Joann(ie Oakley)!
Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 8:10AM 
I spent a crazy day shooting yesterday - a Glock handgun, lever-action and bolt-action rifles, a semi-automatic, even a shoulder-shaking shotgun - and all in the interest of research!
My latest manuscript features a fair bit of shooting and I want to be sure to get the technicalities right. So I met up with master firearms instructor, James Bristow (of Magnum-SA) who took me through different weapons, ammunition and ways of shooting. He was very patient with me (I jump at loud noises, call anything that fires "a gun", and ask all sorts of awkward writerly questions!), and stayed calm and encouraging all the way through. It's amazing to get first-hand experience and information from someone in a specialist field - beats internet researches any day!
I learned an amazing amount and am going to make another pass at the shooting and weapons sections in my manuscript. (Note to self: check you haven't used the word "gun" anywhere!).
The shots were incredibly loud, even with ear protection, and echoed back off the "wall" of an old gold minedump at the back of the shooting range. James introduced me to an amazing pair of electronic ear-protectors which somehow dull the sound of the shots, yet still allow you to hear voices and even the whisper of the wind in the leaves and grass. Like science-fiction, only real. (Stick it in the book!)
I did pretty well with the handgun, and then with a beautiful lever-action rifle, getting two sets of "snake-eyes" - that's when two shots touch or overlap each other on the target. My first response was writerly, telling my son to make a note of the term! For sure, it's going into the book :) I was less pleased with an enormous old 1903 rifle which I called the elephant gun, which was so heavy, I battled to hold it up long enough to take proper aim. I am reliably informed by one of the teenagers in my life, that this is because I don't have "gamer's wrists". You would think that holding up heavy hardcovers all these years would have counted for something!
Thanks, James, for a great day!