Just got back from the lake where the family and I had a blast roasting hot dogs and exercising our second amendment rights.

We did some trap shooting with the shotguns, and then I shot my .357 Smith & Wesson handgun for the first time.  I’m a total novice with handguns, but I was proud to have put up a nice pattern of six shots all within about a six inch diameter circle in the center of the target from about 35 feet away.  I definitely plan to shoot that thing some more.  It feels very good in my hands.  I’ve only shot it this once, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt more comfortable with another gun.

I did much better at the trap shooting.  I used my Winchester Model 1300 Black Shadow 12 gauge and took second in the little tournament we had.  We went two rounds of five shots, and I shot down 9 out of 10 clay pigeons.  I only missed about three clay pigeons all day, so I was pretty happy given that I hadn’t even picked up my shotgun since last year before today.

Today was also kind of special because I got to shoot my grandpa’s Benelli 12 gauge semi-automatic.  It’s about 40 years old, but it still shoots as though it were new.  My grandpa died when I was 3, so it was a treat to shoot one of the weapons he used when teaching my dad and his brothers to hunt and shoot.