>Always found guns more interesting than just as bang-sticks in my video games
>Never had an opportunity to shoot, never had enough money to justify owning a gun
>Constantly moving house so not possible even if I had the money
>Get invited to a Discord server by a fellow Ausfag
>He shows me pics of his funz and I salivate over his lever-action raifus
>Turns out we live relatively near to each other
>He offers to take me out shooting with him and his wife
>We pick a day well in advance, and agree to a time and place
>The day comes
>A bus and two trains later, I'm waiting for them at the station
>He tells me to look for a man wearing a patterned jacket
>I tell him to look for a man doing the CIA power stance
>We meet up, I hop in the car
>He introduces me to his wife
>Shoot the shit all the way to the range, which is another 45 minutes by car
>He makes me recite the four rules
>Arrive, unpack, eat some lunch
>Rock up to the range, not sure what to expect
>Greeted with a vast open field of green, bordered by hills and giant rocks
>It's beautiful
>Claim two benches and set up our stuff
>This is it, my first time handling a firearm
>Start with a .22, as usual
>A little boring but to be expected
>Had some trouble with a light hammer strike, but it was still fun
>Next up is the .357 revolver carbine
>Much meatier bang, much more satisfying recoil
>Instantly fall in love
>According to him, I'm better with the thing than he is
>Third is the .44 revolver rifle
>Kicks like a mule, get sprayed with powder quite a few times
>The thing is an absolute tack driver
>Last is the big girl, the .45-70 lever action rifle
>He loads up a cartridge to test it out, gets a squib, and puts away the rest of that batch
>Pulls out a different bag of rounds and loads her up
>He passes her to me, and I graciously accept
>Her sexy wooden furniture, firm lever, and satisfying heft are enough to drive me crazy
>Get in position to take my first shot
>Adjust my stance, exhale, and squeeze the trigger
>Met with a thunderous BOOM, a kick like no other, and a huge smile on my face
>Load up the .45-70 with a particularly hot round
>He warns me that it's got a real kick to it
>With a shit-eating grin I take the rifle and aim down-range
>BOOM
>Recoil is so much that it lifts my front leg off the ground, shoulder feels like someone struck it with a mallet
>MFW I just sent a 475 grain projectile hurtling at 1500fps
Pics related, obviously.