Glock. Paper. Scissors.
We’ve all watched an action movie at least once – The valiant protagonist whips out his firearm, aims, and fires, hitting the bad guy with such precision that he’s instantly rendered harmless. This adrenaline rush coupled with South Africa’s crime rate means that there is an increasing number of people wanting to own a firearm, be it licensed or unlicensed.
The thought of touching, let alone owning, a firearm has never crossed my mind. Firstly, I loathe any form of violence, and secondly, I despise noise and sudden loud sounds. Yuven, however, is much more open-minded which is why I decided to surprise him with a shooting experience at Shooting Shack for his birthday.
Shooting Shack is situated in Sea Cow Lake, Durban, and is quite easy to find using GPS if you’re unfamiliar with the area. I had initially made a telephonic booking, and then changed the date via Whatsapp with Mo, who is also the firearm instructor. Despite me asking countless questions, Mo answered each of them with professionalism and patience.
Having not had any firearm experience, except for the occasional air rifle, I chose the Intermediate Experience for us which costs R750.00 per person, and it encompasses the use of a:
- Shotgun – 5 rounds
- M4 Assault Rifle – 10 rounds
- Glock 19 – 50 rounds
We also had to hire a firearm instructor which costs R250.00, and were provided with both eye and ear protection.
Our booking was made for 1 to 2 pm, and we received a courtesy call from Mo about 10 minutes beforehand to confirm if we were coming through. When we entered, we immediately sanitized our hands and filled out the usual Covid19 form as well as an additional indemnity form. Mo welcomed us like old friends, and also remembered that it was Yuven’s birthday which I had told him when I had made the booking. We were also given sanitizer and wet wipes to cleanse our eye and ear protection.
Our experience began with Mo explaining the different types of bullets and their purpose, and we were allowed to touch the bullets, and ask as many questions as we wished. We were then taught how to properly grip a firearm (finger not on the trigger), correctly insert the bullets into the magazine, and safely cock the gun. Once we were comfortable holding a firearm, our shooting experience began.
Mo started us off with the Glock 19, and the birthday boy went first. There were 4 targets resembling the upper body of a person lined side by side with little yellow stickers on the head and middle of the chest. We had to each individually aim and fire at the yellow stickers whilst Mo guided us. We began quite close to the targets and progressively moved further away, each time firing at the targets in a specific sequence as instructed by Mo. When we were done he showed us where our bullets had penetrated the target.
For the last round, our targets were 5 short metal stands that, if aimed at correctly, would fall over. I’m quite proud to say that I managed to knock all 5 of them down! Also having never heard a firearm go off before, the sound is quite scary despite having the ear protection on. The kickback on the Glock 19 is also quite strong, so you’ve got to have a pretty good grip. We would suggest not wearing low-cut tops because the bullet shells do fly in every direction.
Next up was the M4 Assault Rifle, and I went first. Mo once again explained how to properly hold the rifle and aim at the metal targets. The kickback wasn’t too strong on the rifle so I was able to hit all 7 of them over.
Yuven was pre-warned about the power of the AK47, and Mo explained the correct way to hold it so that he would not injure himself and would be able to hit the targets. If you thought a Glock being fired was loud, the AK47 was on a whole other level! Yuven thoroughly enjoyed himself, firing at each of the targets in quick succession, with bullet shells being strewn in every direction.
Our last weapon was a Shotgun, and boy was it heavy! Mo showed us how to correctly insert the bullets, and hold the gun in such a way that we did not get seriously injured because the kickback was ridiculously strong on this one. It also had to be cocked after each shot. Yuven went first and handled the Shotgun like a pro, effortlessly hitting each of the 5 metal stands so that it fell over.
I was shaking in my sneakers when it was my turn, but Mo was absolutely encouraging and supportive even though I didn’t hit all of the targets.
Through the entire experience we were encouraged to take as many photographs and videos as we wanted. When our experience ended, Mo offered us the different guns to pose with and snapped quite a few photographs of us in action.
Altogether we had the most phenomenal experience which was further enhanced by Mo’s genuine nature and patience!
Being novices, we would DEFINITELY recommend Shooting Shack! It is the most liberating experience especially if you do have a fear of firearms, and you leave feeling 100 times more confident than when you walked in. Based on the experience we had with Mo, we would suggest surprising a loved one with an experience because it most definitely something unique, but as usual that’s just in my opinion 🙂
