Since I started playing first-person shooters, I've harboured the belief that I could be a supersoldier at a moment's notice. Sure, I've never touched a gun that fires anything more deadly than a BB, but a gun is basically a controller with one button, right?

After over 30 days of gameplay in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, it seemed realistic that I could hit a little disc out of the air with a 12-gauge shotgun in my sleep, and I wanted to put my theory to the test. The 'control' for this 'study' was my co-worker, Stuart Gooden. We grew up in the same town, work in the same office and are in the same program — basically twins. The key difference between us is that Stu is not into video games; he breaks out the NHL series on occasion, but there's no question that he's not the office gamer.

Our hypothesis was simple: someone who has spent over a month's worth of time firing fake guns will outshoot a person who hasn't. With this in mind, Stuart and I set out for the Crumlin Sportsmen's Association to show up the seasoned veterans with my intense skills.

The club is located just east of the city on Gore Road. Signs at the entrance warn that you're entering a firing range, though from a kilometre in any direction you could just follow the popping sounds. In the car on our way to the club, we chatted about how cool this was going to be, we talked about getting shot and we told stories about people getting shot. We were set.

Upon arrival, we registered in the clubhouse and headed outside to observe the marksmen who were already on the field. We got to be part of a 'trap-shooting' foursome, which involves firing at small orange discs that are launched from a concrete bunker a few yards in front of the firing line. There are five positions to shoot from and the discs come out in one of five possible directions; the order is random so you don't know which direction your target will be travelling in. The discs come out perfectly straight, and at sharp angles to the left and right, (see diagram above) with the angled targets being the most difficult to hit.

My weapon of choice was a pintail 12 gauge shotgun with a side loading mechanism. Despite my disappointment in not having a pump shotgun (and my total ignorance as to the distinctions between them), I was excited to display my superior abilities. Stuart was given a similar model, also with side loading action.

We stepped up to firing positions with Stu in position 1 and me in 2. At this point I realized that Stu looked a lot more badass than me with his aviators and a shotgun and I decided it was time to show him who's boss.

Sometime between the lesson on proper gun positioning and the first target being fired, I began to have misgivings about how hard this was. The lesson I learned after the first shot was that if you don't keep the stock glued to your shoulder, it will do its very best to dislocate your shoulder. Pain, and my instructor, are the best teachers, and for the next half-hour I proceeded to make all kinds of other, albeit less exciting, mistakes. One spot over, Stu seemed a bit more on track, listening to the advice of his coach and looking like he's playing the lead role in Rush Hour 2. My strategy was a little less effective as I would yell "PULL" and then fire the second I saw a flash of orange.

Finally, on the fifth shot, I shattered the target (though I use the term "shattered" loosely, considering I barely chipped the disk, which flew on almost untouched). Nevertheless it was a hit and I knew I had this shooting thing down cold. What followed was a spectacular failure to improve in any discernible way. My final score was a whopping six hits out of 25 targets, exactly half that of my colleague, Stu, who landed a 12 on his score card. The lesson I learned, besides not to trash talk quite so much, was that a virtual simulation has very little correlation to the real world. While you may be able to hit bullseye every single time in the 25-metre target shooting portion of Xbox's Beijing 2008 (yes, it exists, and yes, I can), don't expect it to make that 12 gauge any lighter.

While we were waiting for our turn on the range, we saw everyone from 15-year-old kids to middleaged moms taking their best shot and having a blast. For $15, you get one round with a shotgun and 25 discs to shoot at, though if you leave your safety on (yeah, I did), they'll let you have another target or two. So whether you want to practice for the zombie apocalypse or just find out how unlike Mark Wahlberg in Shooter you are, the Crumlin Sportsmen's Association is a great place to start.

The results of our 'experiment' were the total opposite of what I expected. While I realistically knew I wouldn't hit all 25 targets, I genuinely thought I had a better chance than Stuart. I guess that, similar to how playing with an Easy-Bake Oven doesn't make you Chef Ramsay, manipulating pixels to discharge simulated weapons at other pixels does not make you a weapons specialist.

Regardless of how I finished, my trip to the shooting range was enormously entertaining. Having never shot a real gun before, it was fantastic to have an opportunity to shoot at targets with instruction from the club members.

Check out the Crumlin Sportsmen's Association at 3384 Gore Rd. or online at crumlin.org.