10 year olds first time shooting - she did great!

NCLivingBrit

NCLivingBrit

Well-Known Member
2A Bourbon Hound 2024
2A Bourbon Hound OG
Supporting Member
Multi-Factor Enabled
Joined
Dec 16, 2016
Messages
22,764
Location
Reidsville NC
Rating - 100%
71   0   0
So after some discussion my girlfriend and I decided to take her 10 year old daughter to the shooting range today. It was her first time shooting a firearm, although she has plenty of Nerf guns.

I had forgotten how much I enjoy teaching folks the basics. She was attentive, asked questions when she didn't understand and was one of the safest new shooters I've ever escorted.

Here she is shooting my Rossi 62 pump in 22LR

FB_IMG_1501353726879.jpg FB_IMG_1501353694368.jpg

She got in with that like a house on fire, so after a hundred and something rounds (5 at a time due to range rules) we tried her in my 10/22. I didn't want to confuse her with malfunction drills yet, but she was clearing her own malfs by the end from watching me and confirming each step before she did it.

FB_IMG_1501354221138.jpg
FB_IMG_1501354213254.jpg

Her groupings were consistent and impressive for a first time, even off a rest at about 10 yards. Her POI would change a bit between strings but each string would usually be clustered close to the first round.

This is her last target of the day. I note the guy next to us was firing off a selection of .45 and 9mm pocket guns that were shaking the roof and hitting her in the head with brass multiple times and she still maintained her cool and kept plugging away.

FB_IMG_1501353740897.jpg

She had a blast and wants to do it again, and so do I! I never did quite get to shoot my AR and probably only shot 20 or 30 rounds myself but that was one of the best days at the range I've had in forever.
 
Last edited:
I made a similarly expensive and lasting mistake when I gave my young daughter her first taste of lobster.

:eek:
 
To borrow a little from Franc White, the Southern Sportsman to those who remember ...

Do yourself a favor take a kid shooting!

Good job in safety, concentration and so on. Take the mystique and wonder away about firearms from children and teach them respect and safety and I truly believe the number of tragedies involving kids would decrease.
 
That's awesome. I made the same mistake, took my daughter when she was home from college.... a 10 dollar trip to the range now cost me 20 bucks and 200 rds .... And maybe even a bit of my pride as she outshoots me sometimes lol
 
Great shooting! She did really well...
 
Kids! Their learning process is a mystery. You may never know the wonderful thing that happens when they experience something that they are constantly being taught by a lot of their peers and teachers and parents...are a bad thing...scary...dangerous...immoral....etc. My oldest grandson, now 13, started shooting with me when he was 10. He is introspective, scary smart, takes everything in, but often does not give you much back. He listened to all the instructions, practiced safety procedures. He did not get pouty or "turn me off" when I would not let him go live. When I thought he was ready, he was a mental machine. His concentration was better than most adults that I have trained. I didn't get much feedback from him,but I knew he was proud of his shooting. He is very competitive.

After about six months, maybe once a month with him, we had finished shooting and cleaned the .22's. We were in my reloading room and he looked at me and I knew he wanted to talk. He asked me what I thought about Obama. I was floored to say the least.

I told him what I thought, trying to keep the conversation rational. He said not a word, nor asked a question. Finally, on the way back to meet his dad he said, "Pop, why do grown-ups tell you things that are not true? I was close to tearing up. I asked him why he thought they did. "Pop, I think they want me to think like they do. When I ask them questions, they don't like it and try to make me feel bad. I may be a kid, but my friends talk, and we don't believe them. We do our research!"

That's when I did tear up and had to pull of the highway. I hugged him and told him that I loved him and that he was ok...just keep asking questions and learn to make up your on mind. Then I got about the most I could expect..."thanks Pop, when can we shoot again".
 
Nice review and great close up pics that should help encourage others to spend some time with the younger shooters among us that have not yet "discovered" their enjoyment of the sport.

I sincerely appreciate seeing the safety gear being worn to help instill this as a requisite each time she picks up a firearm to shoot some more. I'm showing this thread to my grand-daughters now and thanks for starting this thread.
 
