Drycreek
Well-Known Member
My best friend (for 35 years) brought his grandson over Saturday to my place to let him shoot for his first time. Naturally I have known the kid since he was born. His mother and her brother were only kids themselves when we became friends. I gave his uncle his first chance to drive when he was about 12, behind the wheel of my old ‘79 Bronco. He hunted with me as much as he did with his Dad. I tell all this to say that I am invested in this family.
The gun was a tang safety Ruger Model 77 in .243 Winchester, the ammo was Federal blue box. I have a good bench that I can shoot out to 125 yards safely. It’s set up on one side of my pond with the target frame either on the dam or at the end of it depending on how far you want to shoot. We used a store bought frame for this little adventure because it’s easier to move, it works well if you don’t shoot the 1x2 uprights !
I haven’t so far…….
We had a little “familiarity with the firearm” class before live fire, as well as a safety lesson. We also had a a few dry fires to get him familiar with the trigger pull. I put a big bag under the forearm and a small bag under the buttstock. I showed him how to adjust the rear bag in order to control the crosshair elevation and to get steady before he shot. His Papa coached him on trigger squeeze and warned him that it was gonna be loud even though we were all wearing muffs. He’s a big boy for 13, so I didn’t think the mild recoil of the .243 would bother him, and it didn’t. He did well, so Papa let him shoot his 9mm Ruger into the edge of my pond afterwards, kinda the topping on the ice cream. The target speaks for itself, I think he did well for a kid who’s never shot a gun before.
The gun was a tang safety Ruger Model 77 in .243 Winchester, the ammo was Federal blue box. I have a good bench that I can shoot out to 125 yards safely. It’s set up on one side of my pond with the target frame either on the dam or at the end of it depending on how far you want to shoot. We used a store bought frame for this little adventure because it’s easier to move, it works well if you don’t shoot the 1x2 uprights !
I haven’t so far…….We had a little “familiarity with the firearm” class before live fire, as well as a safety lesson. We also had a a few dry fires to get him familiar with the trigger pull. I put a big bag under the forearm and a small bag under the buttstock. I showed him how to adjust the rear bag in order to control the crosshair elevation and to get steady before he shot. His Papa coached him on trigger squeeze and warned him that it was gonna be loud even though we were all wearing muffs. He’s a big boy for 13, so I didn’t think the mild recoil of the .243 would bother him, and it didn’t. He did well, so Papa let him shoot his 9mm Ruger into the edge of my pond afterwards, kinda the topping on the ice cream. The target speaks for itself, I think he did well for a kid who’s never shot a gun before.
