[ShootingRooster]

Took my 13 year old nephew and his 12 year old buddy shooting today. He had a little experience shooting 20g and .22 rifles, but nothing with pistols. His buddy had never shot a gun before.

Had my 19, 43, and my old .357 mag snub nose (we shot .38s). Boys started on the wheel gun just to get our safety and general gun practices squared away. Then I shot a 33 round mag from my 19, so they were excited to shoot a Glock. They shot the 43 first, and they learned quickly, hit good shots. Then they took the 19 for a ride. The buddy is a little dude and he had some limp wristing with the 19, which caused a few FTF, but he played it cool and did the right things with the gun until I could clear it for him. He had zero issues with the 43 which fit his hands better. Both boys quickly picked up on all the shooting tips, responded well to correction (especially the buddy, that kid is a natural), no slide bites or scary moments, lots of good shooting, and handled the guns as they were directed. Eventually I had them firing 2 shots then switching targets. They alternated the 3 guns after that. Both shot around 150 rounds of .38 special and 9mm. They got to blast with a 20g and a pump .22 after that. Big smiles and lots learned.

I of course taught them safety first, second, and last, with a few shooting tips thrown in there. Kids should at least know how to safely handle and disarm a gun. Even better when they can shoot safely and well. We shot paper targets, water jugs, a few old frying pans, and a few random clays we found in the sandpit we were shooting in. My brother in law gave us some old oranges which were fun to shoot. When we were done, without any prompting, the kids cleaned up all of our mess, including most of our brass, and thanked me for the range time. Kids these days, eh? They're good, and I hope their teenaged years and reality television don't ruin them.

Great experience for all. I even got some good trigger time with my 43, which is still kinda new to me, and it's XS Big Dot sights, which I am smitten with and keep getting better with. Just wanted to share the experience and encourage others to go teach a kid how to shoot.

Next time I'll bring an AR.

 

[quantico]

Glad you had a safe time.

 

[harold63]

Sounds good. I remember my first 20 ga shots...we were poaching chickens on someone else's land. Not proud of it, but it was my first time shooting a 20 ga. I think I was 12 or 13.

It's cool, IMO, to let kids shoot some guns...Lord knows I let my kids shoot, a lot, when they were kids. I didn't, however, do any of this. Hopefully, you don't, either.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMja0f0z2rY

 

[Lt. Donn]

Good for you! It is important to note the significance of your range day; A generation ago, kids learned about how to handle firearms safely from favorite uncles and grandfathers etc...now, we have so many young people who know only what Hollywood and the Left have taught them about firearms...either that they are invincible "Death Rays" or that all guns are inherently bad...we need more folks like you to educate future generations...

 

[Old School]

Good for you. I always say to learn to be a safe shot. There's plenty of time to learn to be a good shot later on.

 

[ShootingRooster]

Sounds good. I remember my first 20 ga shots...we were poaching chickens on someone else's land. Not proud of it, but it was my first time shooting a 20 ga. I think I was 12 or 13.

It's cool, IMO, to let kids shoot some guns...Lord knows I let my kids shoot, a lot, when they were kids. I didn't, however, do any of this. Hopefully, you don't, either.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMja0f0z2rY

I cringe when I see those videos. So unsafe, plus it scares novice shooters so they develop flinches or flat out get scared off of shooting. Guns can be very intimidating for some, and that's not a good way to make them less so.

 

[ShootingRooster]

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Good for you! It is important to note the significance of your range day; A generation ago, kids learned about how to handle firearms safely from favorite uncles and grandfathers etc...now, we have so many young people who know only what Hollywood and the Left have taught them about firearms...either that they are invincible "Death Rays" or that all guns are inherently bad...we need more folks like you to educate future generations...

I recently read about a 13 year old who accidentally shot himself because he didn't know how to handle the gun that was being passed around a group of friends. He was on Facebook live streaming and trying to be cool. He had no idea what he was doing. If he had been taught proper, and his friends too for that matter, that never woulda happened. Kids are better off knowing so they respect the power of a firearm.