166 rounds of ammunition ... ** pictures added **

[AJMD429]

Well, maybe that claim is a bit strong (the original post title was "166 rounds of ammunition changes two lives forever..."), BUT . . . after a MERE 3 hours, and PALTRY $40 or so worth of ammo, there are two more 'shooters' in the world.

• 96 rounds of .22 LR ammo,
  30 rounds of 38 Special ammo,
  20 rounds of 9mm Luger ammo, and
  20 rounds of .223 Rem ammo

I have 'initiated' two non-shooters into the ranks of people-who-love-to-shoot, and people-who-will-probably-buy-guns, and most importantly, people who will be less gullible regarding 'gun control' proposals. One a U.S. citizen, and the other a German citizen who may move to this country.

'Tools' (most were family firearms, some borrowed elsewhere) used were:

First, rimfire rifles at the 10" 50-yard gong, from a bench, using a Caldwell LeadSled rest:

• 10 shots of .22 LR from a LEVER action (Ruger 96/22) with TruGlo Holosight
  10 shots of .22 LR from a BOLT action (Ruger 77/22) with NECG Peep sight
  10 shots of .22 LR from a SEMIAUTO (Ruger 10/22 clone - AMT Lightning) with 4x Scope
  
  Then, rimfire handguns at the 18" 20-yard gong*, standing:
  
  6 shots of .22 LR from a Single Action Revolver (Ruger Single Six) with Patridge sights
  6 shots of .22 LR from a Double Action Revolver (Charter Arms Pathfinder) with Patridge sights
  6 shots of .22 LR from a Semiauto (Ruger Mark-II) with Patridge sights

Then, centerfire .357 Mag guns; gongs as above (50 yard for rifle, 20 yard for handguns):

• 5 shots from a Lever Action (Marlin 1894) using .38 Specials with Burris Fastfire-II (standing)
  5 shots from a Large DA Revolver (Taurus Tracker) using .38 Specials with Patridge sights (standing)
  5 shots from a Small DA Revolver (Ruger SP-101) using .38 Specials with Patridge sights (standing)

Then, semiauto 9mm guns; both pistols, at the 20 yard gong, standing:

• 5 shots from a Large Semiauto (Taurus PT-92) in 9mm Luger with Patridge sights
  5 shots from a Small Semiauto (Kel-Tec PF-9) in 9mm Luger with Patridge sights

And finally, a step 'up' in firepower...shooting at a water-heater tank at 50 yards:

• 10 shots from a Ruger Mini-14 in .223 Rem with peep sights (standing)

The round-count was sort of low, because we only had 3 hours to do a 'basic introduction to gun safety', a 'types of cartridges', 'types of firearms', and the actual range-time. We (of course) sprinkled in anecdotes of how many STUPID gun laws there are. One example was to counter the media-driven impression that the presence of a dozen guns is somehow a whole 'arsenal'.

Still, a very minimal investment in time and ammo, and two new 'gun' people. Pretty cool.

Unfortunately, many non-gun people are first introduced to guns when some wise-guy hands them a 12-gauge breakopen or Marlin Guide Gun to shoot, and it's "flinch-city" from there on out.

I find when they do the first three guns (all .22 LR) off a bench, using a rest, at a 10" gong at 50 yards, they become quickly confident (90% hits are the rule), start having FUN, and this is before noise or recoil are brought into the picture. After that, they're too busy having fun, to be bothered by noise or recoil as we progress up the power scale. In fact, my goal is that they get 'bored' by the near-certainty of 'hits' during those first three guns off the bench, at which point they're ready for the challenge of handguns, then centerfire, etc...

The two biggest GRINS are usually

• a) after getting 8 or 10 'hits' out of their first 10 shots from the 96/22, and
  b) after ripping off 10 rounds from the Mini-14...

I was lucky in that as a kid, I'd experienced both before my 18th birthday, but I sometimes 'teach' adults who are over 50 and haven't shot at all...

If you all haven't been introducing 'newbies' on a regular basis, start doing so - it's NOT all that expensive or time-consuming.

