Learning to shoot straight
 

I have been an on and off shooter since I went to visit one of my uncles who was an avid hunter when I was a kid. I was just talking to my new girlfriend's father and turns out he owns a shooting range (indoor). He offered to sell me a gun at cost if I wanted, and I would love to take him up on the offer. I asked him about learning how to shoot, but he is only in on the buisiness end of the range, he told me to come in and talk to some of the people there, and I will be when they open up again after the new year.

I was wondering what my options were on learning how to shoot. I can't go back to my uncle as he's in Virginia, and I'm in California. I'm sure some of the people at the range could teach me, but I wouldn't want to impose on them if they felt they needed to do it for free for their boss. I have no qualms about paying for lessons, I just would rather not get it from someone and pay them too little but not know it was too little and then yadda yadda yadda.

Would going to some kind of shooting classes be a good idea? Or should I just practice myself.

None of this will be used for hunting, self defence, or competition, at least I don't forsee it being used for any of those reasons. If I wanted to learn on a rifle (or would a handgun be a better idea?), I would assume I should get something that has iron sights as you're not supposed to learn on a scope (I don't know where I picked that up from, might be bullshit). Other than that, I guess I should look at how much it costs (don't want to jilt the gf's father out of too much profit by getting something expensive), cost of maintaining it, and cost of ammo. If I did get a handgun, I would probably keep it at the range, as he said they have lockers they rent out, and I would probably use it there solely. If I got a rifle, I would have to get a safe for it to keep at my place because I couldn't really use it at the indoor range.

I have no reservations against a gun that requires maintenance (as long as an ametur could do most of it). If the rifle was bolt action I would be fine with it as I don't need to be shooting repeatedly.

So, any help would be appreciated in getting me on the right track to being able to shoot straight. Thanks.

The military will teach you =). My dad showed me how to hold, aim and shoot a gun, you could probably look it up on the internet, because after that it's just practice. Do take a gun safety course though.

Also, it's probably worth noting that learning the craft of shooting is best done on a low recoil gun, like a .22 or something. They're pretty cheap as well, 140 bucks just recently for a ruger 10/22.

I have to echo the idea of a .22LR rimfire gun as they're probably the best and cheapest thing around to learn on, as you don't want a "cannon" as your first gun. Rifle or pistol doesn't really matter, and most indoor ranges will allow you to shoot .22LR out of a rifle with no problems. I would stick with iron sights as well. Better to learn the "hard" way so you are more flexible.

Most ranges will either offer New Shooter classes or demos, or will be able to point to someone who does. Personally, I'd just see if any of my friends were shooters, but you'd probably know something like that about your friends. Also, being in CA, shooters are a bit more rare (if you're in an urban area).

if you're thinking about a .22 rifle, a 10/22 especially, check out www.rimfirecentral.com as it has just about the best collection of rimfire junkies out there :)

They can give you all sorts of tips on what rifle to get, or how to make a 10/22 a real shooter ;)

Good lord, those guys are NUTS ;)

I also recommend a .22--cheap, small, and incredibly fun to shoot.

Check the NRA for classes around your area. Also, make some calls to some local gun ranges. Most have instructors on hand.

stay away from scopes, i had a bad experience.......
I now have a scar on my forehead from my uncle not telling me to keep my head back from the scope when i fired a .306 rifle first time with a long gun........ i think i got a mild concussion and later that day i broke my arm like nobody should, so stick with something that cant brain you and impair your judgement!!!!!!

enjoy the gf, mine broke up with me last night!!!
sorry about that rant