Well, first off I'm still pretty young, 21 years old. I grew up in NYC and went upstate on weekends, and went to school at the United Nations International School.
So I took a friend from high school out shooting on Friday. He's an interesting guy having been born in Hong Kong, but he's German, goes to school in France, and now his home is in Tokyo. Most of his childhood was spent in NYC.
I haven't seen him in a few years since he was overseas and such, so it was nice to finally hang out with him again. We left the city on Thursday evening, and I briefed him on the four rules and showed him a few of my rifles and such.
On Friday we went to the range, and brought with us lots of plastic bottles filled with ice. They make fun targets, and at 25 yards or so aren't difficult to hit.
I started him on the .22, though he has shot .22 rifles before during the "outdoor education" we went on during school. After about 60 rounds through the .22, he had the basics down pretty well and he was following the safety rules very well.
Next out was the Yugo SKS, which I think is what made him realize just how fun shooting is. I think I forgot to warn him that it has a bigger boom and recoil than the .22
He loved that gun, then went on to the AR-15, which took him a little more getting used to, mostly since it was ACOG equipped. Plinked a few more bottles with that for a while, then broke out the shotguns.
We did some shooting with one of my hunting shotguns, using one of those cheap Hoppes mechanical throwers from wally world. He did manage to get two and chip a third, but the moving targets was harder for him, especially after all the rifle shooting. He liked that still, but obviously it would be better to focus on that another time.
We then used my Mossberg 590 with buckshot and slugs, and he even stepped up to 3 inch magnum slugs, which was interesting.
After all the shotgun stuff, we went back to the SKS and AR to finish up the day, and after the 3 inch slugs, those two rifles felt like a .22.
All in all, he told me "now I see why you like this so much" and now he wants a gun or three. I think I did something right, and now he is frustrated that he will be in Europe and Japan for a couple more years at least.
I'm happy to have converted another. Not only did I get a friend interested in shooting, but now he will go back overseas with good memories of shooting, and so he will not only influence all his American friends, but European and Asian ones as well.
So I took a friend from high school out shooting on Friday. He's an interesting guy having been born in Hong Kong, but he's German, goes to school in France, and now his home is in Tokyo. Most of his childhood was spent in NYC.
I haven't seen him in a few years since he was overseas and such, so it was nice to finally hang out with him again. We left the city on Thursday evening, and I briefed him on the four rules and showed him a few of my rifles and such.
On Friday we went to the range, and brought with us lots of plastic bottles filled with ice. They make fun targets, and at 25 yards or so aren't difficult to hit.
I started him on the .22, though he has shot .22 rifles before during the "outdoor education" we went on during school. After about 60 rounds through the .22, he had the basics down pretty well and he was following the safety rules very well.
Next out was the Yugo SKS, which I think is what made him realize just how fun shooting is. I think I forgot to warn him that it has a bigger boom and recoil than the .22
He loved that gun, then went on to the AR-15, which took him a little more getting used to, mostly since it was ACOG equipped. Plinked a few more bottles with that for a while, then broke out the shotguns.
We did some shooting with one of my hunting shotguns, using one of those cheap Hoppes mechanical throwers from wally world. He did manage to get two and chip a third, but the moving targets was harder for him, especially after all the rifle shooting. He liked that still, but obviously it would be better to focus on that another time.
We then used my Mossberg 590 with buckshot and slugs, and he even stepped up to 3 inch magnum slugs, which was interesting.
After all the shotgun stuff, we went back to the SKS and AR to finish up the day, and after the 3 inch slugs, those two rifles felt like a .22.
All in all, he told me "now I see why you like this so much" and now he wants a gun or three.
I think I did something right, and now he is frustrated that he will be in Europe and Japan for a couple more years at least. I'm happy to have converted another. Not only did I get a friend interested in shooting, but now he will go back overseas with good memories of shooting, and so he will not only influence all his American friends, but European and Asian ones as well.
