Cars, Bars and Cold Steel

Turk Malloy (Scott Caan): Saul, do you get out to Utah much?
Saul: (Carl Reiner) Not as often as I'd like.
Turk Malloy: Check it out. I think you'd dig Provo. You could do well there.
Saul: I'll look into it.
 Ocean's Eleven (2001).

Fresh from Action Target's four-day Law Enforcement Training Camp in Provo, Utah. Here are a few glimpses into a 9-5 world of shooting, shooting and more shooting.

• It is said that the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. The only way to load two thousand rounds of pistol ammo is one at a time. I developed a hot spot on my right thumb, and a definite appreciation for a contraption my friend had that made loading those last few rounds spectacularly easier.
• There are a lot of great shooters in the LE community. There are people who almost never miss what they are shooting at. I met several who never miss.
• Shooting is 80% mental and 20% a well-trimmed beard.
• "You have to be hungry to eat a donut? I never heard of such a thing." Danny Devito (Other People's Money).
• The satisfaction derived from hearing a steel target ring when struck by a bullet you fired cannot be understated.
• Cold beer is an antidote for nearly any form of dehydration. Two cold beers is a hydration investment.
• The Rifleman's Creed - "This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine" was one of my favorite parts of Full Metal Jacket. It does not apply to the $8000 rifle I had the privilege of shooting. It was a .338 Lapua Magnum (If that makes no sense to you, wait until A More Perfect Union comes out). The barrel alone costs two grand. I fired five shots at an old clunker we were using for a class.
• Speaking of old clunkers, shooting out of a moving vehicle isn't easy... No, actually it is easy as can be. Hitting anything - that's the hard part.
• A Boston accent is still very pleasant to hear.
• Two long drives, four days of shooting and my coworkers are still my friends. That's something right there.