Among the gray, green, blue and tan shapes shuffling on the combat range at the Arnold Rifle and Pistol Club (ARPC) on a dreary Saturday morning is a shock of bright pink. At first I think it might be Emily, a young competitor I met at last month’s International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) match, but it’s not. I introduce myself as a writer, explain my interest in talking with a young woman I had never met. She introduces herself as Allison. Allison accepts my offer of a handshake and grips it ladylike, grasping my fingers and giving them a squeeze. “People call me Ali” she informed me . . .
Ali is in her early twenties and hails from Paducah, Kentucky, a fact made manifest by her lilting drawl. Long blonde hair and a pink hoodie are partially obscured by her overjacket. For the moment, it has stopped drizzling, and we are all hoping for a dry match.
“You drove all the way here to go shooting?”
Ali nodded, “My daddy and I drove up from Paducah, we are staying with Uncle Steve.” It turns out that Emily and Allison are cousins. Uncle Steve is, in fact, Emily’s dad.
“How long have you been shooting?”
Ali, who has a pleasant countenance, smiled just a little with the side of her mouth as she said, “I’ve been shooting with my dad since I was seven, I suppose.”
By now her dad has heard me talking with her. “Ali does it all – here, check out these photos.” Her dad, Dave, shows me his iPhone with Ali standing in the same pink hoodie next to a target that bears two .50 caliber holes within an inch of each other. She is pointing to it with the muzzle of a massive revolver. Dave quickly manipulates the smartphone and finds a video of her shooting the enormous firearm. She leans into the gun and pulls the trigger. Ali is not tiny, but she’s not what you’d call a strapping lass either. Her body absorbs the recoil. Without taking her eyes off the target, she leans further into it and fires again.
Ali seems used to her proud father sharing photos of her shooting. “Here she is with a Barrett .50 cal.” he says, flipping to the video.
“Don’t show that one!” she protests.
In her signature pink hoodie, Ali is on a bench with a Barrett. She sends a massive BMG bullet downrange, and steps away from the rifle, smiling, but seeming to be shocked as well.
Who wouldn’t?
“I’m in pre-vet school right now.” she says after I ask if she is in college.
“What do your schoolmates think about your hobby? The other ladies you know?”
Ali shrugged “They are scared of guns, they do not like them.”
“Does your hobby put you at odds with your girlfriends?”
Ali thought for a moment “No, not really – everyone in Paducah knows I shoot” she replied.
Ali works at a local sporting goods store. “They realized that I know a lot about guns, so they put me back selling them.”
“Do ladies find it easier to talk to you about firearms?”
Ali nodded, “I think they do. They are usually shopping for a long gun for their husband or boyfriend.”
“How about self defense questions, does that ever come up?”
“Yeah, it does. They ask about that, though we do not sell handguns where I work.” she responds.
As Ali prepares for the first stage of the match, she pulls out a bright pink pair of earmuffs. I notice some writing on it. “What’s this on your hearing protection, Ali?”
She smiles and rotates them so I can see. “My boyfriend wrote me a little good luck note. He told me not to look before I got here.” Part of the note has rubbed off, but it’s simply an encouragement for her to do well in the match. She smiled. It’s clear she finds the love note charming. Somewhere along the line I see a photo of her boyfriend, a sturdy young man. He is of course pictured shooting.
Her weapon of choice is a Glock 34, chambered for 9mm. Her piece is nestled in a molded polymer holster. Ali starts her first stage at the combat range, a wide zone where targets are spaced deep and far apart. Shooters must begin sitting on a park bench with their feet propped up on a 5 gallon bucket. Ali nods that she’s ready, and leaps up at the sound of the beep signalling the start of the stage. She hustles to the first position, draws and opens fire. She moves to the next position, and then finishes the stage at the final firing position. She changes magazines smoothly.
Later, when the scores come out, Ali shoots a little over 400 with a Glock, whereas cousin Emily shot a smidgen over 230 with a six-shot revolver. I ask if there is any rivalry between her and her younger cousin.
