This past weekend my parents came to visit me. During the visit my sister called my mom because she was unsure what to do about a group of guys that were standing outside of her apartment that she had never seen before, when she gotten home. Apparently when she was bringing something in from her car one of the guys asked her if she needed a hand carrying anything into her apartment, which she said no. She went into her apartment and the guys seemed like they were waiting outside, and overall it bothered her enough to call my mom which of course led to my mom being bothered about what was happening as well. After my mom told my father and I about why my sister was calling, my mom made the off hand remark to me "you need to let your sister borrow one of your guns" I basically replied that I couldn't.

 

For the past couple of days I have been thinking about it, and realized I may have been given an opportunity to get my sister to the range. Now my sister is pretty liberal, and while I do not know exactly what her opinion on firearms is, I have been assuming that she's the type of person that has no interest in firearms, fully supports "reasonable" gun control what ever the anti's are defining it as this particular week. So I am thinking with this incident and possibly a slight nudge from my mom I might be able to get her to the range. Maybe eventually she will get a firearm for self defense, or if I am really lucky she will become a firearm enthusiast.

 

First step of course is getting her to the range, but I need some information in order to do that. For one, what is a good range near Brick Township, that preferably has firearm rentals. Second what is their policy for people that do not have a FPID (I know that it shouldn't matter because that's only suppose to be for firearm purchases but that doesn't mean that a range won't have its own requirement, or it might be needed for a rental.) or live out of state? My sister lives in Rhode Island so if any one has an idea of what the laws are like up there, that would also be greatly appreciated to get her started on the right track if she does eventually decide to purchase a firearm.

 

 

There's Shore Shot and Brick Armory, both in the Lakewood Industrial Park , just needs a license and maybe fill out some paperwork, I see bennies at SS often ( request lane 1 if possible, allows you to view what's going on with the rest of the shooters )

My son in law is LEO in Cranston, he says Blue card  ( some sort of pistol FID ) and some sort of training class needed for handguns, DL and 10 day waiting period for long guns

Should be able to Google the current laws there, in the meantime tell to get some pepper spray

Shore shot in Lakewood rents guns. Nice staff and good range officers and supervision. Go during off hours so it's not packed. I don't like the lack of range supervision at Brick Armory.

What's the distance do those shooting lanes go to at those two ranges?

25 yards I think.

25 yds.

cool, I assume that they have .22 pistols to rent. Any recommendation what is the best .22 pistol to use for training a person new to shooting? I have a number of firearms, but I really don't have any that make great trainers.

Shore Shot is the better choice of the two. Brick has a very limited rental selection. IF she shows any interest you may want to try a trip to Heritage Guild in Easton PA. Yes it's a day trip, but Tuesday is Ladies Day. They have a great selection of rentals, a friendly staff, and great range safety officers offering lots of advice if wanted.

I'll keep that in mind though I don't think that will be an option due to available time. When she is in NJ she normally does not a lot of spare time, between visiting friends and family that she only gets to see a couple of times a year. Unfortunately, unless she absolutely falls in love with shooting, she won't have anybody around to actively encourage her to continue shooting even if she turns out to be interested in shooting.

 

Also a slight modification to my previous question, what is the best and most fun .22 to teach a new shooter on? My hope is that she will enjoy shooting enough that she will continue on her own.

Also a slight modification to my previous question, what is the best and most fun .22 to teach a new shooter on? My hope is that she will enjoy shooting enough that she will continue on her own.

If renting you're going to be confined to whatever they have available, don't know what that is

You'll need to buy ammo there, I say keep it to one or 2 boxes ( $10 for 50 rnds of .22 is brutal ) then move on to a higher cal. like 9mm or .38

The Ruger mk semi autos are nice to start on and if she likes it and buys one they are a very accurate and are built well. Only downside is if she ends up buying it is takin it down for cleaning. Really any .22 pistol is good to start on the sr22 is more like a normal semiauto in that to rack the slide to charge.

+1 ruger sr22. Eats anything. Fun to shoot.

So the Ruger SR22 seems to be the best pistol to train a new person on. I am guessing that you would also say that if I had the money for one it's worth buying? 

So the Ruger SR22 seems to be the best pistol to train a new person on. I am guessing that you would also say that if I had the money for one it's worth buying?

 

I prefer the dedicated 22 pistols rather than the little brothers of centerfire pistols. The Browning Buckmark is my favorite, but the Ruger Mark pistols are decent too.

Sr-22 is a blast. Same action as other semi pistols and has a nice feel to it. I would think for a new shooter it doesn't come off as intimidating either. Not huge and nice weight to size ratio.

I prefer the dedicated 22 pistols rather than the little brothers of centerfire pistols. The Browning Buckmark is my favorite, but the Ruger Mark pistols are decent too.

 

 

I agree. I also like the browning or the ruger mk but for a new shooter that might move up to a centerfire i would think it would be good to train them on a gun more like the centerfore gun they might shoot.

OP I like my sr22 as well. It will be very easy for her to transition into a larger semi auto in the future if things go well.

 

 

I prefer the dedicated 22 pistols rather than the little brothers of centerfire pistols. The Browning Buckmark is my favorite, but the Ruger Mark pistols are decent too.

You don't consider the sr22 a dedicated .22? Or you just like the target style .22's?

