Hi guys,
It has been a while since I last visited this site and posted. Life just got insanely busy and other things took priority. But Saturday's event was so good that I thought I should share.
My youngest, Rob - now 21, regularly asks if we can take several of his friends to shoot at our 40 acres. I always say yes but with college in full swing, it just never happened.
Last Thursday evening Rob asked again. I said yes again. I am not sure if everybody was fed up with quarantines, social distancing or school work and suddenly I learned I had myself and five early 20's males to take shooting on Saturday. The shooters would be myself, Rob, Rob's roommates, Dave and Jarriod, Jarriot's brother Josh and Dexter. I wasn't too concerned about that size group as I thought that only one of the young men, Dexter, was a new shooter.
The plan was for Rob and I to arrive at 9 to setup. The others would arrive at 10. We got a late start, getting there at 9:45 with Dexter just minutes behind and the others another 10 minutes out. I began setup while Rob ferried his friends to the range site. Talking with them during setup, it quickly became apparent that while Dave and Josh each owned a firearm and had had some training that all except Rob and myself were very inexperienced. I thought "Okay, the burden is on me to teach them well and see that they have an enjoyable time." Setup went quickly with the young men gladly pitching in. We set up three ranges, 10 yards, 25 yards and 75 yards.
We went over safety, the four rules, finger placement and shooting only in safe directions (No shots were to leave our property.). I noted the young men were very reserved and payed close attention, a very good sign. (Believe me, I was watching for the over-eager who might not pay attention or be safe.)
They looked over the hardware, a H&R 9 shot, single action 22, two Walther P-22's, A KelTeec Pmag, A beater DW model 11, an older DW 715, a shiny DW 7415, a Ruger PC9, a 10/22, a Henery 22, an AR-15, an old highly bubba'd Swedish Mauser in 6.5 x 55, my EDC Ruger SR9 and Dave's semi-auto 12 gauge. Targets were mostly paper but we had a collection of frozen and unfrozen water bottles plus several pounds of tannerite.
I started with Dexter on the H&R 9 shot, showing him to load and eject the spent cases. The others watched closely. I explained lining up the sights and gently squeezing the trigger. I demonstrated the first shot and handed the gun to Dexter. His first shot almost in the center of the bulls eye ring. All the young men cheered. He continued to calmly and smoothly fire the rest of the rounds putting up impressive results.
One by one, the young men took turns with the H&R, each doing very well.
We switched to a Walther. It was obvious Rob had explained ow much he enjoys shooting both P-22's at the same time. Dexter was first again. Again very patient and smooth and putting up an impressive performance for a new shooter. It was clear he was enjoying it. Josh and Jarriot did very well.
My Rob then had to demonstrate the two at once. Rob understand I won't tolerate stupid enthusiastic behavior. He calmly demonstrated firing one gun and then the other, aiming each shot to hit the target. While he fired quickly, he was clearly aiming carefully and squeezing gently. He then coached his friends to do the same. All the young men were having an enjoyable, safe and responsible time.
We kept upping the calibers. The young men's enjoyment continued. All were having a good time and Dexter and Jarriot were clearly enjoying their accomplishments and putting forth the necessary effort. All the young men were but I was focusing on the least experienced while keeping an eye on the others. Rob picked up the slack guiding the slightly more experienced Dave and Josh. With each new caliber, Dexter performed well.
We got to the AR. The young men were self-controlled but excited. I explained that while the AR had a lot of ammo it wasn't the highest power weapon there. I showed the old Mauser, explaining its military history and how some prior owner had butchered and neglected it. I explained the necessity and results of gun maintenance and that today would be the test of whether the 120+ year old Mauser was still capable of accuracy.
They had a lot of fun with the AR but finally it was time to test the Mauser. It took me about 15 shots to figure out the butchered sights (forget putting the front site bead in the rear site bead hole, line it up even with the top of the rear site) and discovered it to be accurate for off-hand shooting.
Dexter was next with the old Mauser. His face lit up with joy as he bulls-eyed his first off hand shot. His next three shots were all bulls -eyes. He quickly proclaimed it his favorite.
Shooting continued for over six hours. Over a thousand rounds were spent, tannerite was set off, bottles of water, frozen and liquid were dispatched. The young men clearly had a good time and showed great behavior. Dexter went through the last 20 (of 80 that I brought) rounds for the old Mauser. He was disappointed when the last round was shot. Finally the heat got to all of us. The young men, who had to be told what to do when they got there, quickly cleaned up and packed without instruction. They thanked me profusely. Each made an appropriate contribution to cover the ammo.
I learned on the way home that Dexter had been asking Rob about guns and that he was considering purchasing one. He was especially grateful for the chance to try a variety.
A great time was had by all, the young men, they displayed exceptional behavior, a safe environment was maintained and they have a clear desire to shoot again. The young people of today need more opportunities to shoot. I look forward to the next time I can host a group.
