Tuesday, February 18, 2003

Lure of the range

O.C. shooters find indoor ranges to be convenient places for target practice.

By DAVE STREGE
The Orange County Register

Several booths sit side by side as if ready for voters to start punching ballots.

A shooter steps up to one booth, takes his stance, grips the pistol, controls his breathing, aligns the sight on the gun and squeezes the trigger.

Bang.

The gunshot reverberates through the air, a hole emerges instantaneously on the target and the smell of gun smoke lingers.

Welcome to the world of the indoor shooting range, where ear-protected shooters can enjoy firing a pistol at a target up to 75 feet away, stay out of the rain and avoid having to drive out of the county to an outdoor range.

Convenience is a big reason shooters frequent indoor ranges. The county has five indoor ranges, in Huntington Beach, Brea, Anaheim, Orange and Laguna Niguel.

Some hold competitions, most offer instruction and all give shooters a chance to put a hole in a target, commonly a bull's-eye or human silhouette.

At Evan's Gunsmithing Shooters World in Orange, the clientele consists of a fairly equal number of men and women shooters, Nancy Silliman, firearms specialist, said.

"A lot of couples come in; it seems to have become a couples sport now," Silliman said. "Quite a few families come in and, believe it or not, the wife will come in and go shooting, too."

Recreation isn't always the motive, of course. Law enforcement and military personnel take target practice, and citizens wanting to protect their homes come to learn to shoot.

When things get hotter on the homeland security front and the terrorist alert goes from orange to code red, the highest warning signal, everybody will want to learn how to shoot, Silliman said. "It's all about home safety." Well, that and recreation.

Why do people enjoy shooting for sport?

It's the feeling of a powerful weapon going off in your hand, Bob Hansen of Orange said.

Instant gratification, seeing the result as soon as you pull the trigger, Mervin Sam of Anaheim said.

Stress release, Steve Kane of Glendora said.

Fun, Sandy Hansen of Orange said.

Try it, you might like it. Just ask Dr. Walter Moore Jr. of Lemon Heights.

"I've been shooting for two years," he said. "It's a new hobby for me. I started at age 58. I'd never picked up a rifle or handgun in my life. Now I've got a gun safe full of them.

"Somebody convinced me to give it a try. The first clay target I hit, I was hooked. I went from zero guns to five shotguns, a rifle and three handguns."

Moore and a friend did some shooting Thursday at The Firing-Line in Huntington Beach. They opted for the indoor range over an outdoor range because of the rain.

But Moore frequents the indoor range at least once a month, enjoying the camaraderie, the chance to improve his skills and to escape from the outside world.

"You have to stay so focused on what you're doing. You don't think of the worries about the day, and if you do, your shooting just goes," he said. "You're all over the target."

Bob Blantz of Huntington Beach was all over his target, but not for lack of focus. At 75, his eyes have gone bad and the arthritis doesn't help, he said. Holes from 200 rounds were scattered around his paper bull's-eye target.

"That ain't very good," he said.

Blantz has been shooting for 61 years. Twice a week he's at the indoor range. Anybody thinking about picking up the sport would be wise to follow his advice: Get professional training.

"One (reason) is safety," he explained. "Second, you start off with good habits, like the proper way to hold a gun."

Richard Crompton of Anaheim Hills figured it was time to learn the proper technique after getting advice from friends in the military and his father-in-law, who is with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Sunday, he took a course at Evan's to get the lowdown on shooting his newly purchased Colt .45.

Now he feels a lot more confident, especially having learned to use his dominant eye.

"It's very exciting to fire that weapon and be in control and hit what you aim at," he said.

"I'm going to start doing it on a regular basis now, at least once a week."