Things You'll Need at the Shooting Range: A Guide for New Gun Owners

Greetings new gun owner! Congratulations on your new purchase. Now that you have your new firearm, I bet you are more than ready to take it to the range and try it out. I'm assuming that you have a gun, you remember the gun shop guys instructions, you've read all the manuals, you know the fundamental rules of gun safety, you did any preliminary cleaning called for by your owners manual, you made sure the barrel and action weren't gunked up with any grease or packing material, and that you've got some ammunition. Are you ready to head out to your local shooting range? Not yet, here are a few things that you'll probably need.

1) Eye Protection - Since semi-automatic pistols and rifles eject empty shells and revolvers can sometimes spit little lead particles to their sides, you need some decent protective glasses. They need to be able to withstand impacts from spent shell cases or worse and also wrap around your face enough to prevent irritants and particles from entering under your glasses from the sides. Since there is always a tiny chance that someone could have an accident that results in a catastrophic firearms failure that results in fast flying shrapnel, you should invest in the strong, high quality, eye protection. Some ranges will have loaner eye protection available, but that eye protection will most likely have fingerprints from the last one thousand people to visit the range. Loaner glasses are usually sized to fit aliens from Area 51 rather than actual human faces.

2) Ear Protection - What? Say what? Huh? Oh yeah, guns are loud when they are shot. If your gun isn't loud, then Johnny Macho shooting in the lane next to you will have a .44 magnum to compensate for what your gun lacks. The Winchester SXT Earmuff Hearing Protector provides affordable protection for your ears. However, they don't do any good if you don't have them on as soon as you enter the range. Some ranges will have loaner ear protection, but you'll worry that the previous wearer might have been stricken with an exotic communicable ear fungus.