 

 

OP I like my sr22 as well. It will be very easy for her to transition into a larger semi auto in the future if things go well.

 

 

 

You don't consider the sr22 a dedicated .22? Or you just like the target style .22's?

 

 

By dedicated he is referring to the action style. There really are not any centerfire guns that use the rear style bolt like the buckmark and the mk's. The Sr is a 22 but the action is more like a p95 or glock or any other.

Gotcha.

Well at the very least I like the looks of the ruger mk and sr22 pistols and would not mind owning either. There is a gun show Ill be going to this weekend so Ill be checking both of them out. I have been wanting to get myself a .22 for a while any way, it's just when ever I go to a gun show I almost always find some cool Military surplus firearm that I decide I want, and end up buying instead.

I have a mkii with the 6 7/8 barrel and I love that gun. That gun will never be sold accurate as heck and the only ammo I have found that it doesn't like is wolf match too much line on the bullets causes too many FTE.

So the Ruger SR22 seems to be the best pistol to train a new person on. I am guessing that you would also say that if I had the money for one it's worth buying?

 

 

Yup. Worth the buy. The mk series are really nice and probably more accurate but also more complicated - significantly - to break down and maintain, as well as more expensive. Look on rugers site, they have videos showing breakdown procedures on the mk's. the sr22 is simple, fun, reliable, and cost less. I've seen them in the low 300's new in box. IMO the I'd snag an sr ASAP and grab a mk down the line

I'm shocked that no one suggested a Taurus or a Smith and Wesson revolver.  NO slide to rack, no gun to dis-assemble.  Just swing-open the cylinder and clean what you can see with a toothbrush (around the forcing cone) and a .25 cal brush for the chambers.  This way you won't have to run to Rhode Island to clean it or un-jam it for her!  Move up to a GP-100 for everything from wad-cutter practice rounds up to .357's.......

 

I can teach a Noob to hit the X-ring with a revolver in less than 18 rounds from 10 yards away.  WHERE the shots go is more important than how many in a mag.......

 

IF she's "mechanical", then maybe a semi-auto is a good start.  But wheelguns rule when it comes to teaching Noobs!

 

Dave

I'm shocked that no one suggested a Taurus or a Smith and Wesson revolver.  NO slide to rack, no gun to dis-assemble.  Just swing-open the cylinder and clean what you can see with a toothbrush (around the forcing cone) and a .25 cal brush for the chambers.  This way you won't have to run to Rhode Island to clean it or un-jam it for her!  Move up to a GP-100 for everything from wad-cutter practice rounds up to .357's.......

 

I can teach a Noob to hit the X-ring with a revolver in less than 18 rounds from 10 yards away.  WHERE the shots go is more important than how many in a mag.......

 

IF she's "mechanical", then maybe a semi-auto is a good start.  But wheelguns rule when it comes to teaching Noobs!

 

Dave

You think that it would make that big of a difference at least for initial training? I definitely agree that if she were to buy a firearm for self defense a revolver is a great recommendation (hell my own home defense firearm is a S&W M1917).  

I was hoping a trip to the gun show would help me with making a choice on which .22 to buy, but of course it did the opposite. The sr22 was edging out the mk, but I was also liking the SAA style .22s and the Beretta Neos. Though I am thinking with the SAA style it might not be as much fun for people that had not already been interested in firearms, while the Beretta Neos I am liking just because it looks interesting compared to a lot of pistols.

 

 

 

Fortunately todays trip was not a complete waste as I got some 6.5 Swedish ammo and 20 .45 full moon clips for my M1917 since I somehow lost all 5 I originally had. Ill go back tomorrow and hopefully be able to finally decide.

First step of course is getting her to the range, but I need some information in order to do that. For one, what is a good range near Brick Township, that preferably has firearm rentals.

I tell you what...forget about Shore Shot or Brick Armory.  Reach out to me when your sister is in town and I will guest you both into my range.  I've got 5 pistols that she can try (9mm and 22), steel plates, target stands...the whole magilla.  We can spend as little or as much time as she'd like in a private safe environment where most importantly she won't feel rushed by an hourly time limit.

Honestly, if this is *specifically* to teach your sis how to shoot, I'd go with the SR.  It has the same nomenclature as most other semi pistols.  If its for YOU, and also to teach her the basics, maybe a mk would be better.  If its something that you could teach her, then eventually she could own as a full size, maybe a glock, sig, etc with conversion kit.  

Well I decided to go with the sr22. It seemed like it would be the most fun to shoot, and besides teach my sister and any other person in the future, that's all I mainly would be taking it to the range for myself.

Well I finally got my sister to the range yesterday and it went very well. I ended up not bringing the ruger sr22 up that I bought just because my mother really does not like firearms in the house. Instead we rented a river Mk pistol and a glock 17 at shore shot. I started her with the ruger until she got comfortable with that than she wanted to try the glock. The difference is in recoil startled her of course at first, but she quickly grew quite comfortable with it, and shot some decent groups with it. She actually ended up preferring the block over the ruger. She wants to go shooting again which is a good sign. Even better she said she would like to get a lime green pistol, though I know her well enough that I know she is not yet actually to the point that she would spend the money on a firearm yet. Hopefully in a month I will be able to take her to the range again.

That's great now you and your sis can present a united front and get mom on board