Brangus said:
Nice review and great close up pics that should help encourage others to spend some time with the younger shooters among us that have not yet "discovered" their enjoyment of the sport.

I sincerely appreciate seeing the safety gear being worn to help instill this as a requisite each time she picks up a firearm to shoot some more. I'm showing this thread to my grand-daughters now and thanks for starting this thread.
Click to expand...

She has plugs under the muffs too, pistol bays are loud even outdoors. And she had a choice, safety gear and shoot, no gear and don't. She chose well.
 
NCLivingBrit said:
She has plugs under the muffs too, pistol bays are loud even outdoors. And she had a choice, safety gear and shoot, no gear and don't. She chose well.
Click to expand...

Great decision for setting the required safety standards for a newbie there Brit..............she will never know or pick up the unsafe method if you enforce this standard without fail.

Our forum needs more of these threads to encourage some of us ( Yep, I'm included here) to sacrifice the time and invest in bringing more younger shooters into the fold as firearm owners and enthusiasts. Thanks again for drilling it into our heads on just how it's done sir.

:D:D
 
You're welcome mate. I think to be honest I had more fun than if my blind self had been shooting. I do need some practice though if I ever want to make a rimfire match lol

And to be honest other than safety talk and basic stuff light how to hold the rifle and sight alignment that is all native talent. I'm no trainer, but I'm patient enough to keep sticking five round strings in a tube mag until she felt her way to the goal.
 
Last edited:
Same here............and hopefully .22 target ammo will come back on down more so we all can shoot it more. It's always been one of my favorite calibers to shoot and also to teach others with.

Maybe we'll be lucky enough to see that again.
 
Brangus said:
Same here............and hopefully .22 target ammo will come back on down more so we all can shoot it more. It's always been one of my favorite calibers to shoot and also to teach others with.

Maybe we'll be lucky enough to see that again.
Click to expand...

The bulk pack stuff is coming down so here's hoping. With my eyes I could probably shoot bulk pack at a match and have much the same results!
 
Oh yeah........... I just noticed another advertisement for @gunbelt in the third pic !


index.php
 
How can I find info on those belts?
 
Excellent, thanks a lot.

From reading through some of the posts, it seems he sells at some of the shows. Anybody know whether he'll be at GSO or WS this month?

Thanks again!
 

I'll be at the Greensboro show.[/QUOTE]

@gunbelt, how about the Winston show?
 
NCLivingBrit said:
So after some discussion my girlfriend and I decided to take her 10 year old daughter to the shooting range today. It was her first time shooting a firearm, although she has plenty of Nerf guns.

I had forgotten how much I enjoy teaching folks the basics. She was attentive, asked questions when she didn't understand and was one of the safest new shooters I've ever escorted.


She got in with that like a house on fire, so after a hundred and something rounds (5 at a time due to range rules) we tried her in my 10/22. I didn't want to confuse her with malfunction drills yet, but she was clearing her own malfs by the end from watching me and confirming each step before she did it.

Her groupings were consistent and impressive for a first time, even off a rest at about 10 yards. Her POI would change a bit between strings but each string would usually be clustered close to the first round.

This is her last target of the day. I note the guy next to us was firing off a selection of .45 and 9mm pocket guns that were shaking the roof and hitting her in the head with brass multiple times and she still maintained her cool and kept plugging away.

She had a blast and wants to do it again, and so do I! I never did quite get to shoot my AR and probably only shot 20 or 30 rounds myself but that was one of the best days at the range I've had in forever.
Click to expand...


I see quite a few reasons for others to benefit from what you offered this young shooter. Many people won't take the time or just simply don't have the patience to help a newbie "around the curve" as you seem to have been able to do here. I'm thinking that it is important now to get her back out to the range again soon so she can apply the techniques you've taught her and then take things up another notch.

And just maybe CFF can assist in sponsoring a youth shooters training somewhere that some of us can attend to include safety training to help others get started. You seem to be a good fit for that role sir. I've already shown this thread to a number of family members especially my grand-daughters and some other young ladies in our neighborhood.

This has been a good discussion thread for my family this weekend.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom