jaibi
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Very thought provoking. I've had similar experience with acquaintances when it came to reviewing their weapon choice. A great irk that I have is with the fetish of Glocks. In my opinion the gun is unsafe for most causal users because of its lack of the safety latch. I think each person should review guns and practice with a few before getting one.
So, once while taking a break from shooting at a range in Karachi, studying my targets while sipping my juice, a middle-aged, medium height, medium built, well to do gentleman approached and asked if it was ok for him to take the stall to my left, after exchanging the pleasantries I asked him if he was a frequent visitor (in reality I was aking if he was an experienced shooter to ensure my safety), to which he replied that it was his first time and wanted to test his new gun, which he pulled out of its holster from under his shirt with a cross draw. I observed that there was no mag in the mag well. though this was wrong on so many accounts but I give credit to him for not carrying a loaded weapon with which he didn't have any experience.
So trying to be polite and safe I decided to lengthen my break, staying well behind the shooting line sitting at his 5, and then what was the last time I ever saw one of my favourite full-sized Colt 1911 Stainless 45 ACP with wood grips?
I observed him pull out two mags from his other pocket, load them with three rounds each, put them on the flat in front, insert one in the mag well and then chambering the first round. With excitement, I wait for him to pull the trigger, I saw the flash, heard the big bang (in the excitement forgot to put on eyes and ears protection) as the bullet cleanly missed the paper target at 15 feet followed by an FTF. He clears it, reloads and the second bullet misses the target and the second FTF, third shot, no FTF as that the last round in the mag and bullet leaves a hole between 4 & 6.
He loads the second mag and more or less the same results with 4 FTF's in 6 shots with just one bullet hitting the paper, that too in the white. He steps back from the stall and sat beside me at the tea/coffee table looking disappointingly at the gun. I commented that it was a very nice looking weapon and enquired about where he bought it and for how much? He said the dealer convinced him that this was the most powerful and accurate gun in the market, but it failed to re-load every single time and was not accurate and that he is going to return it because there was something wrong with it.
I suggested that he hold the gun with both hands and try again, he did with zero failures, somewhat happy he enquires what was that about? I told him that he was limp-wristing and explained why the gun failed to re-load and the reason he was consistently shooting at 5'O clock. I suggested that he get a smaller/lighter gun that fit his hands instead of the most power-full gun that he can't shoot accurately.
So then he opened up a bit and told me that he was a jeweller, and had been robbed a couple of time and that he intends to carry it with him. I said you are still alive because you didn't have a weapon like this during the unfortunate robberies, if had pulled a gun that you couldn't shoot properly, they would have shot you instantly.
I suggested him to get a smaller/lighter weapon that the can easily deploy onehandedly from the confines of a vehicle and must learn the basics and practice at least 2000 shots from that gun before he starts carrying it.
Not sure what he did or did not do, I never saw him at the range again. The purpose of sharing the story is to lay bare the myth of "most power full" and "most accurate" gun in the market and going with the recommendation of the dealers/friends. Every individual has personal experience with a weapon, all guns (of the same caliber) fire the same round so the term "power-full in the context of an SD/HD scenario is misleading or even incorrect and a gun is only as accurate as the shooter.
Looks like a .22 or 5.56 Nato, more likely the later