The NEXT range-session I usually have with them is a 'refresher' with either the 96/22 & TruGlo holosight, or whatever gun they've purchased for themselves, followed by a bit of time with a .44 Mag 1894 Marlin & Burris Fastfire-II, a .444 Marlin XLR & 3-9x Scope, more time with the peep-sighted Mini-14, then a few rounds out of a Garand or an M-1A (both with peeps), depending on who is around to borrow what guns from.

Interestingly, the hardest sights for them to learn are always the 'Patridge' or 'open' type - the easiest is the holosight (i.e. Burris Fastfire-II, Tru-Glo), followed by the various 'peep' types. Scopes are tricky to get full-field view with at first, but are far easier for the newbies I've dealt with than are 'open' Patridge or bead/notch type sights.

We have numerous other gongs at various yardages, so often (like today) a shooter decides to take on the 10" 50 yard gong with the Taurus Tracker or the Taurus PT-92 . . . AND HITS IT . . . so needless to say, at that point, they are HOOKED on shooting. If you start them out with a centerfire gun first instead of the 'progression' I've worked out, they seldom can do that, so I think the KEY is starting out with that little Ruger lever-action .22 LR, with a holographic sight, from a rest, to get them confidence.

*Note - our range is set up so that the 20-yard gong is off to the side at a 10 degree angle, and down at a 25-30 degree angle, and it is hung at an angle with the base about 2" farther from the shooter, so it deflects ricochets DOWN. We've never had any hint of material coming back up at us. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend shooting at gongs that close. Even our 25-yard gongs are maybe 20 degrees or so down.

Pictures added - see page 2 of this thread...

[Base Pin Maker]

Well done! Kelye @ Belt Mtn

[madman4570]

Yes, extremely well done sir!
Wow, I would say you really did introduce them into the shooting world.
They are indeed very lucky to have someone as generous and thorough as you are bringing them on board.
Your a good man!

[Hobie]

Ya done good!

[O.S.O.K.]

Well done! Kelye @ Belt Mtn

First off - great job AJMD on taking them shooting! It's obvious that you put a lot of thought into it and that's one reason that you were sucessful. Good on you!!!

And Kelye - I didn't know you were a member here - glad to have you! I have one of your pins on my Ruger 44 SBH - great product!

[6pt-sika]

A friend of mine and I took his 12 year old out today for his second try at shooting .

He shot a 22 revolver of some make at 10 yards and later we took him to the patterning board to shoot his grandfathers little sungle barrel 410 . I don't think he was overly impressed . Seemed to loose intrest quickly .

Of course he had his Ipod or some such thing with him so that may have had something to do with it .

[AJMD429]

Of course he had his Ipod or some such thing with him so that may have had something to do with it .

Well, maybe after he 'progressed' up the scale to some more powerful guns, that would get his attention; when I've had that scenario, I get out the 7mm Rem Mag Ruger No. 1, as it doesn't really kick much, so after they've worked up through the guns I used today, if you let them hit a 1 gallon paint-can full of water at 25 yards with the 7mm Rem Mag (or .45-70, etc.), the loud noise and spectacular visual usually gets their attention. Kind of addicting.

If that fails, you can always let them shoot at some TANNERITE...

[J Miller]

Good on you AJ. That is the proper education that will help us keep our rights.

Joe

[6pt-sika]

Of course he had his Ipod or some such thing with him so that may have had something to do with it .

Well, maybe after he 'progressed' up the scale to some more powerful guns, that would get his attention; when I've had that scenario, I get out the 7mm Rem Mag Ruger No. 1, as it doesn't really kick much, so after they've worked up through the guns I used today, if you let them hit a 1 gallon paint-can full of water at 25 yards with the 7mm Rem Mag (or .45-70, etc.), the loud noise and spectacular visual usually gets their attention. Kind of addicting.

If that fails, you can always let them shoot at some TANNERITE...

Nope he didn't like the little H&R 410 . When I was his age I'd already been shooting an H&R 12 gauge for a couple years !

We can do the Ruger #1 thing with anything from a 22 Hornet to a 416 REM MAG . I just don't think this little guy wants to shoot much . But my friend is a little anal about how he wants him to shoot and being as it ain't my kid I can't say a whole lot . I suspect if he went with me and his dad stayed at home he just might like it more .

