Rosstradamus
Member
Two men from my company's assembly plant in Shenzhen, China visited the office this past week. Call them Ming and Ping. Ming is from the mainland. Ping is originally from Taiwan. Once the workweek ended my coworkers Bud and Jack invited them to go shooting at the private gun club where Bud is a member. Ming and Ping accepted at once. Since I did such a good job with the visitors from Large Japanese Conglomerate in January, I was once again the photographer.
While he and I waited in the dining room for the others to arrive, Bud pointed out the doctor who performed Historical Figure's autopsy and another guy who is the reigning world champion at something or other involving a shotgun. Very swank. I could smell the money from the parking lot.
Ping had done a mandatory two years in the army back in Taiwan and was somewhat familiar with firearms although he complained about being restricted to a BB gun in China. Ming had never been shooting before. After a safety and nomenclature lesson from Jack, we went to one of the club's many skeet stations. Jack gave them a lesson, explaining how to stand, how to hold the gun properly, how to track the clay, and so on. Ming and Ping picked it up pretty quickly. Using Bud's 20 gauge Beretta, Ming hit three in a row once, then four in a row. Not bad for his first time even holding a gun. Ping had plenty of hits too.
After about an hour and half of shotgunning, we went to the pistol range. Bud had brought a Glock 23 (.40 caliber) and a 1911 (.45 of course). I brought my Browning Hi-Power (9 mm). Bud gave a pistol demonstration, then turned it over to our guests. Ping picked it up pretty quickly. Ming was shooting low at first, but he got better as he went along though and was soon hitting just under the bull. We then had them each shoot a target "for the record" to take with them. We had also swiped a couple of clays from the skeet range for them to take home.
I then took photos of Ming and Ping posing with the pistols. Ping had a smile a mile wide on his face. As Ming posed with a Glock in one hand and a 1911 in the other he yelled, "FBI!" Yes, I know holding a Glock and a 1911 at the same time is like bringing matter and anti-matter together, but we were smashing conventions at every step. By the way, everyone preferred my Hi-Power to Bud's Glock and 1911. Even Bud.
All those people who always advise starting a beginner off with a .22 should note that neither Ming nor Ping had ever shot a pistol before, and we started them off with a .40 and immediately went straight to a .45 after that. They did fine. Neither one said a peep about the recoil or the noise. They just rolled with it. I corrected the positioning of Ming's left hand (he kept grabbing his wrist) but otherwise they both fell into natural stances and shot pretty well, especially Ping. He could put five shots in an area the width of a softball from seven yards, no problem.
I had brought a selection of rifles with me, figuring Ming and Ping would like to pose with them, even though we wouldn't be shooting them. When I asked Ming if he'd like to see them, he asked if he could have his picture taken holding one. Did I have him pegged or what? He and Ping each posed with an AR-15, an FAL Para and an M1 Garand. Ming was beaming. While holding the AR-15, Ping said no one back in China would believe it was a real rifle. They'd insist it was an airgun or toy.
The irony of two men from what I still catch myself calling Red China posing for pictures with the premier Western arms of the twentieth century - and enjoying it so - was making it difficult for me to concentrate on my photography.
Ming said, "You are lucky in Texas. You can have guns." He said that two or three times. He asked me lots of questions about gun ownership. How many can you own? Do you need a permit? He was well and truly bitten by the shooting bug and wanted to know everything.
Someone remarked that now everyone at the factory will want to come visit.
Don't ask me to post pictures. I don't have Ming or Ping's permission, and I doubt the wisdom of showing their faces in any case. The PRC is still a communist dictatorship, and I don't want to take chances with someone else's life.
While he and I waited in the dining room for the others to arrive, Bud pointed out the doctor who performed Historical Figure's autopsy and another guy who is the reigning world champion at something or other involving a shotgun. Very swank. I could smell the money from the parking lot.
Ping had done a mandatory two years in the army back in Taiwan and was somewhat familiar with firearms although he complained about being restricted to a BB gun in China. Ming had never been shooting before. After a safety and nomenclature lesson from Jack, we went to one of the club's many skeet stations. Jack gave them a lesson, explaining how to stand, how to hold the gun properly, how to track the clay, and so on. Ming and Ping picked it up pretty quickly. Using Bud's 20 gauge Beretta, Ming hit three in a row once, then four in a row. Not bad for his first time even holding a gun. Ping had plenty of hits too.
After about an hour and half of shotgunning, we went to the pistol range. Bud had brought a Glock 23 (.40 caliber) and a 1911 (.45 of course). I brought my Browning Hi-Power (9 mm). Bud gave a pistol demonstration, then turned it over to our guests. Ping picked it up pretty quickly. Ming was shooting low at first, but he got better as he went along though and was soon hitting just under the bull. We then had them each shoot a target "for the record" to take with them. We had also swiped a couple of clays from the skeet range for them to take home.
I then took photos of Ming and Ping posing with the pistols. Ping had a smile a mile wide on his face. As Ming posed with a Glock in one hand and a 1911 in the other he yelled, "FBI!" Yes, I know holding a Glock and a 1911 at the same time is like bringing matter and anti-matter together, but we were smashing conventions at every step. By the way, everyone preferred my Hi-Power to Bud's Glock and 1911. Even Bud.
All those people who always advise starting a beginner off with a .22 should note that neither Ming nor Ping had ever shot a pistol before, and we started them off with a .40 and immediately went straight to a .45 after that. They did fine. Neither one said a peep about the recoil or the noise. They just rolled with it. I corrected the positioning of Ming's left hand (he kept grabbing his wrist) but otherwise they both fell into natural stances and shot pretty well, especially Ping. He could put five shots in an area the width of a softball from seven yards, no problem.
I had brought a selection of rifles with me, figuring Ming and Ping would like to pose with them, even though we wouldn't be shooting them. When I asked Ming if he'd like to see them, he asked if he could have his picture taken holding one. Did I have him pegged or what? He and Ping each posed with an AR-15, an FAL Para and an M1 Garand. Ming was beaming. While holding the AR-15, Ping said no one back in China would believe it was a real rifle. They'd insist it was an airgun or toy.
The irony of two men from what I still catch myself calling Red China posing for pictures with the premier Western arms of the twentieth century - and enjoying it so - was making it difficult for me to concentrate on my photography.
Ming said, "You are lucky in Texas. You can have guns." He said that two or three times. He asked me lots of questions about gun ownership. How many can you own? Do you need a permit? He was well and truly bitten by the shooting bug and wanted to know everything.
Someone remarked that now everyone at the factory will want to come visit.
Don't ask me to post pictures. I don't have Ming or Ping's permission, and I doubt the wisdom of showing their faces in any case. The PRC is still a communist dictatorship, and I don't want to take chances with someone else's life.
