When I was at the Ace Frehley concert at the HOI Fair I met a couple (Jeff and Stacy) there and found out that they own a business called Allegiant Firearms. It’s a business that sells and repairs firearms, shooting accessories and ammunition. But what really intrigued me is the fact that they have a shooting range. Outside of a BB gun, I’ve never shot a gun in my life. Jeff and Stacy told me I was welcome to stop by and check it out for the MBIP blog and they told me I could bring a guest. I thought my friend Amber would enjoy an afternoon of shooting off guns and so I invited her, she accepted and now, it’s off we all go to Allegiant Firearms! Bang, bang, shoot ‘em up, one, two three...
Here we are at Allegiant Firearms. Let’s climb this stairway and let the fun begin!
Wow, it’s big in here. We checked in at the front desk and they said Jeff would be with us in a few minutes, so till that happens, let’s take a little look around in here.
The wall are lined with all different kinds of rifles.
And there’s pistols and shooting accessories in this case...
And in this one over here. They have a huge inventory of guns in here and the different models are interesting to look at.
The guns are not only in the cases, they’re lined up on top of them as well. I never knew so many different models of guns existed.
It must be a little stuffy for this poor fellow inside of this case. Sit, Ubu...sit! (Hat tip to Chip Joyce for that one!)
They have a large selection of targets to choose from in here.
This is my favorite, it’s a splatter target that shoots out liquids that look like real blood! This guy reminds me of standing in the subways of New York!
Hey, check it out, Amber’s made a new friend in here!
The dog’s name is Dakota and if you stare at his eyes for more than seven seconds you will get hypnotized and become an agent to do Satan’s bidding. So let’s just move along!
Alright, here’s Jeff, who along with his wife Stacy is one of the owners of Allegiant Firearms. That’s Jodi in the background Photobombing this shot! Nice work, Jodi!
Since Amber and I have never properly shot guns, Jeff said he’d give us some tips and training on shooting here in the classroom. This is an option for first-time shooters here at the shooting range, you have to pay a little extra, but it’s well worth it as it makes the shooting experience a lot more enriching. Amber had to stand against the wall for five minutes for talking out of turn. I try to ask her to behave when we hang out, but what are you going to do? Sheesh!
Jeff is not only one of the owners here, he’s also a licensed and certified range safety officer and a very good teacher. Amber and I learned a lot about the proper way to shoot guns and the safety that revolves around this activity as well from Jeff.
One important tip is when you’re holding a gun, keep your finger away from the trigger until you’re ready to shoot.
There’s also a proper way to hold the gun before you shoot and here’s Jeff instructing me on that and he also showed us how to stand and squeeze the trigger. There’s a lot of things to learn before you actually shoot off a pistol and Jeff did a great job of instructing us. If you look closely you can see the sweat ring under my arm. I approached this as I do all things in life: nervous, sweaty and full of fear! It’s the way I live my life and there’s no turning back now!
Amber was more cool and collected than me and we shot off laser guns to prepare us for the shooting range. She hit the bull’s eye in no time flat and soon our training was over and then it was time for the real thing!
Here’s the doors that lead into the shooting range. The sign above the doors says, “No Stupid People,” but they let me in anyway!
Once inside of the shooting range, there’s rules to read...
And Jeff explained them all to us. Most of them are just common sense and I learned that Amber and I couldn’t try to shoot each other, which was a little disappointing, but what are you going to do?
Hearing and eye protection must be worn beyond this point...
Check and double check! We are ready to let the shooting begin! Now it’s really getting exciting!
Here’s the shooting range, we’ll be taking our pot shots out of range number one. Harry Nilsson would be happy. And yes, that’s the second Nilsson reference for this post, for those of you keeping score at home.
Jeff showed us how to load the bullets into the magazine chambers that you put in the clip of the pistols.
We started off with 22 caliber pistols. Here I am checking mine before I start shooting.
Boom! I’m off and firing at the target. I had no idea how good it would feel to shoot off a gun! It’s really a unique feeling and it relieves anxiety. This would be the perfect thing to do after a stressful day to blow off some steam and forget about your worries for a little bit.
Here’s Amber up and shooting. Notice her grip on the gun, perfect!
By now we’ve graduated up to nine millimeter pistols. They’ve got a little more kick to them and here’s Amber squeezing off a shot.
Let’s see how she did..
Wow, three shots in the bull’s eye! Jeff said this was one of the best targets he’d ever seen for a first time shooter! Mental note: If Amber ever gets a gun, stay on her good side!
Here we are with our targets. This was really a fun afternoon activity and I highly recommend it. Especially if you’ve had a stressful day, it really is a relaxing and fun thing to do!
And the rates certainly are reasonable! This would be a really fun way to start off a first date, it would be an activity where you don’t have to do a lot of talking as you have headgear over your ears and it’s something to have a conversation about when you’re all done. And there’s a special Ladies Night the second and fourth Thursday of every month. Check out the information for that and the hours by clicking right here. Thanks to Jeff and everyone at Allegiant Firearms for a fun afternoon and thanks to Amber for coming along as our special guest today! It was a real blast (pun intended)! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
Allegiant Firearms
8919 N. University
Peoria
309-683-0111
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Related Posts: Beers At The MBIP World Headquarters, More Beers and Dinner At Club LaCon and Then Even More Beers and Bowling At Lacon Lanes...Sheesh! and Lunch At Amber & Marty’s Fillin’ Station...Then A Brief Stop At Emack & Bolio’s...And Then Beers @ The Navy-Marine Club (Special Day-Drinking Edition!)
I plugged 16 shells from a thirty-ought-six,
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Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!
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Happy Birthday To Scott!
Today is MBIP pal, Contributing Writer and Wheelman, Scott Turley’s birthday! We’ll have an MBIP post about this coming up Friday, but until then, Happy Birthday, Scott!
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Bonus Movie Poster From Jaws the Cabbie!
Today’s post inspired Jaws the Cabbie to come up with this movie poster. Ha ha ha! Great one, Jaws, thanks!
