Very good weekend.

[SoupOrMan]

Friday, the boss sends me an email "Come see me."

That's it.

Great.

I walk into his office and my boss proceeds to tell me a story, none of which is work-related, thank God. See, his youngest son is turning eleven and his oldest son just finished mountain school in the Marine Corps. Naturally, his youngest has seen a lot of photos with his brother carrying an M-16, and suddenly he has an interest in shooting. Unfortunately, a lot of his information is coming from the Grand Theft Auto series of games. Now, my boss is from Chicago, has never held a firearm, and is frankly a little freaked out that his youngest son is talking about firearms. His oldest is a Marine out in California and his youngest is getting firearms tips from a game where criminal activity is both fun and applauded. This isn't going so well for teaching his youngest about firearm safety. Well, he knows I'm one of the many firearms enthusiasts here and since I taught his son how to play hockey, he asked if I could teach his son to shoot properly and safely.

Now, his son is on the small side of 11, and will likely be on the small side of 30 when he grows up. I was planning on introducing him to shooting with my old Daisy 840 single-pump airgun (they call it "The Grizzly" now, which is the most ludicrous thing I can think of for BB gun that maxes out at 350fps). I figure this will be a little less dangerous to us. If he seems to do well with it, we can try my old store-brand Marlin 60. If he's really good and shows some responsibility with the long guns, I'll let him fire a magazine or two from my 22/45.

On Saturday, we show up at my gun club and go through all the paperwork needed to allow them as guests. My boss, being a lawyer, reads through the indemnity and hold-harmless forms, and signs off anyway for him and his son. I go to grab my guns out of the truck and... no airgun.

So his son's first shooting lesson starts with actual firearms. I spend 30 minutes in our club's classroom area that they use for the kids' .22 league and go over the Four Rules of Gun Safety, My Rules for Handling My Firearms, and Basic Emergency Stuff like 911 and where to go to read off the 911 information in case of an injury. (How to treat a sucking chest wound is a bit beyond him at the moment.) After a few question and answer sessions to reinforce the Four Rules, we head to the indoor range.

I decided to start the shooting at 7 and 15 yards, even with the rifle. This way he'd have a good chance of hitting the target and would be able to more easily develop a sight picture. Now, my boss's son is really small for 11, probably about the size of an eight-year old. The rifle was heavy for him, but he did all right at 7 and 15 yards. To make it more interesting after getting him hooked, I reloaded the rifle for him, but would only let him shoot after he correctly answered a question about gun safety or emergency procedures. If he didn't answer it right or took too long, I let my boss shoot it instead... if my boss could answer the question, of course.

In all he did pretty well so I brought out the 22/45. He didn't shoot it quite as well, so I used it to explain differences between long guns and handguns, why breathing makes such a big difference during shooting and the like. Of course, he didn't care. He had a firearm that was just his size. So after two magazines of the 22/45, we called it a day. On the way out, we bumped into some other club members who fed their habits further by showing off their handguns.

The next session will feature range time with the BB gun since it will be lighter and provide more shots in a row. We won't even need to go to the range since we can find enough carpet remnants to make a good backstop.

Also, mission accomplished on the boss front. My boss is looking now at getting a FOID card and CCW license. In the words of Genie from "Aladdin:" "He CAN BE TAUGHT!"

[randy]

Sounds like he's a prime candidate for a Cricket rifle (single round, bolt action). Darlin' daughter got one at 8 and still loves it 10 years later.

[randy]

On, and Sierra Hotel! Good Job.

[SoupOrMan]

I'm definitely looking for another .22 rifle for beginners. I love my Marlin, but it's heavy.

[randy]

Crickett Rifle

pink2201a.jpg

What I bought for Darlin' Daughter. They do come in other colors

As you can see, she didn't care for it much

Crickett.JPG

[First Shirt]

Outstanding!!! I've learned that Minions can be recruited from just about anywhere, and it's a lot of fun getting them started safely.

Apropos of absolutely nothing, Savage makes a single shot boltie, available in right and left hand versions, called the Rascal.
And if, at some point, there was a pressing need to put a scope on it, it's already drilled and tapped, and takes the Mk II bases.

Rascal .22.png

[Weetabix]

Nicely done!

My daughter has a fake Cricket (can't remember the maker now) that was a little big for her when we got it. She tells me I'm not allowed to sell it because she's going to teach her kids ("If any!" since we're quoting movies) to shoot with it.

[Dub_James]

Good job!

[skb12172]

Bravo!

[blackeagle603]

Huzzah! Building a nation of riflemen, one new shooter at a time. Sounds like you got a two-fer though.