The boy pictured (Brandon) is 8 yrs and had the time of his life shooting my Colt/Bushy.
It was great watching him learn.   By the end of the afternoon, he was whacking that big steel target every time!

Kids...the best thing you can do to help the shooting sports grow!

Bob

Oh no!
A child with an assault weapon
The horror
[totally sarcastic of course]

good for you. Thats good for young folks to get into shooting sports. It helps offset the BS the left feeds young people in schools and TV. Good job.

You need a collapsible stock. Its for the children.

Quoted: You need a collapsible stock. Its for the children.

Will somebody PLEASE think of the children!!!
(nice pictures by the way)

Nice

I have infected a number of children with Black Rifle Disease, my own and others.  

A few years ago, at the next station, a young man and his dad were sighting in a new scope on a bolt action.  The son, about 14 or so, kept eyeballing my table full of AR's.  I said, "Excuse me sir, your son seems to be interested in my rifles, and if OK with you, he is welcome to bust a few caps here."

Dad agreed, son smiled ear to ear.  So, I showed him how it worked, how an AR-15 is different from a full auto or burst M16, how to operate, and handed him a mag.  

After a few rounds his dad said, "Son, don't burn up all the man's ammo."  I replied, "No, go on, have fun.  Here, when you finish that mag, you can finish off this one, too."

"Dad, I HAVE to have one of these!"  They were interested in competition, the son had competed in a few youth shoots, told them about DCM/CMP, where to buy, etc.

Infected, assemilated.

It is just that easy.

(Ammo cost?  Worth every cent.)

Quoted: Infected, assemilated. It is just that easy. (Ammo cost?  Worth every cent.)

Rock on, man. Great job!

Both of ya!


To those about to rock...

Quoted: You need a collapsible stock. Its for the children.

Bingo! There is the perfect excuse for me to pick up my collapsable and not get hassled(much) by the boss! Woohoo! Go ARFCOMers!

5 or 6 position, really dial it in.

Yes, now THERE is a good reason for an adjustable stock.  They make adjustable car seats, right?  Seat on a bicycle adjusts up and down, right?  So, why is there anything sinister about an adjustable stock?

"You mean, you teach little kids to shoot guns?"  

You're damned right, I do!  And not one single eye put out yet.

And sorry, VonFatman, I forgot to say to you, Way to go, man!

Map & A_Free_Man Member,
Now that's a great idea.  I've introduced a number of "kids" to rifle shooting (other than .22 rim fire) with this gun...why on earth I never thought to get a collapsible I will never know!  It's an earlier Colt so I could have done so at any time.
Would either of you care to make a recommendation?   I plan to share this gun with MANY more young shooters and want good one.

Thanks for the idea!!!

And to the other member's who replied...thanks for the kind remarks.  I have more fun with kids than with any other age group.  My wife's daughter started with this gun a year ago last spring...she's hunting deer with me this fall with her grand-dad's pre-WW2 Model 70 (.270 caliber).  

I have a nice deer hunting set up on my farm and have helped many a young & older person tag their first (and subsequent) deer....including my son.

The AR-15 is the ULTIMATE (IMHO) kid magnet when at the range...with so little felt recoil and it’s obvious COOL look, the gun is easy to get hooked on!

I'm having a shoot this next weekend at my farm/range and hope to get a few new shooters "interested".

Again, thanks for the kind remarks.


Bob

cool

wish i could have done that when i was 8

just remember, the only danger to other people are other people

sounds like my first experience with an AR....I think I was like 10 or so...either way I fell in love, and wanted one for the longest time...thats why when the AWB was passed a few years after I had shot one, my heart sank!!

Looks like we've got the makings of an upstanding, honest, respectful, hard-working American young man.  Congratulations for making a difference in his life and keep up the great work.

The AR-15 is the ULTIMATE (IMHO) kid magnet when at the range...with so little felt recoil and it’s obvious COOL look, the gun is easy to get hooked on!

Of course, what kid doesn't want to shoot a firearm that looks like the ones carried by the HEROS he sees on the news--our Soldiers in Iraq!  


Even an older 3 or 4 position CAR stock will work well for this purpose.

But also, with kids, I prefer not to use a 20" heavy aka match barrel either.  Arm strength is a factor, so a 16" is better, and best a 16" pencil aka featherweight or whatever you want to call it, as light as possible.

Introducing a kid to shooting FIRST with a .22LR is preferable.  A 10-22 is a great confidence builder.  Ditto handguns, a .22 LR is the way to go for this.  

Make sure the rifle, shotgun, or pistol you give a child, or newbie, FITS.  There is no need for a child to have to tuck the stock under his armpit.  Buy, borrow, modify, whatever, obtain a firearm that fits the person.

I have never understood handing a small kid a large bore rifle or magnum handgun, just to watch him get knocked on his butt so the adults could all have a good laugh.  We have all seen this, and probably had it happen as a kid.  This is stupid.  Should you see adults about to engage in perpetrating this cruel joke on a kid or young lady, stop them.  This is not a "right of passage" for a kid, it is just sick.(Read in the General section about the kid KILLED by the recoil of a .454 Cassull, boucing back and hitting him in the head.)

