There was an hour introduction to rifle safety
that we had to take before actually having the experience of shooting a rifle.
I learned the safety precautions and shooting techniques of the Ruger rifle
that we would be using and the terminology of that .22 caliber rifle. I also
learned that the .22 caliber Ruger rifle is a good for beginner shooters. The
excitement begins as we enter the indoor shooting range and finally get to
shoot a rifle! Even learning to load the ammunition into the rifle magazine was
very exciting. I remember our instructor Tom saying: Everyone have their eyes
and ears?” and we all responded Yes and then one person in the class says “We
don’t have goggles or ear protection”. We all thought he meant do we have our
eyes and ears with us, we all laughed and joked about it while getting our
protection gear. I had to put on safety goggles and ear protection that they
had provided.
My experience with shooting a rifle for the first time at the shooting range recently inspired me to write this non-fiction story. I think people need to know the basics of handling a rifle to have a better understanding this vignette. No, I did not have a writer or reading from class in mind while writing the non-fiction vignette story. I will be revising this piece for our final portfolio by looking it over and going to the writing center for help on revising it. I will also give it to a friend for another opinion to see if there is more revising that is necessary. I actually have written short stories before when I was younger. I learned from writing this vignette that I used my personal thoughts, learning experience, my actions and some dialogue from the shooting range that day. I found out that not only can you use your personal thoughts but you can include personal experiences and even learning experiences. I wrote my piece on paper first and I revised and looked it over on word processor.
