A young man's first time...

[PennsyPlinker]

Sunday afternoon I had the privilege and joy of introducing a young man in our church to firearms. He recently turned 11 years old, and as part of his birthday present, his aunt and uncle, good friends of mine, arranged for me to take him shooting. It was his very first time with a real gun.

We had him convinced that he was going to help me and his uncle do some plumbing, to the point where we got out of the vehicles at Guthsville, he looked at the pond there with trepidation in his young heart. When we finally explained what was really going to happen, it was like Ralphie finally finding his Red Ryder BB gun on Christmas day. He could barely contain himself.

After a stern lecture about safety, and practicing some things, we loaded him up and started him out. He actually started on my old Ted Williams single shot .22 lever action carbine I got as my first gun when I was 12, shortly after they stopped loading them from the front end. After demonstrating that he was in control of his emotions, we moved him up to a scoped semi auto, and then an AR with a conversion kit for .22 LR. After all that, it was on to pistols, where he got to shoot suppressed as well as unsuppressed. I think his face hurt from the constant grinning.

He finished up the day by shooting a magazine through a 9mm Smith and Wesson, and then through my P220 with .45 ACP. He did great with handling the guns, and destroyed many a water filled bottle on the plinking range. Below is a video of him shooting the P220 with the conversion kit. Even with a stovepipe, he was mindful of his muzzle and kept it downrange while his uncle cleared the jam for him.



He is already talking about his next trip, and until he provides proof to his contemporaries, I suspect there will be some disbelief that he actually got to do all the fun stuff he did.

[shadowcat187]

Great job pennsy. He wil remember that day for the rest of his life.

[Derek]

I remember my first time, she wasn't a beauty but eh, she was alright...

Oh, this isn't what this thread is about, my bad.


Good job introducing him at a young age and instilling good habits.

~ Derek

[crlovel]

He actually started on my old Ted Williams single shot .22 lever action carbine I got as my first gun when I was 12, shortly after they stopped loading them from the front end.

I don't buy this. Guns weren't invented when you were 12!

Good job, Bill, we need to get together to shoot again this spring or summer.

[ErSwnn]

I did just the same Thursday. A fellow here in the neighborhood wants to expose both his sons to firearms so we took the first one to the range. It's the next best thing to seeing your newborn (phone break) the first time. I've already had his 12y.o. daughter out with my own daughter. And all three of his kids to the woods for bb gun lead-in to firearm safety.

(Co-incidentially, he JUST called to ask my preferance in .22 ammo as a thank you gift!)

The kid of course loved it. Only issue was his firing too fast, just wanting to fire rather than aim and consider the shot. We slowed him down. As it turns out my 12y.o. daughter was a better teacher than myself, she got him to keep a rhythm and keep the target.

First chance the man gets we're taking the other out. He was picking up more .40 for his own gun, which he hadn't fired in 7 years till the other day. Looks like I might have gotten him to feel the bug again.....I sure hope so.

[ungawa]

That is a tremendous story. Great work!

Please invite me out sometime.

[PennsyPlinker]

That is a tremendous story. Great work!

Please invite me out sometime.

Ed, this was a birthday present for the boy, so I was not comfortable in adding in others, but if I am running the show, you are always welcome. Of course, if you had come and brought that one special toy of yours, we would have had to give him benadryl pills to calm him down!

[ungawa]

Oh, not that time, I meant anytime

[Azzy]

I think his face hurt from the constant grinning.

Sounds like that made the day worth it
Sure brought a smaile to my face, I love bringing new people into shooting. Havent yet brought anyone that young into the sport, but it is still fun to see that grin, no matter how old.

[rflynn]

Great story! Real nice to see things like this from time to time.