I heard of Engage Virtual Range in January 2020. I had stumbled across an advertisement of a couple’s date idea for valentine’s day. I was intrigued. I’m always looking for new and different things to try. Plus, deep in my core, I believe that being able to handle a firearm is important (or at least it is to me). It didn’t work out for Bobby, my husband and I for valentine’s day, so I put it on the back burner. That is until my birthday week. I talked my sister, Randi, and my brother-in-law, Shaun into joining Bobby and me for an hour session on the Saturday of my birthday week.
I read a few blogs from Engage to get an idea of what I would encounter at the range. I was excited to learn how realistic the guns would be at Engage. Also and, probably more importantly, how we would receive training on how to handle a weapon appropriately. I have only shot a gun once and it was years ago. And I think I might have only shot it one or two times, when I did shoot it. So my experience and comfort level was low.
When we arrived, Terry, our trainer, had us sign in and if we hadn’t already done so, complete a waiver. Then we moved to the area where our session would be. He showed us the different weapons, explained their features and then had us pass them around to get a feel for them. Then was time for us to give it a try.
Because of the way we signed in or registered for the training, Randi was the first one to start. Terry had her choose her firearm and then step up to begin with the skill test. The test consisted of an accuracy test (shooting 10 shots at a bullseye that wasn’t timed), a speed test (shooting as many specific color targets in a certain amount of time), a speed and accuracy test (shooting at a white light target, that moved once you hit it) and the moving target test (shooting at a moving bullseye that went faster and changed direction when you hit it).
Randi did pretty good. Terry told her that she had the disadvantage of being the first shooter, because she had never seen the test before and now we had all seen it and how she did.
Shaun was next and then me. I was pretty nervous. Terry was super patient with me. He showed me how to hold the gun. Where to grip it with my finger off the trigger until it was time to shoot. How to place my support hand to assist with my aim. How to use the sites to aim at the targets. He reminded me to not grip the gun too hard or to forget to breath. He told me how to stand (feet shoulder width apart). All of this would be the same whether I was using a gun at a live shooting range or a virtual range.
I did O.K. the first part of the test (the accuracy and non-timed test), but then kind of fell off from there. The moving target test was really hard. I don’t think I hit it very much at all.
Bobby went after me and he did pretty well. He did a great job with the moving target test.
After our skill test we then went through a series of other challenges. There was one called close quarter combat. This is where we were police and taking down a drug house. We had to make sure to shoot the bad guys and not the good guys. Bad guys were signified by red weapons and good guys with yellow waving hands. You get penalty points if you hit a good guy. I think Shaun won this round.
Then there was a competition of shooting four metal targets and then a smaller red target. I did pretty good with the larger rectangle targets, but got held up on the smaller red circle target. Randi won this round. (She went second.)
Then there was a course competition that we did. This simulated a competition where you shoot at cardboard and metal targets. You are timed and can’t move forward until you hit the targets correctly. One of them had a moving target. (Ugh!) It took me a long time to hit it. We did two levels of this competition. I can’t remember which one of us won that competition — but I know it wasn’t me!
At the end, we did another skills test like the initial one, except that the targets were shaped like the coronavirus! We all improved on this one. Randi, who did pretty good the first time improved her time and accuracy quite a bit. Bobby improved, too. I improved only slightly. But that’s O.K. I improved.
After we were done, I asked Terry for a tutorial on how to load and unload a firearm. I really appreciate how patient Terry was with me in explaining everything and letting me try it for myself.
We had a great time and it was amazing how fast it went. Terry explained that with the shut down caused by the coronavirus, Engage has just started reopening. They are limiting the people by requiring reservations and limiting the number of sessions going on at one time in the building. He explained that Engage is a good place for people to come to practice and improve their skills with firearms. There are classes for law enforcement as well as individuals who have their conceal and carry license. And then there is, of course, room for people like me who new and just want to learn while having a good time with friends.
