Newbie at the range

[Sasquatch]

Taking the boy and his friend to the range this weekend (both 19). The boy has training and knows all the rules and is safe with firearms. His friend has never shot a gun before. I already put the fear of God in him about doing anything stupid, which I will reiterate before we go. I did make him learn the safety rules and let him handle an unloaded firearm so it isn't a totally unfamiliar feeling to him.

I'll be taking a semi auto (G17) and a wheel gun (GP100). I'll also have my S&W ccw on me but we'll see how he does with the first two before I decide if he shoots that or not.

Wish me luck!

[T-Man 1066]

Sounds like you got it all covered. Have a good time and report back!

[Dwight]

I started my son on firearms when he was about 3 . . . walking back from the mailbox . . . a big garter snake was in the yard . . . went and got the Ruger .22 pistol . . . came back . . . put 10 rounds into said snake . .

He still remembers it . . .

And with all the safety training . . . shooting coaching thru the years . . . I am pretty proud when he beats me at shooting . . . consider my efforts to train him as time well served.

And he beats me about every time.

May God bless,
Dwight

[Mad Trapper]

Sas, it's good you are mentoring your son and his friend on firearms. It is great skill to learn and becoming a good marksman is great fun. I see you are into pistols, do you hunt at all?

My Dad and Uncles were all WWII vets and knew firearms well. The uncles hunted just about everything they could eat and shot the varmints on their farms.

I started out with slingshots and when I didn't destroy stuff Dad got me an air rifle, and gave me my first gun safety talk. I could hunt small stuff better with the air rifle than the slingshot.

For a couple years I mentioned I wanted a .22, my slightly older friends had 10/22 Rugers. Dec 25th I got my wish, Mom and Dad got me a nice little Belgian Browning. I forgot all about Rugers.....



That afternoon Dad and I had another talk about gun safety and that a .22 was a whole lot more dangerous than my air rifle. Then he took me out back and set up some targets in the snow.

That was my first time shooting a real firearm.

In a few years my Dad got me another Christmas present as I wanted to hunt deer. Christmas came early as the season ran Nov/Dec.



My Uncle and older cousins had me for a whole week that deer season, staying at their farm, teaching me their hunting skills on the farm and surrounding forest. I didn't get a deer that year but learned a lot tracking and spooking them. I wanted to stalk them like my uncle, but I was just learning and better at spooking.........my Uncle ended up with a deer I spooked. My first deer drive?

Got my first deer the following winter when I was 15, hunting alone in an area I scouted for months. Lifelong hunter ever since with lots of good memories.

[Sasquatch]

Well, nobody got killed or kicked out so it went pretty well. Actually the Newb (Gabe) did pretty well. He listened to all instructions and was safe. We have to do some work with him though. As you'll see in the pic he has a weird grip. It's almost backward. But he'll get it.

This is Gabe with the G17. Surprisingly he liked the GP 100 more.



And here's my boy with the GP 100. Although he likes the semi-auto's better.

[Texas PO]

Glad everyone survived and had a good time. That is a weird grip Gabe has, looks all tangled up.

[Sasquatch]

I'd tried showing him to leave his left hand thumb flush with left hand side of the gun but he kept going back to that weird default grip. I'll have to work on it with him.

[Slippy]

I've decided that the ONLY time I will "train" a newbie on firearms/Safety/Fundamentals is in a 1 on 1 situation. One person, and me. Nobody else. PERIOD. And only at MY RANGE.

[Sasquatch]

I've decided that the ONLY time I will "train" a newbie on firearms/Safety/Fundamentals is in a 1 on 1 situation. One person, and me. Nobody else. PERIOD. And only at MY RANGE.

Slippy, you always have the smart ideas. I did have to tell my son to cool his jets because he kept jumping in trying to tell his friend what to do. I get it, he just wanted to help but that can confuse someone. As far as the range goes I ain't got one so indoor was the best I could do.

[red442joe]

I've decided that the ONLY time I will "train" a newbie on firearms/Safety/Fundamentals is in a 1 on 1 situation. One person, and me. Nobody else. PERIOD. And only at MY RANGE.

You are not wrong.

Joe