9 year old with a smile~!

[Adui]

Went to the range today, my shooting wasn't all that good; my back has been bugging me and I think I was distracted. So; I packed my stuff up after a mere 17 or so shots. (it was also cold and i forgot my coat).

Now, the people on the bench next to me were a father, teaching his 9 year old to shoot a ,22 rifle. (I know unmentionable, sorry relevant to the story please excuse)

I retrieve my target at the cease fire, and wait for the range to go hot so I can gather my stuff and go (Benches, firearms etc off limits during the cease fire for obvious reasons) On a whim, while waiting for the range to go hot I ask the father if its ok if i let the boy fire my muzzle loader. i assured them I'd load light for him. Dad asks if he wants and he shyly says yes. Dad immediately tells him he should pay attention while I load it because its "neat".

Range goes hot, I walk the boy through my load process, using only 40 grains (in retrospect this might have been a bit hot for a small child who's only experience was a .22 rifle). I didn't bother with the set trigger, telling him to ignore the rear trigger and to pull the front up when he was ready. I made sure he tucked it in good and braced the butt anyhow just to be sure.

He squeezes up the trigger nicely, and when she goes boom his immediate reaction was a wide eyed smile "wow; that's powerful!"

With the conversation I had with the dad I think there is a possibility of a new muzzle loader shooter in the near future.

All that said, I have to say that kids reaction made this one of my best range trips ever!!
:thumbsup:

 

[eggwelder]

I remember my sons first muzzleloader shot. its a smile a dad never forgets.

 

[Adui]

:thumbsup:

Wish my kids were as enthused. Unfortunately this dad spent too much time in the woods WITHOUT my 3 kids when they were little..

 

[1950DAVE]

Wish my kids were as enthused. Unfortunately this dad spent too much time in the woods WITHOUT my 3 kids when they were little..

Never too late. Do what you can with the time you have. What we have wasted cannot be brought back, we still have the present and possibly some future.
If only our fore-sight could equal our hindsight .
By the way good for you, taking a little time to make a memory a kid will never forget. Your kindness is to be admired.
Dave

 

[Adui]

:thumbsup: definitely! my youngest at 18 is all on board and in love with one of my unmentionables with the ending designation of -06 (that will likely be hers soon)
My only son at 22 doesn't seem to have an interest/ Hes a bit of an introvert and a ridiculously obsessed gamer. (I am a geek, I know geeks; he is like the guy will live in moms basement at 40) In his defense; he likes the flintlcok, (or caplock) muzzle loading pistol used it Assassins Creed and the TV show originals once. Basically a simple muzzle-loading pistol. id like to get one to work with him.

 

[Britsmoothy]

:thumbsup: :hatsoff:

B.

 

[Patocazador]

Wish my kids were as enthused. Unfortunately this dad spent too much time in the woods WITHOUT my 3 kids when they were little..

I took my son hunting many times even to the hunt camp in another state. He killed a 9 point buck for his first buck. However, he just never got real enthused. He cared more about video games and computers .. still does.

But I got a second chance. I introduced his daughter to guns and hunting. She killed her first deer with a .50 CVA Bobcat loaded down to 45 gr. of BP when she was 9 y.o.
We go hunting together at least twice a year now.

 

[Adui]

:hatsoff: :thumbsup:

 

[Snakebite]

That's pretty awesome :thumbsup:

My son was about that age when he started shooting. I was stationed in Germany and we had a blackpowder club (The Northern Bavarian Renegade Rifles) in Grafenwohr, Germans and Americans. In Germany, German kids had to be 16 if I remember correctly before they could shoot a gun. Being on an American casern I figured we were good to go. My son would have to use cross sticks because the rifle was as tall as he was and too heavy to hold, but he was always a good shot. A couple Germans didn't like it too much him shooting, but most really got a kick out of it. We made some pretty good friends too. It's always great to see the kids when they are enjoying shooting.

 

[Stumpkiller]

58 year old with a smile. :hatsoff:

 

[BullRunBear]

I love stories like this. My best friend and I taught his boys to shoot using our muzzleloaders. About 25 years later they are young men busy with life and careers. But when they visit they want to break out the BP guns. They still smile at the smoke and boom.

A number of times I've been at the range shooting BP and attracted the attention of youngsters shooting 22s with their dads. Any muzzleloader or C&B revolver gets attention but flintlocks really draw them in. With the parent's permission they are invited to try a few low power shots at close range. They always leave with a big smile. Things like that just make my day.

Don't know if any of them ended up shooting MLs but I'm sure their friends got an earful about these "cool" old guns

Jeff

 

[will5a1]

Good for you - planting the seed in the boy's and dad's mind, wish I was there to see it.

 

[SgtMaj65]

Great story! I had somewhat of sidebar story to yours back in the summer involving what looked like a 15- to 16-year-old brother and sister on the outdoor range two bench slots to my right. I had been there about half a hour with my T/C .50 Renegade and they showed up with their dad, who had what looked like an AR build. After what had been about a 10 minute cease fire for placing targets because a bunch of people showed up all at once, he began spraying brass everywhere, and they looked a bit bored. I popped off a 70-grain Goex ffg PRB downrange, with a big cloud of smoke and the boy says "Damn" and they both watched me for quite a while wiping, loading, firing. I think it might have hacked the dad off a bit, because he kept telling them to pay attention as he shot. The boy finally popped the AR off a few times and sat back down and kept watching me. I kind of felt black powder made quite an impression that day on two young people who had never been exposed to muzzleloaders. As I was hauling all my manure back to the car, I heard the girl ask her dad if they had "one of those guns." The dad was more than a little grumpy the whole time I was there and didn't answer their question about why all the white smoke. I should have answered the question and didn't, now I regret not saying something ... but like I said, he didn't sound too friendly so I left it at just the visual ML demonstration. Hope the two youngsters look into BP.

 

[Adui]

:thumbsup: