Siva Karthik Kakaraparthi: My experiences with handling a pistol

On a chilly Saturday afternoon of November, I moved to Red's Indoor Shooting range with a long held desire to operate a gun. The desire to operate a pistol arose from my interests to aim at things. I still remember the days when me along with some friends used to make bows and arrows from broom sticks and make darts out of needles and broom sticks to aim at calendars.

So, I started driving and missed my route but somehow made it to my destination. I was shocked to see that the parking was almost full. Wow!!! so many people with their own guns in their cases, rifles, and also children of age 12.

I filled a couple of forms and then I was allowed to hold the Wesson and Smith 0.22 mm pistol after being instructed on how to use, load and unload it. It was a basic pistol but I could see the very early concepts used while designing a gun.

Now, it was time to roll. I fixed my camera on the tripod, loaded the gun and started shooting at my target which was 7 meters away. I was neither consistent nor precise but atleast was close to both. I applauded myself that I was good for a first timer. After I shot 80 rounds, the target sheet was full of bullet holes and I cannot make out where I am shooting, so I started aiming at the head portion of the target and also changed the hold on my gun to a much casual approach and I was able to put all the 6 bullets into the head of the target, Hurray!!! I made it.