Took My Son to the Range Today …
He was my designated .22 loader-upper. Here we are at a beautiful outdoor range. Before us is a table with a Mosin-Nagant, a Browning Buckmark .22, and a Daisy Red Ryder.
My son is 6 years old. He took a couple of BB shots, then I loaded up one round in the Buckmark and had him take a shot. I’ve never seen someone smile so wide.
So he’s plinking this big dirt pile and watching little puffs of dirt go off one after the other. I tell him about some of the rules, always point the gun downrange, never put your finger on the trigger until you see what it is you’re shooting at and you’re ready to shoot, make sure of what’s behind your target, and of course …
Naturally, I was a bit more delicate with my language as explained to him.
So I’m packing everything up, and putting it into the van. I take the bolt assembly out of the Mosin all together and pack it up separately, laying the gun down in the back of the van. Ammo is back in the ammo bag, steel cans are put away, etc. We get in, and we’re driving home …
Son: “Daddy?”
Me: “Yeah?”
Son: “The gun’s always loaded, right?”
Me: “Yep.”
Son: “What if it’s not?”
Me: “Well, it always is. So you can never point it anywhere unsafe, and you always have to check it before you try to clean it or handle it.”
… pause …
Son: “Daddy?”
Me: “Yeah?”
Son: “You better be careful because that big gun back there is pointing at your butt.”
Heh.
That’s my boy …
Liberty on May 12th 2008 in Boomsticks!
angus lincoln responded on 12 May 2008 at 10:29 pm #
And so it begins…from this point on, I think you will always have a little shooting buddy to accompany you to the range and create many special memories and lessons learned.
Teaching my son to shoot was very special and the range is a great place to just relax together and enjoy eachother’s company. Perhaps even more so for me as our time together was quite limited. Shooting together made the best of it!
Don’t forget to take some pictures, as he will find them to be priceless when he’s older.
Darth responded on 13 May 2008 at 1:52 am #
The advice I got from my Dad was similar. That was back in 1969?
He told me after shooting a bunch of cans at the dump with the Remmy .22 auto - OK, this time I want you to shoot them as fast as you can. Don’t shoot until you get the sights lined up, but shoot them as soon as you do.
Damn that was fun.
Thanks Poppa.
Fighting For Liberty » Very New Shooter … responded on 13 May 2008 at 9:18 am #
[…] Poppa’s proud! Semi-range-report is here. […]
mike w. responded on 14 May 2008 at 1:24 pm #
Congrats! From this day on you two will have something you can both enjoy together.