficient momentum from the slide, the round coming up from the magazine may not be able to feed properly. That’s why you see a bit of brass. When we pull back the slide to dump the brass out, you’ll notice that the round went in cock-eyed. The firing pin can’t set it off when the round is cock-eyed.
Another reason that the gun won’t feed well is there’s a little part in there called the extractor.
If the slide doesn’t have enough forward momentum, the extractor won’t be able to engage on the rim of the round. It needs to engage to guide the round forward so that the firing pin can hit the primer. It continues to hold onto the brass. The bullet fires out of the muzzle of the gun. The extractor, holding onto the brass, moves backwards, where the ejector whacks it out of the hole of the port.”
“OK. So, I let go to allow the slide to whack forward. Now can I put my finger on the trigger?”
“Yes. Remember to squeeze that trigger. Don’t jerk it back.”
“Can I go now?”
“Sure. Take a breath. Let it out. Finger on trigger. Squeeze.”
Sally moves her trigger finger. Nothing happens. She puts the gun down and looks at me.
“What went wrong?” she wonders.
“The Equalizer has a grip safety,” I tell her. “It cannot fire at all until your hand is high into that groove we call the beavertail. And then you need a very firm grip to push at the safety. Only when the safety is depressed can you fire the gun.”
“Marj, I haven’t even fired this thing, and there’s still a lot to remember,” she grumbles.
“One more time,” I tell her. She’s almost there.
She lifts the gun. She jacks the slide and lets it go. She grips firmly. I see her breathe in, then out. She puts her finger on the trigger and slowly squeezes.
Blam!
“I got it! I hit the target!” Sally is thrilled. “Let’s do it again!”
Marj Law is the former director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful who has become an avid shooter in retirement.
