Myrtle Beach Vacation, Wednesday, January 23, 2013

JC Leahy

When I arose at 9, Dali was still sleeping.  On second thought, I went right back to bed myself.  After all, we're on vacation!  We got up again at 9:45 and ate a breakfast of pancakes and fruit smoothie.  We left the TV off and chatted during breakfast.

Afterwards, we disported ourselves around the townhouse.  I studied income taxes.  Shortly before 4, I suggested to Dali that we go out and find a shooting range for some target shooting.  She said she'd go shooting if we could stop at a furniture store first.  That was a deal. 

There are at least 3 shooting ranges in or near Myrtle Beach.   I tried to find them on Mapquest, but Mapquest doesn't do well with Route 17 addresses.  However, on the way home from Huntington Beach State Park, I had seen a target range and saved its location on our Garmin GPS.  We decided to go to that range.

First, we stopped at Casual Furniture World.  It's a fairly small showroom stocked with furniture that looks like it belongs on a backyard patio or sun room.  They have some okay things -- if that's the kind of furniture you need -- but the prices seemed steep.  The saleslady said they ship nationwide.

The target range marked on the GPS turned out to be the Myrtle Beach Indoor Shooting Range.  It only had two shooting stations, which were located in the rear of moderately large gun store. There was a waiting queue to shoot.  We signed onto the list by filling a liability waiver.  I had brought my .357 magnum revolver and .32 ACP pistol, with ammunition.  They examined my ammunition, discussed it, and declared that it was okay to use it on their range.  Apparently, some bullets contain iron, and those are not safe to use on this particular range.  That's interesting.  While we waited, Dali looked at some women's purses.  She tried to negotiate a discounted price with range co-owner Connie Gragg.  Mrs. Gragg refused.  She seemed oddly amused that Dali was haggling about price.   I engaged one of the salesmen in talk about how guns-store business is booming (for now) since Obama began his gun-control rampage.  I told him (and the rest of the folks in the store) about how Bass Pro Shops down the street couldn't keep up with demand for ammunition.  The salesman responded that the Myrtle Beach Indoor Shooting Range gun store couldn't keep up with demand for military-looking rifles. I told him I had just bought an AK-47 in Silver Spring, Maryland, and had a hard time finding one to buy anywhere.  He showed me an AR-15, saying it was the last one in the shop and would definitely be gone tomorrow.  Would I like to buy it?  No, I'm a Maryland resident, so I couldn't buy it.  No problem!  Maryland residents can buy long guns in South Carolina.  I could take it home with me.  How much?  $1,800.   What caliber?  It's a .223.  Nope, a .233 is too light.  I need to be able to drop a deer with whatever rifle I own.   The AK-47's 7.62x39 mm will drop a deer about as well as a 30-30.  But what I did need was a hunting scope for my new AK with some light gathering capability and a very wide field of view.  Something to help me get a quick bead on a moving target (deer) in dim light.  After some consultation with shop co-owner Ted Gragg, they recommended a NoStar 4 reticle reflex sight.  They handed me a 9 mm pistol with one of these sights mounted on it.  I wanted to know if it would stand up under the heavier kick of an AK-47.  Mr. Gragg said it would.  So I bought it.  I'll have a gunsmith mount it when I get back to Silver Spring. It looks marvelous, and all the Amazon reviews confirm that it was an excellent recommendation.

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Before we entered the shooting area, I gave Dali ear plugs and ear muffs for double ear protection against loud noise. I started Dali with the Beretta Tomact .32 ACP semiautomatic pistol.  She learned how it works and all about  basic range safety.  She didn't actually manage to hit the large target at 30 feet with 2 clips of ammo.  On her third clip, she became unnerved by the difference in trigger pull between single-action mode and double-action.  Flustered, she made a quick exit, back to looking at the ladies handbags.   I practiced shooting with my .Taurus .357 magnum revolver for another 5 minutes.  The lady at the other shooting station managed to shoot the target-handling cable apart, and the range had to be shut for 10 minutes of repairs.  I went back out to the sales desk and completed my purchase of the NcSster reflex sight.  Dali bought a book that Mr. Gragg had published (Guns of the Pee Dee).  She had him autograph it.  Then we headed back home to The Links.

On the way, we made a stop at Costco.  Dali did some food shopping.  I went to the Costco 1-hour photo counter and tried to turn in my roll of film for developing.  The clerk advised me that they don't do film anymore.  Wow!  That's substandard!  Costco in Maryland does a great job with film and they do it in an hour. 

At The Links, we didn't even stop at our townhouse before going to the gym and exercising for 45 minutes.  I'm not losing weight; I'm still at 197 pounds!!

For dinner we had leftover tomato bisque soup and crackers.  We watched The Fugitive movie during dinner, and went to bed afterwards.