Young man turns 12 tomorrow, and came out to the farm today with his mom. While she rode her horse, he learned to shoot, drive a Mule side by side, and to drive a front loader.

Never held a gun or touched a steering wheel in his life, and he killed it! Pie plates at 7 yards and he only missed 2 shots out of 47. His parents carry, and he absolutely knew the four rules of safety before he even got here.

Then he moved 15 buckets of dirt for me with the loader and put it where I needed it.

His comment, "This was the coolest birthday EVER!"

Debbie and I went to lunch with him and his mom after, and his mom just texted me. He passed out in the car less than 5 minutes after they headed for home.

This was a good day!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ArtieS,

And he will never forget it - Nice Day

You know you just changed the culture for the better by facilitating another young enthusiast. Thank you!

Good on ya! Young man will still remember this day 50 years from now!

BTW, what's that he's shooting? Looks a little like my old High Standard Sport King.

That's all kinds of awesome!

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
Good on ya! Young man will still remember this day 50 years from now!

BTW, what's that he's shooting? Looks a little like my old High Standard Sport King.

He shot two guns today; a 1930 Colt Officer's Model .22 and a late '60s Browning Nomad. In that picture, he has the Nomad.

Next time he comes out, we will move up to 9mm, and shoot some .22 rifle as well as a 9mm AR.

Your friend is not a gun owner, I assume?

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Your friend is not a gun owner, I assume?

My friends are gun owners, both carry 9mm pistols, and dad has a Tavor he has never shot. They are typical, busy, upper middle income parents. Mom was a hospital administrator, owns a horse, and cares for son, dad is a dermatologist and surgeon. There's work, school, horse care, karate, soccer, etc. Home is in a nice subdivision.

They have taught the son perfect gun safety, but he had never handled a weapon, or of course, shot one.

He had the 4 rules down cold. The first thing he said to me when we agreed to go shoot is, "treat every gun as if it is loaded." When I took him out to my open air range, I had him just look around and tell me what was the safe direction, and how the gun should be handled. He nailed it.

So the parents have done good safety training, but since they don't shoot much and really have no where to go except public indoor ranges, he hasn't had the chance yet. He made the most of it today, and we will do more of this. In fact, dad wants to come out and zero the Tavor.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ArtieS,

Ya dun gud!

Nice! The kid will remember this day forever.

Well done. I had a similar experience many many years ago and remember it like it was yesterday.

That looks like good technique with the pistol.

God bless you for doing that, Artie!!

He's a black belt in karate for his age. I showed him grip and told him to use karate stance.

Congrats to you both. Love these kind of stories!

quote:

"This was the coolest birthday EVER!"

I bet it was!

A birthday neither of you will ever forget. .... You dun gud. ................................ drill sgt.

Pretty much everything stated above!
He's never going to forget it, and great job!!!

With that smile on his face, you know he's hooked!

Hey I'm an adult and I'd consider running a loader and getting some range time a fun day too.

That’s awesome! Kids (and some adults) love learning to properly use tools. Some of us think of it as important life skill that nobody’s education is complete without.

Congrats on doing several really good things. Let’s hope mom and dad get hooked into shooting more too. My son does a fantastic job of pushing me to shoot more often when he’s home.