My Wife, Handguns and Florida - HELP !

M

Mike H

New member
My wife has long tolerated my love affair with handguns. Todate however, she has fired a total of 2 rounds (they were Black Talons however) through a friends borrowed PT-99 and proclaimed the experience to be "well OK, I guess".

Now that was nearly 2 years ago. Today we agreed to take our late summer vacation (September)in Florida as her old college buddy is due there with her family at the same time, I suggested that we both take some handgun tuition while we are in this gun friendly state, without even checking if such a thing is possible. I expected a "oh, not shooting again, no thanks" reply. To my amazement, wifey has agreed, and even went so far as to say it sounded like fun after being cooped up working in an office all summer (oh god I'm getting excited just typing this), why it has to be on vacation and not at home search me, but that's women I guess. So here's the poser, it has to be south Florida, it has to be as an out of state resident, it has to have a qualified pistol instructor available for private or group tuition, and it has to be with a good selection of rental guns, forget cost I'll pay anything, this is the best news I've had since, well, oh hell this is just the best news I've ever had. Post addresses, telephone nos., names, HELP PLEASE,

Regards

Mike H
 
Where in south florida? East coast or west coast? I know of a place called Aces in West Miami which has a range and rentals, as well as Big Al's in South Broward which also has rentals.
 
Branrot,

Details at present are a little sketchy, but my wife's friend has young kids and she's taking them to, you guessed it, "Disney World" so we'll be East coast first (I think), but then plan to drive over to tour the West coast. Give me a good enough location East or West, and we should be good to go, only Northern Fl. would be difficult. Ideally, I'd like an outdoor range, but what I really need is a handgun instuctor as we have both agreed that me teaching her is a no no. Any advice appreciated.


Mike H
 
Mike,
Just west of Orlando is the town of Lakeland. There is an outdoor range and school there called Southern Exposure. http://www.gunspot.com/southernexposure/
They get some pretty big names to come in and do classes. Check them out, they might be able to schedule a private session for you.
HTH!
 
I live in Lakeland and I target practice
in an indoor range. Gunshop is called
Gunsgalore and has a very good first class owner. Nothing seedy about this
place of business.
 
Gino,

Joe at Southern Exposure has proved to be a real winner. We are both looking forward to shooting there come September,

Thanks to all,

Mike H
 
Well, both Aces and Big Al's are in Miami-Dade and Broward. I also know that there is one range in Collier County, but they don't have rentals. If you're not coming south of Orlando, I'd stick with the advice of my illustrious colleagues above!
 
If any of you are ever out in the So. California area, give us a call. I am a certified firearms instructor and can qualify students for the Arizona and Florida permits. AZ qualifications must be held in AZ, however. I am generally out in AZ once a month in the Prescott area.

Tim
NRA Certified Firearms Instructor http://www.streetpro.com
Street Smart Professional Equipment
 
There's an indoor range in Tampa located on Dale Mabry Ave. that's good to go. A class place with lots of bells and whistles that women and novice shooters warm up to easily.

I think the place is called Sports Shooters or Shooters Sports or something along those lines. They have a large selection of rental guns and (here's the best part) they have some full autos (MP-5) you can rent and fire also.

If your interested let me know and I'll look up the name and phone number of the place.
 
If you want some real top notch instruction from an IPSC Grand Master, check out www.frankgarciausa.com.

Frank is a no nonsense instructor in IPSC and self defense with an outdoor range and all the goodies right behind his house. Frostproof Florida (near Sebring) a couple of hours from Disney World.
 
Mike,
You can't get much more central then Lakeland and not much better a practical shooting experiance then Joe's at Southern Exposure, fits all your requirements, nice outdoor atmosphere, newly erected 60' wide covered shooting positions, the Florida sun can be very intense, in the middle of miles of Florida country side. I have seen Joe work with woman and he has a very proffesional yet unintimidating style, they will enjoy the shooting experiance. He will work with one person or a larger group, you let him know what you need. 941-858-3431 give Joe a call.
-Dave
 
Guys,

Thanks again, FTL - yes please, the more the better.

Jeep - yes I've already corresponded with Joe at Southern Exposure and we would both love to go. The only problem may be price, his standard basic handgun tuition course is $375 per person, plus our gun rental and ammunition would easily touch a thousand bucks, which is steep as we are travelling on a budget. I've asked Joe if we could take some private tuition, maybe during quieter times just to get my wife safety savvy, but as of yet have had no reply. We may be a little low rent for this very professional set up and if so, the cheaper rental stores may be our starting point. It'd be a pity though.

Mike H
 
For just indoor range work, Shoot Straight in Apopka is just the other side of Orlando from Disney. Also in Winter Haven, which is just like 20 minutes from Lakeland, there is the indoor range at Tim's Guns, 863-295-9463.
I have heard good things about Southern Exposure but have never been there. Would steer clear of Guns Galore...the range there is poorly lit, poorly ventilated, and primitive compared to the indoor ranges at Tim's Guns or Shoot Straight. Also the owner there tried to cheat me not once but twice...just all around not a great place to do business.
 
Mike H,

Come by Shoot Straight Apopka on a weekend and I'll be glad to give your wife enough basic safety and marksmanship instruction to get the ball rolling. Our range is state of the art and was just refurbished a few weeks ago. We charge $7/hour per person and we have a small assortment of handguns for rent. Our store is second to none in the area. I work weekends, ask for Travis.
 
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