Question from an active duty guy

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Hi all, i've been reading these forums a lot lately but this is my first post.

Here is my question/background:

I am active duty military (army/infantry) deploying very very shortly. Can't give a exact date but someone light a firework for me .. Anyways, i just bought my wife a Taurus .38 special revolver for home/personal defense for her to use while I'm gone. She'll be getting her CPL soon and I already have one. Thing is i've just recently begun carrying in this state, etc. Because I never had a need before, I only carried before in North Carolina when stationed there.

So I need input and advice on what the best ranges around the fort lewis area would be for her to use? I went and looked at one out in puyallup that was a shop/range which didn't seem to bad, but I wanted to get some input from the more experianced shooters in the area for a good place she can go to get practice in. Not really looking much for instruction wise as she grew up with guns her whole life and has been shooting since she was 6, she just needs to get back into practice and have a nice safe place and good enviorment to use while I'm gone to afghanistan.

My second question would be about 110 gr. Winchester Ranger JHP +P+ .38 rounds for use in her revolver? It's rated +P but all the research i've done on that round being used in it has only gotten me a bunch of "speculation" answers, and I usually only use .45 automatics or a lot of handloads through .45 and .44 magnum revolvers, so I don't know how her .38 would stand up to the higher pressures of a +P+ load. Anyone have any experiance with that round? It's not for her to shoot all the time or practice (i've got her cheap FMJ's for that), just enough to sight in and then only to be carried for defense after that.



Any and all input is appreciated my thanks to whoever offers up their experiance.

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As far as ranges go, I'm pretty sure Bullseye in Tacoma has training sessions. Not sure though.

As far as rounds go, out of a snubby, +p or +p+ won't make much difference. If you really wanted extra power you should have got a .357.

That said, just run a good grade of .38 +p through there and you'll be fine.

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http://www.fortlewismwr.com/shooting range info.pdf

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Yeah, she'll eventually get a .357 mag the .38 was more of a quick buy for her to have something now (I was also thinking i was leaving within 5 days at the time) so for the money i had at short notice and being they only had .38 revolvers or a lower caliber (and .38's as low as I'll go).

All i've gotta do now is find a model 60 2 1/8 inch barrel in .357 mag. She fell in love with her moms when she shot it lol.

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I will agree with Lurkus. Ft Lewis a great place to shoot. I have had bad experience at the Marksman.

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Areas to shoot near Tacoma.

You have lots of options.

Bullseye near the Tacoma Dome has an indoor range and gun shop. You already know about the Marksman off Canyon Road (indoor range and gun shop).

For outdoor you can try Tacoma Sportmans Club further down Canyon Road or Paul Bunyon just a few miles away and as mentioned she has access to Fort Lewis shooting range. Most are open to the public but do check them out.

As for the 38. Just remember if she can shoot well and is comfortable with it there is really no need to push her to a 357 snubbie. Have you shot one with SD rounds? Not a fun gun. Hard to place shots with SD rounds. Wouldn't you want to know if she needed to use it she can place 3 center mass rather than spray and pray. 38 +P are fine.

Get in touch with meand we'll work something out for her. I can do a one to one course to get her up to speed or refine her shooting skills (no charge).

Remember you have a mission ahead of you and if you know she can take care of herself you can focus more on the mission at hand.

Best of luck to you and God speed!


Young Kim, NRA Certified Instructor (pistol)

NRA Life Member, NRA Range Safety Officer

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since it's nice out, have her go to range 15 on fort lewis, it's outside, good pistol targets and the rangemaster is a hell of a nice guy.

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I'd send her here:

http://www.firearmsacademy.com/default.htm

Marty Hayes posts here occasionally. This way not only would she learn gun handling, but she'd actually learn some technique. The range is about an hour south of you.

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I'm active Navy, will be 4 days retired after 24 on the 4th, thanks for the service, and stay safe.

I was under the impression from another thread Ft. Lewis had open range time/days or something to that affect for shooting, and even sold ammo and supplies.

Woops; just saw the link to the base range above. Should have read the whole thing first.

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jbone wrote:

I'm active Navy, will be 4 days retired after 24 on the 4th, thanks for the service, and stay safe.

I was under the impression from another thread Ft. Lewis had open range time/days or something to that affect for shooting, and even sold ammo and supplies.

Woops; just saw the link to the base range above. Should have read the whole thing first.

Click to expand...

Congrats PRC, I still have another 10yrs to go..

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10 yrs is just around the corner, I only had 10 yrs justyesterday it seems.

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the marksman lets you try all their handguns for a nominal fee. you just buy the ammo.