Alot of the schools in the Mid-South are on spring break this week. Our 15 year old niece from Tennessee wanted to spend a few days with the wife and I, we let her get away with anything. Her Mom and Dad asked me if I would teach her how to shoot a pistol while she was here, they don't have the patience to do it. I said I would try, if I can get her phone away from her long enough to give it a shot. The girl is very athletic and good at about everything she tries to do, so I didn't want her to fail at this.

Today was the day, sunny and 82 degrees, perfect for being outside. She has never shot a pistol before and only shot a .22 rifle once. So we started in the back yard with my Gamo PT-80 CO2 pellet pistol, it a clone of a Beretta PX4. I had given her the standard rules about guns and drew a picture of the sites and how to aim. I set up a Dirty Bird Splattering target 6x10 mini silhouette on a big box at 7 yards. With the splattering target she could atleast see where she hit. The first 8 round mag was all in the 9 and X rings, she continued this until the CO2 cylinder went dry, about 60 shots. There was nothing left of the X ring.

It was time to graduate to bigger things. We loaded up the back pack and headed to the field. I took three different pistols, an old Ruger MKII with target sites and 6 7/8 barrel, the wifes PPK/S, and 3913LS. This time we set the targets at 15-20 yards. She started with the Ruger, after about 30 rounds only two hits were outside the 8 ring. This kid was great for the first time of shooting a pistol. This was all done standing with a two hand hold. We tried the PPK/S and 3913LS, neither one was to her liking. After one mag in each, she wanted to go back to the MKII. I think I created a monster, if it wasn't time for supper we would have stayed until I ran out of ammo. She shot about 150 rounds of .22. She is going to take all of the targets home, just for bragging rights.

I think I accomplished something good today.

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Mike in SouthCentral Kentucky

So do I. Well played Sir, well played.

I have spent a lot of time and ammo teaching women and kids to shoot, and most women do FAR better then the men I've tried to counsel. They listen well, they don't have any pre-conceived notions about how it's done, and they don't have that macho BS to contend with. Several have outshot me, with my own guns. My favorite was a female friend I'd known for years who asked me to show her the ropes. We started with 22's, moved up to 38's, and finished with hot 357 loads. At 20 yards she put her last 6 rounds into a nice round group about 2", then turned to me and said, "Am I doing this right?"

I didn't have the decency to tell her she was shooting better than I did on a good day. I just said, "Yeah, I think you have the basics down pretty well," and left it at that.

The younger shooters have better eyesight than most of us......and it shows up on target, if they're given the fundamentals.

That's great of you teaching a young person to shoot. Something she will always remember and hopefully learn to appreciate. Maybe even
become a regular shooter/hunter someday as well. Always good to
bring new people into our sport. Sounds like you did the right thing moving up from a pellet gun to rimfire. My grandaughter who just turned 7 is already asking me to take her shooting. I'm gonna teach her
as well this spring.


chuck

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They hold no Quarter

i cant wait till my nieces are old enough to shoot ( 3yr right now) i kno its a long way but i feel the way it is anymore they are gonna need it.

also one thing ive learned from taking my sis-in-law to the range is not to take her at all.. she just makes me look bad

Two words:

Video Games

Kids have been simulating shooting to the point that they can practically string bulls eyes in their sleep.

Your bending the twig my friend. Your bending the twig. And remember, as the twig is bent, so grows the branch! So bend the twig my friend. Bend the twig! The wisest man who ever lived put it this way, "Train up a child in the way in which he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart." Cool.

My daughters learned to shoot at an early age. When they were physically capable of cocking it they were bought Red Ryder B.B. guns... about age 6. Their first rifle shots were fired from a 03-A3 using light gallery loads at age 8. They moved on to shooting a COLT Hbar and a .22 LR S&W 18-3. They are today grown women living successful professional lives. One lives in a large city where there are few restrictions of owning/using firearms. She and her husband regularly participate in Cowboy Action shooting. My other daughter lives in NYC where ownership/use of any firearm is heavily restricted. Earlier this year when she was coming home for a visit, I asked her what she wanted to do. Her reply was, "I want chicken and dumplings and I want to go shooting!" Looks like Solomon really knew what he was talking about.

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<><

When my wife and I were first dating I took her out and had her shoot my 4-inch Model 10 with some target loads. I set her up at 7 yards from a silhouette target and she fired all six shots double action right into the ten ring. I agree that from what I have seen that women make excellent shooters because they are not out there to shoot for score, just to shoot so they put less stress on themselves.

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Vaya con Dios

Outstanding!

An NRA Basic Pistol Course would be a great investment at this point.

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In dog years I'm dead.