Monster creation underway?

So today Jon and I went out to cruise through the gun shops in town (there's really only three).  First one is a small shop with what seems like a regular customer base and a barber shop attached - totally old school.  Went in, told them I'd never shot a handgun but had just taken the course and was drawn to the single action revolver.  The ones I was really interested in was the Colt 1873 and Colt 1911.They showed me several, but then started talking about accuracy with it - and apparently a single action isn't so accurate.  It's a lot of fun - especially at the cowboy events, but not so accurate.  So I decided to look at the double actions.

I found quite a few I liked, that sat well in my hand and seemed to suit me.  The top ones on the list, however, all ended up being .357 Magnums.  I was staying away from that because it seemed so cliche, but it seemed to be the ones I kept saying "I like this one".  There was a gentleman there who was obviously a regular - he was chatting with the owner and staff, then sat down in the barber shop to get a cut.  When I lifted the S&W he said "that looks good on you, you should take it", and proceeded to make the rest of the time feel like we were with old friends.

The second place we stopped at had a range, so we were looking at the rental prices, etc., and who walks up but the same gentleman we saw earlier.  I asked if he was following us, and his answer was "not deliberately" with a huge grin.  He and Jon chatted while I looked over what they had to use on the range and got some information from the staff.  When I was done I joined them, and he introduced himself to us. (I'm not naming him here to keep his privacy in place)  We had a couple of laughs, then he said see you around and we all left.  Jon and I went and grabbed a bite to eat, then headed to the third place.

We went in and right away we decided it was definitely a better environment than the second place we were at.  There was a young man at the front of the store, and when I asked about the revolvers, he took us over to a display that held a whole lot of pretty guns!  As I pointed at two I would like to see, he says "do you guys know someone named X?"  My response was "are you kidding" and Jon laughed.  Sure enough, they went and let X know we were there, and he invited us back to the range to shoot!  With Jon's injured arm, he couldn't, but I was able to accept the invitation.  And then it got REALLY fun!  I had been pointing at a variety of guns asking to handle them, and every single one (and this happened at every store) EVERY SINGLE ONE that I said "ooooo I like this one!" was a 357.  Go figure.

Then it turns out that X has a S&W 686 .357 revolver.  EXACTLY the one I was most intrigued by.

We went back to the range, he reviewed some safety rules (still very fresh in my mind after the course), and then we went shooting.  X was gracious, and allowed me to shoot a box of .38 first - I did pretty good with that once I had figured out the sights on his gun, then he let me shoot the .357 ammo.  An entire box.  And it was AWESOME!  (Yeah, I know I've written about word usage, but truly - at that moment that's how it felt - awesome)  I was consistent, the gun felt really good, I figured out a stance that works well for me, and well, it was just TOO COOL FOR WORDS!

I can't wait to go again - I'll try other guns obviously, but this one felt....right.

We were so lucky to meet X, and I am very thankful for the opportunity.  When I have my gun and I go to the range, I will be paying this forward - as often as I can.

Target on the left is the .38, the right is the .357 magnum. Not too shabby for the first time ever shooting a handgun!