Jimmy stopped shooting, and Noah continued practicing his shooting alone next to him. Noah had excellent shooting skills, and his hit rate for rapid-fire shooting at a 15-meter head target was very high. In contrast, Jimmy's shooting was quite dismal; at a 10-meter chest target, he estimated that half of the bullets missed the target. For someone firing a gun for the first time and with a bit too much power, although understandable, it was indeed a disservice to the police uniform he was wearing.
Out of boredom, Jimmy picked up various handguns from the table to get a feel for them, but he was most interested in the revolvers. There was no helping it; he had seen too many movies. The revolver was truly the classic of classics among handguns. There were two revolvers on the table. One was a Smith and Wesson .38 revolver, once commonly used by American police officers; it had a low ammunition capacity and lacked power, but since many police officers were accustomed to it, they continued to use it. For those unfamiliar with the name, they could recall the small pistols used by police in old Hong Kong movies. The other was a Ruger GP100, currently only issued to some police agencies.
When his arms and wrists had mostly recovered, Jimmy picked up the Ruger GP100, loaded a bullet, and test fired, hitting the left chest heart area of a 10-meter body target. Noah also stopped, had Jimmy load a few more bullets, and then taught him the correct way to hold and fire the revolver, as it was entirely different from shooting a semi-automatic handgun.
"Bang"X4
Together with the initial shot, a total of five shots, four hit the target, two at the heart location. Noah, seemingly lost in thought, asked Jimmy to pause for a moment.
After thinking for a few minutes, Noah walked over to the manager and asked him to bring a few more guns over. After a wait, the manager came over with a basket containing several revolvers.
Noah took one out, loaded it, and handed it to Jimmy, "Try this one, shoot all the rounds."
Jimmy aimed and fired. The recoil was quite strong, and the muzzle jumped wildly. After all six shots, five hit the target, one in the heart area.
Noah changed to another revolver, loaded it, and handed it to Jimmy. This time, without Noah's prompt, Jimmy directly picked it up, aimed, and fired. Again, six shots with five hitting the target, although this time none hit the lethal zone.
Noah continued with another revolver; Jimmy's performance suddenly dropped, with only three shots hitting the target.
Noah had Jimmy stop; this was a clear sign that his arms and wrists could no longer control the handgun's recoil.
After collecting all the handguns and bullets, Noah took Jimmy and left the shooting range.
Back at the police station, they returned their patrol gear. Noah dropped Jimmy off at his house and then returned to the station. He went to the chief's office, talked with Chief James for a while, and then headed home.
When Jimmy got home, he quickly stripped off his clothes and threw himself into the bathroom to shower, bathing his arms in warm water and massaging them with his left hand for a long while to ease the soreness in his arms.
Jimmy was no stranger to muscle soreness from long-term training, but this was the first time he had experienced soreness from shooting like this. Firearms, undoubtedly, hold great interest for many, and many Chinese visitors to the United States often seek out clubs or shooting ranges where they can legally shoot guns. However, for Jimmy, this was a new professional skill, different from hobbyists; he had to quickly become proficient and able to use it in real situations, and the pressure suddenly increased a lot.
The next day, Jimmy woke up to find his arms still somewhat sore, but it basically did not affect regular use. He bought a hamburger and coffee and then took a taxi to the police station. His current residence was still a bit far from the station to walk, especially since he had never bothered to buy a car.
Today, Noah was again taking Jimmy on patrol, with the plan to patrol in the morning and go to the shooting range in the afternoon. However, Noah noticed that all the incidents reported over the radio that morning were minor disputes except for one high school fight, which was resolved by mediation at the scene.
In the afternoon at the shooting range, Noah had the manager directly bring out the revolvers from the day before and let Jimmy try again.
With a day's break, and his arm recovered, Jimmy's shooting with the revolver was significantly smoother and more accurate than the day before. Shooting three rounds in succession, all hit a 10-meter chest target, with four bullets hitting the heart area, a far better hit rate than with the semi-automatic pistol from the previous day.
"Jimmy, it seems you do have a talent for shooting. Take a break, then try the Beretta 92F."
Noah continued practicing nearby, while Jimmy, sitting at the shooting bench, looked at the firearms beside him. After two days of use, he felt he had more of a knack for revolvers and even felt a faint sense of closeness to them. Looking at the revolvers on the table, he had no interest in using semi-automatic pistols anymore.
Noah fired two magazines and then stopped, walking over to Jimmy.
"Jimmy, which one feels comfortable to you?"
Jimmy selected two of them, "Either of these is fine."
Noah picked up two revolvers and glanced at them, "Smith and Wesson M627 and Ruger GP100, how do they feel to you? Which one do you prefer?"
"For shooting, this Ruger GP100, but for the feel in hand, still this M627."
"Got it."
Noah asked the manager to bring over another revolver, "Try this one, Smith and Wesson M686."
Jimmy switched guns, shot a round, and after ejecting the spent cartridges took a closer look, "I like this gun."
"Right, I remember there's only this one at the range, it's a short barrel 686, .357 Magnum, there's also a long barrel version, but it's not here. Try this gun out some more."
Noah got some bullets for Jimmy and after organizing the other guns and bullets, handed them to the manager.
Jimmy intermittently shot for nearly an hour, becoming more and more familiar with the recoil of the gun, and he found it increasingly handy and comfortable.
Ending today's training, Noah said to Jimmy on their way back, "You need to step up your handgun training, there's a shotgun and M16 after this, then you should buy your own gun, register it with the police station, and make it your personal service weapon, the issued Beretta 92F doesn't suit you."
"Okay, by the way, do I need to apply for a concealed carry permit?"
"No need, our state allows off-duty police to carry guns, as long as you are a police officer and carry your ID, there's no need to apply."
"You mean, some states don't allow off-duty police to carry guns?"
"Yes, the POST committees are set up independently by each state, and the rules differ a bit."
"OK, I will go buy a gun later, for now I will use the one issued by the police station."
"Noah, are the rules at our police station this relaxed? Can the guns really be different? If I bring my own gun, what about the bullets? Do I buy them myself or does the station reimburse me?"
"What wishful thinking! How could that be? If you don't use the issued gun, at most they'll give you a little firearm subsidy. You will still have to pay quite a bit yourself. If you use the issued gun, it's less hassle. But looking at how you've handled guns these past two days, you clearly have a knack for revolvers, your accuracy is much higher than with the 92F."
"I understand, I'll practice a bit more before I go buy one, try out a few more guns, and see how my shooting skills are."