a scope got my daughter into shooting

[ridgerunner1965]

last week my 15 yr old daughter was asking to shoot. as with all my kids i had got her a couple of small 22 rifles. a cricket and a stevens crackshot replica. she just never did well with iron sites and didnt like shooting much because she could not hit well. she is a borderline special needs child.very attentive tho to gun safety.as much as i showed her how to shoot with iron sites, even drew her pics of what the site picture should look like. she just never could get even near the target.it was very frustrating for both of us.

then a few days ago she asked to perhaps shoot a bigger gun that fit her better now that she is a bit bigger. we picked out a ruger 10-22 that has a old scope on it about 4x. the scope has a regular recticle with a circle around the cross of the recticule. i set her up on the bench and went thru how the rifle worked and how to put the circle on the target. at 50 yards she was shooting good groups. so i threw out a plastic ball target and she could make it jump every time.

she kept saying this is really fun!i never expected to hear that from her.my son and my oldest daughter are both good shooters and love shooting.

i made them learn with iron sites first just as i did. but maybe thats not always the best way?

 

[JRH6856]

Does she wear glasses or contacts? if not, have her vision checked. I have a really bad astigmatism in my dominant eye that can't be fully corrected and can't shoot nearly as well with iron sights as with glass. Been that way as long as I can remember.

 

[holdencm9]

Yeah and that she understands what a proper sight picture should look like? Some people like my mom just didn't "get it" until finally I drew a picture.

Also some people have focus issues and can't focus on the front sight while leaving the target and rear sight blurry.

 

[ridgerunner1965]

she does wear glasses. as does my son.hers are stronger tho, i awlays wondered about that tho.

 

[forindooruseonly]

If the scope works for her, stick with it. Nothing wrong with that. It's great that y'all came up with a solution for making it fun for her to go, that's the important part.

There's time later for iron sights, but there's no absolute need for them today - scopes, aimpoints, eotechs, crimson trace, you can shoot just about anything and never bother with an iron sight.

If you do go with irons, use an aperture sight - they're much easier to work with.

 

[forindooruseonly]

As a second thought, I know you said she wears strong prescription glasses - how strong and what part is she looking through? I have a degenerative eye disease and my glasses are thick. Coke bottle thick. If I don't look through the center of my glasses, there can be real distortion. I have a hard time with glasses while shooting a rifle, because my head is down and I'm looking through the thicker curvurture of the lens which distorts the image. I wear contacts exclusively now to shoot.

Either way, if the scope works, leave her with that till she wants to try something different.

 

[almherdfan]

I didn't really "love" shooting until I purchased a used 10/22 that had a cheap red-dot scope on it, when I was in my later 30's. I grew up shooting iron sights and wasn't very confident. Heck, it took my three tries to pass basic marksmanship at Fort Leonard Wood in '84.

I thought scopes were for cheaters.

Then I realized what I'd been missing.

 

[C0untZer0]

Yep, my middle daughter really really wants a scope.

I keep telling her to get better with iron sights, but I may have to change that. My youngest daughter lost all interest in shooting, but a scope might renew that interest. I can't get my youngest daughter a scope and not get one for my middle daughter...

 

[JTHunter]

Ridgerunner - I'm going to take a guess that your daughter is near-sighted and can't see distance without her glasses. My dominant eye (the right) is about -7 diopters and I have to have newsprint within 6 inches to see it clearly. Even with glasses, I can't focus on both front and rear sights AND the target.

Definately check for an astigmatism AND that the lens is in the optimal place for that. If the lens is slightly off, your daughter's vision won't be helped.

And congratulations on getting her interested!

 

[TRX]

My eyes are now bad enough that it's peep sights or a scope for any practical rifle shooting. I used to laugh at the pistol guys with optics; in a couple-three more years I may be joining them.

 

[J-Bar]

I suggest continuing with the scoped gun and on your next range trip invest in a case of cheap off-brand canned soda pop as targets. I bet you will get giggles every time she explodes one with a hit. She will be begging you to take her to the range again.

Most of our kids are not going to be Olympic competitors. Make it fun so they want to spend time with the old man at the range. They can pursue iron sights/bullseye scores when it suits them.

 

[mac66]

Take you daughter to an Appleseed. You both will have a ball.

PS. we welcome scopes

www.appleseedinfo.com