“No, not at all. I actually really respect Emily being so young and so good with a gun. I’m going to work to be at her skill level.” Inspiration, not jealousy.
As she reloads and tidies up for the next stage, I ask “Do you and your dad reload your ammo?”
“Daddy does, but I’m still learning how.”
Later, Ali reflects on shooting sports. She gave up time with her boyfriend and the weather was dreadful. “Passion is what you do when it’s convenient, commitment is what you do when it is inconvenient.” Ali smiles and heads off to the next stage, her dad close behind. A road trip, time with family, and a fun, if dreary day shooting. Not a bad way to spend the weekend.
As for the significant loss of accuracy when hot, it may be the handguards. Most plastics have a very large coefficient of thermal expansion (they expand a lot when heated) so the hot handguard may be putting quite a bit of pressure on the barrel.
Try a set of wood handguards and get back to us.
THANKS for the great review.
Very lucky father and who ever happens to be her future husband (or wife thats her decision not mine)! I wish a smart forward thinking gal like that the best of wishes! She is taking control of her destiny!
We demand to see the wrapper of every dead cheeseburger, Mr. Moore, and the empty bags of brave Funyuns who were lost trying to protect them.
I’ve got one word for Markey – TEXAS – And I’m glad he ain’t in it. Ok that’s eight words. Stay put dude, and Don’t Mess with Texas.
OK, it’s not the actual incident. Click on the picture–this was an incident in Wichita.
Not all cops are buried under mountains of ammo. We just made an order to 100k rounds of 9mm FMJ for use in academy classes. We were told six to nine months. Maybe. And this is from a major LE distributor under state contract, which may have something to do with it. Contract prices are less than retail by about 15%. Many of the agencies that are serviced by the academy are in the same boat. Yeah, they can order it for brother-in-law prices. Ordering it and getting it timely are two different things. Contract doesn’t specify how fast they make delivery. We’ve got ammo on hand to take care of the next 2 classes, barely. It takes nearly 1000 rounds per recruit. Current class has 50 recruits. You do the math. That’s a pile of ammo. We have 4 classes scheduled for this year. We may be using slingshots for the last 2. Oh yeah. We’re a gun-friendly state (FL).
I question how many are ex-military . Most smaller town ones are wannabes,you can tell by the shaved heads .There is NO reason for any police to be patrolling with full military gear . In regards to the cost of BDU’s vs police uniforms,most of them in this area are provided free. I had to pay for my uniforms after initial issue in the military, Post Office has to pay for theirs. TSA gets them free . When I see cops strut around in full gear AFTER the incident (like at Sandy Hook) I lose what respect I had for them .
I just don’t see why the grousing. There’s no flipping’ mechanical timer, after all; once a bloke is familiar with this beastie, it should be possible to reflexively tap the lever about as rapidly as one can pull the trigger.
It’s cerainly no Berdan single shot.
I have owned my LC9 for over a year now, and I have grown to love this pistol as a CCW. It is perhaps the most accurate gun I have ever owned for this purpose, and I have never suffered a single malfunction during hundreds of rounds fired. As I stated in a post about a year ago, the rear sight did actually fall off within the first seventy-five rounds, but some Loctite resolved that issue. I have even gotten used to the trigger, but I do think I will proceed with the Galloway mod. As to the subject of +P ammo, my manual in rather ambiguous on the subject. To paraphrase, the manual cautions agains a steady diet of +P ammo, and it later states that +P should not be used, primarily due to the lack of pressure standardization of +P rounds.
Gifford and Kelly are pure political opportunists and should move to Chicago.
The most puzzling thing about this episode is that most of the police officers who read TTAG and comment here still don’t get why we don’t trust them.
The Pressure Cooker Safety Act of 2013…right around the corner.
I hope I make it that long to look that bad.
When are you going to post more videos?!!
Soon! What do you want to see? I’m running short on ideas