Let me start by saying you never truely understand the joy of shooting untill you get to teach a child
Today a friend of mine brought his girlfriends children over to learn a little about firearms and firearm safety
the boy is 11 and the girl is 8
the girls natural father is a hunter and she has a huge interest in firearms thanks to here dad but because of limitations of schedual etc hasnt had the resorces or time to show her how to shoot
the boys natural father doesnt have anything to do with him so my friend has inadvertantly become this young mans new hero because the boy really needs a friend and mentor (bless those that raise the unwanted for they truely are the walking saints of today)
well we had discussed teacheing the kids with there mother and informed her that between myself and my friend we had enough experience that everything would be safe and still be fun
we started the day with the basics telling the two of them the rules of the range
Treat every firearm as if it were loaded
Never point the muzzle at anything you were not willing to kill or destroy
keep your finger off the trigger untill you are ready to shoot
and know your target and what is beyond it
i then told them the reasons for the rules so they could understand why the rules are in place not just a do as i tell you kind of thing (i find reasoning is better than just telling someone to listen because your in charge)
once the rules were laid down we started to show them the basics of how to hold the rifles (ruger 10/22 youth) and how they operate (without ammo)
once we built some confidence and they understood how the guns worked they were ready to start
we alternated between the two showing them each how to aim and what to do before you pull the trigger
this was the first time since owning my 22 that we bought a box of 550 and we (my friend and i) didnt shoot more than 20 shots or so
those kids had a ball they went through almost every single round and had grins ear to ear at the end of the day with the last few magazines we hung up some big zeroing bullseye targets and let them each take a few shots
the boy shot an EXCELLENT group of 4 inches at 50 yards seeing as how this is his first ever time shooting
the girl did just as well and both of them were very happy to have learned something new
I am so very happy to see these two have what seemed to be a great time
once we were done with the 10/22s my friend and i were going to shoot our handguns for some practice time before we packed up for the day
the kids seemed so dissapointed that i couldnt resist it i went into the house and got my pair of 25s and we started anew teaching them how to properly hold a handgun and how to shoot and what was needed for safety
needless to say the targets got peppered at best with the little autoloaders but i have to say ive never had a better time shooting in my life
i was so impressed with these two GREAT kids and there willingness to learn we didnt stop till the light was lost
the girl was very intimidated by the handguns but the boy even took a shot with my .38 LCR and my friends .45ACP Baby Eagle (with me bracing his arms for recoil) this was honestly the best shooting day ive ever had
im not a father yet but i pray that my kids get as much fun from shooting as i do and as much as these two did today
Today a friend of mine brought his girlfriends children over to learn a little about firearms and firearm safety
the boy is 11 and the girl is 8
the girls natural father is a hunter and she has a huge interest in firearms thanks to here dad but because of limitations of schedual etc hasnt had the resorces or time to show her how to shoot
the boys natural father doesnt have anything to do with him so my friend has inadvertantly become this young mans new hero because the boy really needs a friend and mentor (bless those that raise the unwanted for they truely are the walking saints of today)
well we had discussed teacheing the kids with there mother and informed her that between myself and my friend we had enough experience that everything would be safe and still be fun
we started the day with the basics telling the two of them the rules of the range
Treat every firearm as if it were loaded
Never point the muzzle at anything you were not willing to kill or destroy
keep your finger off the trigger untill you are ready to shoot
and know your target and what is beyond it
i then told them the reasons for the rules so they could understand why the rules are in place not just a do as i tell you kind of thing (i find reasoning is better than just telling someone to listen because your in charge)
once the rules were laid down we started to show them the basics of how to hold the rifles (ruger 10/22 youth) and how they operate (without ammo)
once we built some confidence and they understood how the guns worked they were ready to start
we alternated between the two showing them each how to aim and what to do before you pull the trigger
this was the first time since owning my 22 that we bought a box of 550 and we (my friend and i) didnt shoot more than 20 shots or so
those kids had a ball they went through almost every single round and had grins ear to ear at the end of the day with the last few magazines we hung up some big zeroing bullseye targets and let them each take a few shots
the boy shot an EXCELLENT group of 4 inches at 50 yards seeing as how this is his first ever time shooting
the girl did just as well and both of them were very happy to have learned something new
I am so very happy to see these two have what seemed to be a great time
once we were done with the 10/22s my friend and i were going to shoot our handguns for some practice time before we packed up for the day
the kids seemed so dissapointed that i couldnt resist it i went into the house and got my pair of 25s and we started anew teaching them how to properly hold a handgun and how to shoot and what was needed for safety
needless to say the targets got peppered at best with the little autoloaders but i have to say ive never had a better time shooting in my life
i was so impressed with these two GREAT kids and there willingness to learn we didnt stop till the light was lost
the girl was very intimidated by the handguns but the boy even took a shot with my .38 LCR and my friends .45ACP Baby Eagle (with me bracing his arms for recoil) this was honestly the best shooting day ive ever had
im not a father yet but i pray that my kids get as much fun from shooting as i do and as much as these two did today
