My brother and his family have been visiting our mom this week. I took my 10/22 over there today and introduced my nephews, ages 4 and 7, to the joys of plinking. I had almost as much fun as the kids did!
We started out shooting at two-liter plastic soda bottles filled with colored water. After explaining the safety rules, sight alignment and trigger control, I loaded one round at a time and helped them hold the rifle. Range was about 40 feet.
The 7-year-old was able to nail one, without too much help from me, on his third try. The 4-year-old was a bit too small for the rifle, so I crouched behind him supporting the rifle, sighted over his shoulder, and told him when to squeeze the trigger. He immediately went tearing into the house to tell his grandma "I got one! I got one!"
Then we backed up a bit and I let them shoot .22 tracers into the hillside. They really loved those!
The expressions on those kids' faces, and the joy they got from shooting, really made my day.
Happy New Year, everybody!
We started out shooting at two-liter plastic soda bottles filled with colored water. After explaining the safety rules, sight alignment and trigger control, I loaded one round at a time and helped them hold the rifle. Range was about 40 feet.
The 7-year-old was able to nail one, without too much help from me, on his third try. The 4-year-old was a bit too small for the rifle, so I crouched behind him supporting the rifle, sighted over his shoulder, and told him when to squeeze the trigger. He immediately went tearing into the house to tell his grandma "I got one! I got one!"
Then we backed up a bit and I let them shoot .22 tracers into the hillside. They really loved those!
The expressions on those kids' faces, and the joy they got from shooting, really made my day.
Happy New Year, everybody!