MonmouthShooter

Thank you all for the solid advice. I hope to make it out to the range this weekend and give all these pointers a shot.

My wife and I finally got 2 of our guns out of NICS jail this weekend. It took 3 weeks! A month ago, NICS took 8 days. Things are getting worse... I was thinking of picking up a 1911, but since I am out of Pistol Permits, I am not sure if I want to go through another 2 months to get the permit, and another month of INSTANT NICS I love NJ.

After all the discussion, Friday I took a ride to Cabelas (I was not about to wait 3 weeks for NICS in NJ!). Out of the list of suggestions, they had the Savage 111 (with the Nikon 3-9/40 scope) in stock. So now I am a proud owner of a Savage .308 rifle! I took it out to Range 14 yesterday, and took a few shots. All I can say is that I need to work on my shooting With my target at only 100 yards, I was able to hit a 3 shots in a 1" group, and the rest were all over the place, some missing the target altogether. This will take lots of practice... PS: While at Cabelas, I also picked up a Ruger 10/22 takedown for the kids to shoot. They had a blast with it yesterday!

I am confused. This is found on the NJSP website: http://www.njsp.org/about/fire_hollow.html According to this, I am allowed to own, keep at home, and transport HP ammo to the range, and use it there. This seems to differ from the opinions in this thread. What the NJSP website DOES NOT say is if I am allowed to use HP ammo in home defense situation.

Yeah, I found that out the hard way! LOL. They guy at Cabela's told me to grab those shells when I was buying the shotgun. Nice sense of humor! Like I knew any better... I have a couple of boxes of 2 3/4 00 buck on order. Hope they hurt less

Went there for the first time Saturday, but did not have my shotgun with me. Shot my 9mm. Had a blast! Love the place. I need to come out there with some people who know what they are doing and show me the ropes.

Got to test-fire my shotgun yesterday! Took it to brick armory, hung a paper target, ran it back to 15 yards, took a shot Blew a 10' hole right in the middle of the target! The only shells I had were 3 1/2 inch 00 buck. I did not expect the gun to kick so hard. Almost knocked me on my ass! I need smaller rounds!

Thank you all for your feedback! After reading everyone's responses, I decided that I will go with a .308 caliber. As for the rifle, It will be between Remington 700 AAC-SD, Titka T3 TAC, or Savage 16/116, depending on what I can find.

They sell targets, but not ammo. When I went there, there was plenty of lanes open, but I hear from everyone that that is not the norm, and usually you have to wait. Thanks to everyone for the feedback about the spent brass.

I decided to look for a place to shoot outdoors and with Range 14 being about 40 minutes away, I decided to go there and take a look. The place was great! The people working at the office were extremely helpful answering all my questions, and the membership price / range fee are pretty reasonable. $60 to join, $4/hour per person (up to 3 guests allowed) to shoot. So all I needed is 1 membership, and my wife and 2 kids can shoot with me without their own memberships. The Range Officer was loud and obnoxious, in other words was doing a good job keeping everyone on their toes I made a noob mistake (nothing serious) and got yelled at. No problem, will not do that again! Overall, I loved the place, and will be heading there on nice weather weekends, but will still do the majority of my shooting at my home range (Brick Armory). Here is a noob question that I forgot to ask the guys at Range 14: What the hell do I do with my spent rounds? Do I pick them all up and just throw them in the garbage? I have no use for them myself, and they dont have a bucked for them. Do I just leave them? Any suggestions? Feel kinda stupid with this one.

Let's suppose that the budget and the cost of the cartridges was not an issue. If you were to buy a bolt action rifle to shoot at the range, what rifle and caliber would you go with? The only thing I already decided is that I want bolt action. I used to shoot a bolt action rifle as a kid, and am kinda nostalgic about it. Everything else is up in the air.

I am a noob, but my first was a Glock 19 gen 4. Before buying it, I shot Sig p226, H&K p2000, and the Glock 19 gen 4. Picked the Glock. My wife has a Beretta M9A1. I love that gun!

How about using a laser bore sighter to check the sights? Just a thought from a noob....

I will PM you.

Can you give me some info about that?

Sounds like a plan!

Thanks for that info! I already have my "field day" scheduled for my hunting license. Once I get the license, I will head out to WMA. Cant wait! For now, will stick to the indoor range.

So what would you recommend I shoot?

I just picked up my first shotgun this weekend. I bought the Mossberg 535 with a 28" smooth and a 24" rifled barrel. I bought this particular model because I am planning on using it to hunt (eventually). For now, I just want to learn how to shoot it. So now it's time to go and try it out. But the question is where? I shoot my handguns at the Brick Armory, but do not know if they allow shotguns. I do not know where I can go to shoot it outdoors either. So I am kinda stuck. So here are the total noob questions (sorry if I sound stupid, cause that's how I feel right now): Where can I go and practice shoot a shotgun? What shells should I use for practice? if anyone here hunts with their shotguns, what ammo do you use to hunt with? Slug (kind?), Buck (Kind?) Any other beginner tips appreciated!

