A Day at the Range (Sort of)

As mentioned earlier, I went out shooting this weekend. But, it didn’t go quite as planned.

First, Yosemite Sam couldn’t make it. That means we couldn’t compare targets or just feel that warm glow of companionship. Sigh. I prepared the range bag and went through my careful mental checklist: at least one box of ammo for every gun; zip my guns into gun rugs, place them in my range bag, make sure my ear protector is in the bag, get an appropriate number of targets. You know the drill.

I’d decided to shoot a self-defense pistol I’ve been known to carry, a carbine, and my bullseye pistol. The gun is equipped with a red-dot sight and I brought a little box of tools and a spare battery just in case I needed to fiddle with anything. Like I said, I was ready.

I packed three boxes of ammo for my bullseye gun, because I need the practice. I’m a little rusty. The bullseye league isn’t meeting this winter (the club’s indoor range is being upgraded).

I got to the commercial range, checked in, and set up. I shot a box of ammo out of the carbine, then practiced drills with the self-defense pistol. I was ready to do some intense bullseye shooting now. I placed the appropriate target on the carrier and operated a switch to move it out to 25 yards.

I placed a box of cartridges on the shelf in front of me out and started to load my pistol. No magazine in the grip. No magazine in the range bag. They were both home in my gun box. And, can you believe it; the range didn’t have a loaner.

I bought another box of ammo and practiced more with my other pistol. Next time I’ll remember the $(%*$ magazines. It was still good to get some range time in.