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Alex held the pistol Scott had given him at his side. Feels natural, holdin' it. Lessee, I know what it is, how it works. Still got that stuff, I learned over years. Like walking and eating. I was OK shooting the rifle. That's the magazine release. With his left hand at the base of the butt, he pressed the button. The magazine slid out. Good. Empty of course. Safety. Scott placed several boxes of cartridges on the shooting bench. "That's a Ruger Standard," he said. "Mark IV, latest version. Give it a try." Alex opened one of the cartridge boxes. It was difficult to remove the small cartridges with his fingers, if that was how it was supposed to be done. He turned the box over and dumped a few into his other hand. Press it in, push down. Then another. "It's a ten round mag." Scott said. Alex added the remaining eight rounds. Pushed the magazine back in, gave it a slight rap with the heel of his hand, felt and heard the click. "You're doing great man. Now just point downrange and hold if firmly, pull the slide back." Pretty sure they got more faith in me than me does. It's ready to fire now. Where's the safety? There. OK, got it. Scott handed him a set of ear protectors. Alex laid the gun on bench while he put them on. "Even a .22 is pretty loud in a pistol." Scott said, putting his on. Jessica and Michelle did the same. OK, hold it firmly but not tight. Gonna kick more than a rifle. Squeeze. He sighted and fired. Reacquired the sight picture, fired again. Each shot was a little easier and more natural. "Pretty good." Scott said, handing him another magazine, already loaded. "Give it another try." Alex emptied the magazine, inserted the next one Scott handed him, fired the contents. He handed the gun back. "Not bad," he said. "What's the other?" Scott handed him the other pistol. "Glock G17. It's a 9 millimeter. A lot of people are going to a .40 cal these days, but the recoil is lighter in a nine." Alex assumed a shooting stance, sighted. "It's a seventeen-round magazine." Scott said. "If you feel comfortable, fire a few fast after you get the feel for it." Alex fired three rounds, adjusted his hold. Three more, another, another. Good. He fired the remaining rounds as fast as he could comfortably recover the sight picture. "Feels good," he said. He handed the gun back. "That's probably enough for a start. I'll take a look at mine when we get back, see if they jog any memories." He turned to Jessica and Michelle. "Ya'll want to take a few?" Jessica looked at Michelle. "You do any shooting?" "I do now." Michelle said. "You hang with Scott you shoot, hunt, fish. He's been teaching me." Michelle and Jessica took turns, each firing a couple of magazines through the Glock. "Show us what you can do, Scott." Michelle said. There were four targets on posts about ten feet apart. Scott loaded a fresh magazine into the Glock and turned to face them, and rapidly emptied the magazine, firing with one hand, into them. Every shot hit the center. Could I do that at one time? Scott ejected the magazine and laid it on the table with the gun. "A little practice and you'll be back up to doing that again." Guess I could.
"It's going to be all right." Jessica said. "You've got this, it just a matter of time now." They were on the way home, Alex had been quiet since they left Scott's place. Looking over at me. Guess I was about to nod off. "Yeah, I'm good. Just gettin' sleepy." "We did get up a little early." Jessica said. "You're doing good though, almost to thirty pushups. And you'll be driving - and shooting - like you used to in no time. "What do you think about living up here?" "I like it. Let's see what Scott comes up with, take a look." |
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