Let me start by saying that I am a complete noob. My wife and I joined BA about a month and a half ago, and have been there 2x per week since. When we come on a Saturday or Sunday, there is typically an RO coming in and out of the range, but during the week, we have been on our own. The first day we joined, we were told the rules, were shown around, and were left on our own. What I really like about BA is that it is never crowded. Every time we been there, there is typically only 3 or 4 other people shooting. We never have to wait, or be rushed. I also like the people that work there, who are always helpful, and willing to explain things and answer stupid questions. I think some extra supervision of the range would be helpful, but I am very happy with my membership there so far.

The first thing I did is apologies to my wife! I also wrote to Cabela's customer service, and got this joke of a response back: "Thank you for your recent correspondence. We are sorry to hear that. We appreciate you sharing your experience with us. We will inform the appropriate people. On behalf of Cabela's, We sincerely apologize for the negative experience. Cabela's values your business and we look forward to putting this situation behind us and moving on to serving your future sporting needs in a much more appropriate manner." Whatever....

After spending a few weeks looking for a Ruger SR22, I decided to take a ride to Cabela’s in Hamburg, PA and see if they have one. Besides, I heard lost of good stuff about the store, and wanted to take a look for myself. The ride took me 2 hours, but when I got there I was blown away by the selection of guns they had for sale. After going to all the local shops in NJ, and only having a few things to choose from, this place is massive, and has plenty to choose from. When I approached a sales person, and told him that I was looking for a pistol, he asked me if I was a PA resident. I told him that I was from NJ, and would like to buy something and have it sent to my FFL in NJ. After I told him this, he started YELLING AT ME! Seriously, no joking, YELLING. This ass screamed at me that I must have a purchase permit to buy handguns in NJ. I told him that I have one, but not with me. I told him that I just drove 2 hours to buy something from his store, and did not think I would need my NJ pistol permit in PA. I had my NJ Firearms Card, but not the pistol permit. I told him that I need for him to ship the gun to the FFL in NJ. So he proceeded to SCREAM that if I don’t have my NJ pistol permit paperwork with me, he can’t even talk to me about guns, and I should not be waiting his time! Can you believe this? I was shocked! I should have immediately asked to speak to his manager, but this guy got me so angry, I had to walk away. Who the hell trains these people? After cooling off (and getting in to an argument with my wife in the process, I tend to dump on her when I am pissed) I went over to talk to another sales guy. I told him I was looking for a few things, and I was from Jersey, and he will have to ship the handgun if I buy one. He asked me what I was looking for, and immediately pulled out the Ruger that I wanted. When I told him I will take it, he pulled a book from under the counter, found a copy of my local dealer’s license in the file, filed out a few papers, and I was good to go. Now this was more like it. I then told him that I also need a specific shotgun. I was looking for a Mossberg 535 with 2 barrels, a smooth and a rifled one. He went in the back, brought out a sealed box, and pulled out exactly what I needed. Perfect! Then he told me that for long guns I need to do the NICS check at Cabela’s, and send me over to a row of computers they had setup next to the firearms counter. A very nice lady asked me to see my firearms card and ID, and told me since I was from NJ, she was very sorry, but I had to fill out an extra form. So I filled out the forms on the computer for PA, and a simple 1 page for NJ. She took my cell number and told me to walk around the store while she does my NICS check. 10 minutes later my phone rang. My NICS came back and I could pick up my shotgun. I want to move to PA! Oh, and NICS is only $2. So besides some jerk, who was giving me a hard time for no reason, Cabela’s was awesome.

Thank you all for the warm welcome! I wonder what paperwork Marlboro PD will require for the additional permits. I understand that they run the background check every time you request a new permit, although it was just done 2 months ago. What about fingerprints? Reference Letters? Anyone know? Thanks!

Although I have been shooting with friends for a while now, I finally decided it was time to get my own guns. My wife in I applied for our FIDs and pistol purchase permits in Marlboro. When we were filling out the paperwork the officer asked us if we knew what pistols we are planning on purchasing. When I told him that I had no idea, he followed up with asking me why we were only getting 1 purcase permit each. He explained that if I was not happy with what I buy, I will have to come back and go thought the process all over again. This was helpful advice, so my wife and I got 2 permit each. It took 6 weeks to get the paperwork back, just like the officer told us. We went to a few shops in central jersey, looking for a 9mm and a .38. After visiting a few shops we realized just how bad things were with invenroty. What was told in several shops it that it's a matter of luck what I can find, and if I wanted to custom order something, I can not be guaranteed that it would come in before my permits expire! Finally, I found a Glock 19, and a S&W .38 bodyguard in stock at Brick Armory. The NICS took 8 days. Since then, my wife and I have been at the range 2x week shooting. Although when I was applying for my permits I did not think I would ever need to get another purchase permit, but only a few weeks after picking up our guns, my wife saw a Beretta 92 M9A1 come in to Brick Armory, and immideately bought it Myself, I am now looking for a 1911, and a .22 for the kids to use. I guess I will be going back to Marlboro PD to do the additional paperwork after all. Glad to be a new member of this forum!