public range; weapon choices

**Sheila Mangiaracina PhD** · August 1st, 2011, 12:18 PM

New to forum and weapons. My husband and I will be in Bellefonte, PA this weekend: Aug. 5th. We'd like to find a public shooting range in that area, with instruction. Neither of us feel confident enough yet (NRA class is in Sept) to practice alone.

Any suggestions? Sheila

Also, he is tending toward a mid-sized Glock; I am not sure. I am a grandmother whose hands and arm are not as strong as they used to be.

Thanks. Sheila

**Rodolfo Fierro** · August 1st, 2011, 12:33 PM

The best choice to start shooting is with a 22 cal. The Glock is quite a handfull to start out with. The 22's are a lot eaiser and cheaper to shoot. I like Ruger MK ll or lll , but any Buckmark like pistol will be more pleasant to shoot. They make shooting fun.

**chess202** · August 10th, 2011, 03:58 PM

Scotia Range is a PGC public range just west of State College, in the Game Lands.

**chess202** · August 10th, 2011, 04:01 PM

Consider taking a NRA First Steps Pistol Class. They are listed on the nra web site: nrahq.org. If you are in the Pitttsburgh area we run this class every month at PMSC.

**Rodolfo Fierro** · August 13th, 2011, 07:25 AM

I second Chess202's recomendation of the NRA First Steps course. It is an instructor, one gun, and one or two students. A great way to learn about your new gun. Everything is specific to one firearm. Students learn to shoot, clean, choose ammo for the only gun that they really care about. The one on one is ideal for beginers. It is eaiser for beginers to ask questions than in a class full of people. A lot of certified instructors enjoy doing this type of training as keeping in practice. All around it is a good choice.

**pennyannie** · August 26th, 2011, 12:27 AM

[QUOTE=Sheila Mangiaracina PhD;1677756]New to forum and weapons. My husband and I will be in Bellefonte, PA this weekend: Aug. 5th. We'd like to find a public shooting range in that area, with instruction. Neither of us feel confident enough yet (NRA class is in Sept) to practice alone.

Any suggestions? Sheila

Also, he is tending toward a mid-sized Glock; I am not sure. I am a grandmother whose hands and arm are not as strong as they used to be.

If you are still interested in shooting and becoming familiar with the Glock, they jsut came out with the Glock G4. Its great for women because you can change the grips width and length (fromn the back of your hand to the trigger) with various different grips that are available specifically for that handgun. Glocks are good, but the one drawback I didn't like about them is that their 'butt heavy'. What I mean by that is its heavy in the grip because of the magazine and bullets, but when you fire, the compression through the chamber is lightweight, so your recoil is bigger, or more pronounced than if you find a gun that is more weight balanced either loaded or unloaded.
Hope this helps.

**Huskyoverlord** · August 29th, 2011, 10:38 PM

Hi glad your becoming a firearm owner , and the .22 cal they suggested is a very good idea , if intent on the glock ISSC makes a .22 cal glock look alike for training. By the way are PA public ranges limited to 3 rounds in the firearm? And training is a very big plus people who have been shooting years always learn something new. And not to be an ass but anything can be a weapon , you are a firearm owner.