Floppy_D
Member In Memoriam
My son hit the 4 year mark this August. He knows what guns are, and has handled a couple, under my supervision, in a clear and safe condition. He showed a passing interest (and showed his enthusiasm by "shooting" legos at hand-lobbed velocities). One of the first geometrical shapes he became familiar with, was the concentric circles of a "target." He knows that we "shoot" only at "targets," and if he feels like chucking legos, he'll ask me for a piece of paper with a bullseye drawn on it.
This last weekend, I popped open the cardboard lid to a certain Russian-made full auto BB gun (the Drozd, oh yeah) that my dad sent me for my birthday. After tearing up a few soup cans, my wife suggested that I could introduce my son to basic marksmanship using the Drozd in single-shot mode. I was a little suprised that her approval, but I'm not one to argue. After taking out the stock extender, it is a nice 4yo-sized carbine.
I started by drawing sight pictures, and explaining to my son the art of aiming. I took a small clear cup, and dropped a celery stick in it. I explained that the art of aiming was to simply line the celery stick in the middle of the cup (the celery stick is precisely as tall as the cup). After a while, we headed out to the back yard with a shoebox at 15 feet, dot in the center, my son, the Drozd, and a handful of BBs.
In single-shot mode, with him holding the air riflle, (and my hands on the magazine, steadying said rifle,) he got the knack of putting the "celery stick" in the middle of the "cup," and could keep 9/10 bbs on the shoebox at 15 feet. We put about 50 BBs on target, and wrapped it up. I extended the offer that, should he take a decent nap in the afternoon and eat whatever veggies the missus puts in front of him, he gets 50 rounds of BBs to send downrange after dinner. He can't sit still long enough to blink, but if I offer to let him hit some targets, he's all eyes and ears.
I can tell you right now, that there is no better afternoon sleep-aid nor veggie flavor improver for a 4-year old, than properly supervised trigger time on a BB gun.
This last weekend, I popped open the cardboard lid to a certain Russian-made full auto BB gun (the Drozd, oh yeah) that my dad sent me for my birthday. After tearing up a few soup cans, my wife suggested that I could introduce my son to basic marksmanship using the Drozd in single-shot mode. I was a little suprised that her approval, but I'm not one to argue. After taking out the stock extender, it is a nice 4yo-sized carbine.
I started by drawing sight pictures, and explaining to my son the art of aiming. I took a small clear cup, and dropped a celery stick in it. I explained that the art of aiming was to simply line the celery stick in the middle of the cup (the celery stick is precisely as tall as the cup). After a while, we headed out to the back yard with a shoebox at 15 feet, dot in the center, my son, the Drozd, and a handful of BBs.
In single-shot mode, with him holding the air riflle, (and my hands on the magazine, steadying said rifle,) he got the knack of putting the "celery stick" in the middle of the "cup," and could keep 9/10 bbs on the shoebox at 15 feet. We put about 50 BBs on target, and wrapped it up. I extended the offer that, should he take a decent nap in the afternoon and eat whatever veggies the missus puts in front of him, he gets 50 rounds of BBs to send downrange after dinner. He can't sit still long enough to blink, but if I offer to let him hit some targets, he's all eyes and ears.
I can tell you right now, that there is no better afternoon sleep-aid nor veggie flavor improver for a 4-year old, than properly supervised trigger time on a BB gun.