Have a great day.
It has been a while since I last visited this site and posted. Life just got insanely busy and other things took priority. But Saturday's event was so good that I thought I should share.
My youngest, Rob - now 21, regularly asks if we can take several of his friends to shoot at our 40 acres. I always say yes but with college in full swing, it just never happened.
Last Thursday evening Rob asked again. I said yes again. I am not sure if everybody was fed up with quarantines, social distancing or school work and suddenly I learned I had myself and five early 20's males to take shooting on Saturday. The shooters would be myself, Rob, Rob's roommates, Dave and Jarriod, Jarriot's brother Josh and Dexter. I wasn't too concerned about that size group as I thought that only one of the young men, Dexter, was a new shooter.
The plan was for Rob and I to arrive at 9 to setup. The others would arrive at 10. We got a late start, getting there at 9:45 with Dexter just minutes behind and the others another 10 minutes out. I began setup while Rob ferried his friends to the range site. Talking with them during setup, it quickly became apparent that while Dave and Josh each owned a firearm and had had some training that all except Rob and myself were very inexperienced. I thought "Okay, the burden is on me to teach them well and see that they have an enjoyable time." Setup went quickly with the young men gladly pitching in. We set up three ranges, 10 yards, 25 yards and 75 yards.
We went over safety, the four rules, finger placement and shooting only in safe directions (No shots were to leave our property.). I noted the young men were very reserved and payed close attention, a very good sign. (Believe me, I was watching for the over-eager who might not pay attention or be safe.)
They looked over the hardware, a H&R 9 shot, single action 22, two Walther P-22's, A KelTeec Pmag, A beater DW model 11, an older DW 715, a shiny DW 7415, a Ruger PC9, a 10/22, a Henery 22, an AR-15, an old highly bubba'd Swedish Mauser in 6.5 x 55, my EDC Ruger SR9 and Dave's semi-auto 12 gauge. Targets were mostly paper but we had a collection of frozen and unfrozen water bottles plus several pounds of tannerite.
I started with Dexter on the H&R 9 shot, showing him to load and eject the spent cases. The others watched closely. I explained lining up the sights and gently squeezing the trigger. I demonstrated the first shot and handed the gun to Dexter. His first shot almost in the center of the bulls eye ring. All the young men cheered. He continued to calmly and smoothly fire the rest of the rounds putting up impressive results.
One by one, the young men took turns with the H&R, each doing very well.
We switched to a Walther. It was obvious Rob had explained ow much he enjoys shooting both P-22's at the same time. Dexter was first again. Again very patient and smooth and putting up an impressive performance for a new shooter. It was clear he was enjoying it. Josh and Jarriot did very well.
My Rob then had to demonstrate the two at once. Rob understand I won't tolerate stupid enthusiastic behavior. He calmly demonstrated firing one gun and then the other, aiming each shot to hit the target. While he fired quickly, he was clearly aiming carefully and squeezing gently. He then coached his friends to do the same. All the young men were having an enjoyable, safe and responsible time.
We kept upping the calibers. The young men's enjoyment continued. All were having a good time and Dexter and Jarriot were clearly enjoying their accomplishments and putting forth the necessary effort. All the young men were but I was focusing on the least experienced while keeping an eye on the others. Rob picked up the slack guiding the slightly more experienced Dave and Josh. With each new caliber, Dexter performed well.
We got to the AR. The young men were self-controlled but excited. I explained that while the AR had a lot of ammo it wasn't the highest power weapon there. I showed the old Mauser, explaining its military history and how some prior owner had butchered and neglected it. I explained the necessity and results of gun maintenance and that today would be the test of whether the 120+ year old Mauser was still capable of accuracy.
They had a lot of fun with the AR but finally it was time to test the Mauser. It took me about 15 shots to figure out the butchered sights (forget putting the front site bead in the rear site bead hole, line it up even with the top of the rear site) and discovered it to be accurate for off-hand shooting.
Dexter was next with the old Mauser. His face lit up with joy as he bulls-eyed his first off hand shot. His next three shots were all bulls -eyes. He quickly proclaimed it his favorite.
Shooting continued for over six hours. Over a thousand rounds were spent, tannerite was set off, bottles of water, frozen and liquid were dispatched. The young men clearly had a good time and showed great behavior. Dexter went through the last 20 (of 80 that I brought) rounds for the old Mauser. He was disappointed when the last round was shot. Finally the heat got to all of us. The young men, who had to be told what to do when they got there, quickly cleaned up and packed without instruction. They thanked me profusely. Each made an appropriate contribution to cover the ammo.
I learned on the way home that Dexter had been asking Rob about guns and that he was considering purchasing one. He was especially grateful for the chance to try a variety.
A great time was had by all, the young men, they displayed exceptional behavior, a safe environment was maintained and they have a clear desire to shoot again. The young people of today need more opportunities to shoot. I look forward to the next time I can host a group.
Have a great day.