Eye and ear protection are a must, even with a .22.  Kids will have difficulty with full size muffs, so help them with disposable foam rubber plugs.  I keep a double handful in my range bag for visitors and guests, and half a dozen SPARE safety glasses new in wrapper.  Even if they are not with me, just onlookers, I offer earplugs.  BTW, most foam disposable earplugs EXCEED the noise reduction rating of most muffs.  Muffs average -24 db rating, foam earplugs are in the -31 db to -33 db range.  That is a very great difference.  It does not help to put muffs over plugs, little additional noise reduction is obtained.

Go over all the safety rules.  KISS.

Before handing a firearm to a newbie, with an empty firearm, show him how it functions, how to maniputlate the safety, mag release, trigger, etc.  Get the person comfortable through dry fire with being able to operate everything without looking.

Then proceed to actual firing of the firearm.

Thanks for promoting our sport

This is part of the no child left behind program. They should all have the opportunity to have a fun day at the range.

 YOU DA MAN!!!!

I'm taking my 2 6 yr old twin girls tomorrow for the first time.  Yall wish me luck!!  Hope to have a few picks of them to pop on here.

Doc

I seen your post yesterday so I took my seven year old out for the first time.Man was it fun and she is bugging for more. Had to do the 10/22 for first time.
Don't laugh but i was out of regular targets and this turkey will live to see another day.

Nice to see the hobby being passed to the next generation. I let some youngin shoot my AR today at the range also.

Quoted: Map & A_Free_Man Member, Now that's a great idea.  I've introduced a number of "kids" to rifle shooting (other than .22 rim fire) with this gun...why on earth I never thought to get a collapsible I will never know!  It's an earlier Colt so I could have done so at any time. Would either of you care to make a recommendation?   I plan to share this gun with MANY more young shooters and want good one. Thanks for the idea!!! And to the other member's who replied...thanks for the kind remarks.  I have more fun with kids than with any other age group.  My wife's daughter started with this gun a year ago last spring...she's hunting deer with me this fall with her grand-dad's pre-WW2 Model 70 (.270 caliber).   I have a nice deer hunting set up on my farm and have helped many a young & older person tag their first (and subsequent) deer....including my son. The AR-15 is the ULTIMATE (IMHO) kid magnet when at the range...with so little felt recoil and it’s obvious COOL look, the gun is easy to get hooked on! I'm having a shoot this next weekend at my farm/range and hope to get a few new shooters "interested". Again, thanks for the kind remarks. Bob

If I could have one in NJ I would go for the Voltor. I will have one on my PA (at my mother-in-laws) rifle by next weekend.

Mike

Is that a bayo lug AND a FH??????   OMFG!!!!

DocGP,
YOU DA MAN!!  Hope you and the twins enjoyed the day...a full range report is requested!!!
ebgb68,
Your daughter is beautiful!  Way to go!  
cnorton,
It's fun sharing, isn't it!  Good job!!!
gmtmaster,
Yes, I'm afraid so!  It's a fun shooter!
AssaultPossum,
We're having a shoot next weekend and several friends are bringing new shooters, some are teanagers.
pieeater,
My pleasure.
TealGunner,
Monday, his teacher had him write a paper on what he did over the weekend...any guesses what Brandon wrote?
SMPrider112,
I hope you have had many more AR experiences!
ALPHAGHOST,
Me too...but I did do a lot of hunting as a kid...rabbits & squirrel mostly.




A_Free_Man,
Good reply...I'm in total agreement with your thoughts on getting kids into shooting.  My son never shot a hi-powered rifle until he pulled the trigger on his first deer (he nailed it at 11 years old at 110 yards)...the method included lots of practice with my 9422 w/scope....he worked hard and was placing bullets in the kill zone on deer targets.

I purchased a Savage Model 111 .243 for him....let him dry fire the heck out of it and look thru the scope at deer photos and deer targets....I'd ask him to tell me where the ideal shot placement would be on a given deer photo/target (or if there was no shot, I'd ask him to explain why).  He learned where to aim and when not to aim.

Opening morning his .243 had a failure to extract (re-loads improperly crimped) and all I had was my 30.06 Remington 742...w/left over elk loads.

We hunted that evening and were up in the stand, when Landon asked me "where's my gun dad?"....I reminded him of the mornings' extraction problem.  He said, "does that one (the 30.06)  kick?"....I said "nope, it's a softer shooter than your .243" (a soon to be proven white lie)

A yearling walked out about 100 yards out.  We went thru the steps to get ready for his first kill....mainly settling him down, getting him relaxed, breathing,  getting him comfortable with the rest and the rifle…etc.  About a 15 minute process.

When he was ready I told him he could take the shot ...He lined up and BOOM!!  Scratch one yearling whitetail.

His VERY FIRST words..."You were right dad, that gun did not kick at all”
I swear this is an exact quote.

Of course after that first hunt we shot his .243 and he learned to be a great shot with it...but I am a FIRM believer in getting the kid trained with a .22 and letting the excitement of the moment "absorb" the recoil from that first shot with a high-powered rifle's.  It worked for me and several other friends I know.

.22's are wonderful guns to learn with!

Thanks for all the kind remarks everyone!

...and MAP, I'll sure take a look at that Voltor.

Bob