I was taught to shoot in my 30s by a couple of friends who were California Nat'l Guard NCOs, after I inherited my dad's 1911 when he died.
I gave my son a used single shot bolt action .22 in a youth size and taught him to shoot with it when he was 6 years old. I gave him my Ruger Model 77 MkII All Weather bolt rifle in .308 Winchester when he was 15. He is now 20 years old, and the guns in our safe which belong to him are:
- the above mentioned Ruger .308
- a Rock River Arms 24" Stainless Bull Barreled AR15 varminter (with which he can put 5 rounds into 1/4" at 100 yards all day long)
- a Savage 10FP-HS Precision heavy barreled bolt rifle in .308 Winchester
- a really sweet customized AR15 Carbine he built from scratch
- an M1A Loaded Stainless in a Sage EBR stock (which he custom-fitted to accommodate the slightly larger than normal diameter medium weight national match barrel that comes on the loaded models)
- a Mossberg 500 12 Gauge Tactical
- a Kimber Pro Raptor
- a Taurus PT1911
- and a S&W Model 22A .22 cal. target pistol
In addition to being a really good shot with both rifle and pistol, my son has gotten interested in the internal workings of pistols and has ordered himself some gunsmithing tools, particularly for the 1911 platform. He has done trigger jobs on both his Taurus PT1911 and my Springfield Loaded, and improved them spectacularly. He took two years off from school after graduating from high school in 2008, and he is going back this fall and will declare a mechanical engineering major with an eye toward getting into the firearms design industry. He has been working on his own, from the ground up completely new, design for a gas-piston operated battle rifle of interchangeable caliber. He is an extraordinarily focused individual, and I believe that he will someday pull it off.
OH, and by the way, his girlfriend taught him - over the Skype phone network no less (she's in California) - how to knit two weeks ago. He's already learned 2 or 3 different kinds of stitches, and a few days ago, he finished a VERY nice scarf for her to wear when she returns to college in Rhode Island in the fall. He likes to cook, he's a student of history and politics, and he's a passing good poet who enjoys writing poetry. He has lately taken up an interest in Christian apologetics.... ....and he likes EOTWAWKI zombie novels.
I think he is on his way to becoming a renaissance man, and I couldn't be more proud of him. But it really all started with his learning to shoot an old beat up .22 youth rifle, from which he learned about ballistics, and hence physics; and history, and hence politics, etc., etc.
That's why I think it is important to start your kids shooting at as early an age as possible.
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”
― G. Michael Hopf, "Those Who Remain"
#TINVOWOOT
