The morning was crisp and clear, a perfect fall Sunday. An early morning get up and get moving kind of day. These are the days I love and always look forward to. Joni and I waited for Troy, then picked up Holt and met my parents and Aunt Pam. A short 25-30 minute drive from Bluffdale and there we were, the shooting area next to Utah Lake. No one was on the mountain when we rolled up in a Chevy convoy. As we spent the next few minutes setting up Dad's new target stand he built, and start loading up gun mags, I can look around at the lake, the mountain side, and my family. I love to share my hobby with the ones I love. Then in the cool quiet air the first shots ring out and the fun begins.
We all share our guns and ammo among each other and send some rounds down range. As we all get into the target practice and trying out different guns you could feel the problems slip away. All the stress in life, the funerals, and all the job stress just seemed to melt away. I watched everyone go up, try out the gun in their hand and then the words of encouragement, "good shot, nice grouping," and so on. I watched my Mom pick up a gun she had never shot, Joni's new XD sub compact, and shoot one of the best groups on the day. My loving wife went up and got her practice in, I could only think how lucky I was to have her.
This Sunday was special for another reason, of coarse any day spent with family is special, but today I got to live out a dream. When I first started getting into firearms I had a wish list of guns I wanted to own. This last August I purchased one that was at the top of my list, and today I got to fire it for the fist time. My new old M1 Garand, an all matching, 1954 Springfield Armory master piece. I loaded my first clip of 30-06 and fired at a pumpkin someone left at about 50-60 yards. The gun shot better than I had imagined and the famous ping of the clip being ejected brought a smile to my face. I then loaded it up for Troy, Holt, and my Dad. I then decided to dial it out a little bit. I had Holt use my range finder on a target out in the distance, turned out to be 305 yards. I was able to hit that with the old iron sites three or four times. What a beauty of a gun! It is one of the finest rifles I have ever fired. Some dreams come true and when this one did for me.... it was better than I hoped.
Family fun with firearms is what Sunday shooting is all about.
