So as I posted earlier, I went out shooting the other Saturday with a really awesome lady, her husband, and her grandson.
We started out with a safety talk. I’d worked with the youngin’ before, so it was easy to coax out the 4 rules from his memory.
- All guns are always loaded.
- Never point the gun at anything you do not want to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire.
- Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.
This worked pretty well and, for the most part, he was very conscious of the rules; only needing a gentle reminder now and again to be mindful.
I’ll confess right now that I’m not an expert by any means. I have no instructor credentials, and the only ‘official’ training I’ve had has been an NRA Basic Pistol course (other than Boy Scout camp many, many years ago). Teaching him the basics of safety and marksmanship, as best I know them, probably taught me more than it did him. Being able to watch him make similar mistakes to myself, such as pulling the trigger too hard rather than squeezing, really let me see and understand some of the mechanics of shooting.
Also, he took the the rules rather literally, and I discovered where I had inadequately explained rule 3, or rather, the reasoning behind rule 3. We took a small break to go over how keeping your finger inside the trigger guard while not actually on the trigger, which he argued didn’t break the rule, was not the best of ideas. Inattention, reflex (I didn’t want to get into sympathetic reactions with a 12 year old, no matter how smart he seemed), or being startled could cause your finger to pull back onto the trigger, even if it wasn’t exactly resting on the trigger itself.
We went over basic rifle and semi-auto pistol (we had no wheel-guns) functions. What the controls were, the basics of the different actions, and how to safely cock and de-cock the lever gun we had. The rifle part was review for him, but the pistol was brand new. He didn’t mind that Grandma’s Walther was pink, it was still cool.
Safety examples complete, and basic marksmanship down, it was time for G’ma and her husband to join in on the fun.
By the end of the day, we never did get around to shooting those clay discs out of the air like we’d originally planned. That’s okay, though. We did work our way through:
- The 50 year old lever action .22
- G’ma’s pink Walther P22
- The AR-15 (G’pa like it so much he has since bought his own.)
- The semi-auto AK-47
- Beretta 92F with .22 conversion
- Ruger LC9 (G’pa’s new gun, never before fired)
- Springfield Armory 1911 Loaded
- Saiga 12 with 20 round drum
- Remington 870
- Norinco copy of the Winchester 1897 trench gun (with bayonet)
- M&P 15-22 with Slide-fire stock. (More on this later)
G’son didn’t shoot the shotguns, but he did try everything else, even the 1911 in .45ACP (and he wasn’t traumatized). He wasn’t a fan of the larger recoil, but he was able to manage it. In the end, his favorite was the AR-15.
