Has anyone ever used a hand gun?

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I have never used a gun but I am writing about a character who has to learn how to use a gun.

I have chosen a semi-automatic pistol for the scene. Something like a SIG Pro, or Walther P99.

Has anyone ever fired one? If so what does it feel like? Is it very noisy, does it smell when it goes off, does it have much recoil?
How long would it take someone to realistically be confident and a good shot when they begin learning?

Any help appreciated.

I've never handled a gun in my life but I was in a position a few years ago where my next door neighbours house and car got sprayed with bullets. It is VERY loud (like bomb fire night only amplified) and it was extremely scary. I just had to lie on my floor in case any came through my window.

Good luck with the book. Sorry I couldn't have been any help to you.

Thanks babybird. It helps to hear about your experience. Comparing it to bonfire night is helpful. Hope you got over it.

Yes I got over it thanks. Tough as old boots me

The noise and the force of the "kick" can startle people at first, but they start to expect it. Firing a more powerful gun can also startle people if they only know about smaller guns. A person would need to learn to stay stable before getting proficient, especially when firing the second shot in a series.

In the story my character is told he must stand tense when he aims. Me must not slouch, and he must keep his shoulders and arms tense.

Is this correct? Or can a person be more relaxed when firing?

I'm sure more experienced people will chim in later. But meanwhile...

I did once. I used .22 ammo, which is a very small size. The recoil was not much, almost nothing really, I was wearing ear protectors and the sound with them wasn't much either. It almost felt like a toy, although bullets are bullets and they can kill so it definitely wasn't one. There was a guy three booths to the left with some kind of shotgun that would make the whole range tremble and was also very loud. And again, .22 are very small, from the little reading I've made the more common ones are 9mm and .45 and they are noticeably bigger. I once saw a video of a woman shooting a .45 and hitting herself in the head from the recoil, so that one must hit harder All my shots hit the target, even when I went for the smaller head, the "aligning both sights" part was pretty straightforward, but thinking I am a good shot is different from being an actual one.

Where do you live? You could just do it yourself if it is in the USA, I remember the place I went to in Vegas they allowed me and my sister to shoot guns even though we were foreigners and she was underage, so they seem to be lax about it there. And hands-on experience could give you some perspective on it.

With a small gun I don't think keeping tense is *as* important, but with a bigger one you should, least you hit yourself on the head

I don't think I'd use the word tense, but you do want to hold the pistol firmly.

What you typically want is called isometric tension, basically you should be pushing your dominant hand (which is gripping the gun) slightly forward, (away from yourself while your support hand should be gripping the dominant hand while pulling slightly back (towards yourself). This provides the proper amount of resistance to the gun's recoil, both keeping the gun on target and allowing it to cycle properly. It's not a problem with revolvers, but some automatics, notably Glock pistols, want a fairly solid grip, as the centripetal force of the gun recoiling sharply can cause the top round in the magazine to lift up during the loading cycle and become caught between the barrel and the slide, causing what is known as a stove pipe jam. You don't want to be super tense, however, as that can making aiming and pulling the trigger smoothly more difficult, you should be fairly relaxed, aside from applying the isometric tension.

Here's a little video better explaining shooting stances.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oqnc7SpPyIY[/youtube]

Depends on the caliber, but I'd liken shooting anything combat appropriate (9mm or larger) to having a large firecracker go off at arms length; you'll definitely *feel* as well as hear it. 9mm is a sharp crack, .45 ACP is a deep boom, .22LR is like a really loud cap gun, .357 or .44 magnums sound like small bombs and produce a noticeable shock-wave that you can really feel in your chest.

, Modern gun smoke has kind of a sour ammonia like odor, not at all like black powder or fireworks.

Depends on the gun and the caliber; heavier guns kick less than lighter ones in the same caliber, muzzle brakes and recoil compensators can help, silencers drop recoil so much that some pistols require a device called an inertial decoupler to function correctly with one attached, etc. Magnum revolvers are the only commonly encountered pistol where recoil would become problematic, as in actually painful IMHO, but some super light carry guns can be pretty nasty as well.



Depends on the person and how much they practice. I have a friend who's a natural, who can just pick up a pistol and sign his name with it, where as I have to practice regularly to maintain my skills. I hate my friend.