[6pt-sika]

Good on you AJ. That is the proper education that will help us keep our rights.

Joe

Thats a rather utopian thought !

And while I'd like to think that I seriousely DOUBT it !

The education part I go along with but as to keeping our rights I suspect they're spiraling in a direction that can never be corrected !

[AJMD429]

We can do the Ruger #1 thing with anything from a 22 Hornet to a 416 REM MAG . I just don't think this little guy wants to shoot much . But my friend is a little anal about how he wants him to shoot and being as it ain't my kid I can't say a whole lot . I suspect if he went with me and his dad stayed at home he just might like it more .

Good idea on getting him with 'shooters' but maybe you need to figure out what he's really interested in, and tie that in with shooting if possible. Not everyone will be interested though (bunch of pinko homo wimpy commies if you ask me... ), but at least they can be exposed to it enough to realize it's not the 'evil' thing the mainstream news media makes it out to be.

Sometimes being around other KIDS who like to shoot is what does it; the competitive factor kicks in. When I teach other parents and they have their kids along to pick up some gun 'safety' stuff, I often try to have one of my kids shoot too. The other kid who might of at best shot a couple times and then just sat and watched, will sometimes get all in to it when my kid is dinging the targets like crazy and having fun.

All you can do is TRY...

[J Miller]

Good on you AJ. That is the proper education that will help us keep our rights.

Joe

Thats a rather utopian thought !

And while I'd like to think that I seriousely DOUBT it !

The education part I go along with but as to keeping our rights I suspect they're spiraling in a direction that can never be corrected !

Welllll, EXCUSE ME! Give up then and do nothing. I prefer to think that every little bit helps, no mater how small it looks at first.
I don't have my head in the sand, but I'm not a dooms dayer either.
Utopian thought my butt.

Joe

[Rusty]

Great job Doc! Thanks for helping to preserve our heritage.

[wolfdog]

Good job, I always enjoy introducieng newbys to the sport. Next weekend our club is having a youth rifle shoot which is always a blast. Last year we had 38 shooters about 1/2 of which had never fired a gun. I hope this years turnout is as good.

[6pt-sika]

Utopian thought my butt.

Hmmm , I've never seen a utopian one of those !

I assume that statement means you just so happen to have a "utopian butt"

All BS aside , I don't believe we have any chance of stopping or turning the tide . The best we can possibly hope for is to delay the inevitable .

[6pt-sika]

We can do the Ruger #1 thing with anything from a 22 Hornet to a 416 REM MAG . I just don't think this little guy wants to shoot much . But my friend is a little anal about how he wants him to shoot and being as it ain't my kid I can't say a whole lot . I suspect if he went with me and his dad stayed at home he just might like it more .

Good idea on getting him with 'shooters' but maybe you need to figure out what he's really interested in, and tie that in with shooting if possible. Not everyone will be interested though (bunch of pinko homo wimpy commies if you ask me... ), but at least they can be exposed to it enough to realize it's not the 'evil' thing the mainstream news media makes it out to be.

Sometimes being around other KIDS who like to shoot is what does it; the competitive factor kicks in. When I teach other parents and they have their kids along to pick up some gun 'safety' stuff, I often try to have one of my kids shoot too. The other kid who might of at best shot a couple times and then just sat and watched, will sometimes get all in to it when my kid is dinging the targets like crazy and having fun.

All you can do is TRY...

This little boys father and I grew up in an area where it was common practice to wanna shoot and hunt from a very early age . However my friend had a very strict for lack of a better term father . And when he learned how to shoot I don't think it was actually the most pleasent experience . I was educated also in a fairly strict environment but I think it was a little more eased onto me by both my father and maternal grandfather .

This little guy's father wants him to learn kinda the same way we did . And you can't do it the same way we did 40+ years ago . You make it to harsh on the kid and they'll say "F" off or something . Way to many other things for them to spend/waste their time on !

So I doubt if this little guy gets to shoot a squirrel much less a deer this season .

[rjohns94]

Well done sir!!! fantastic investment!

[AJMD429]

Utopian thought my butt.

I assume that statement means you just so happen to have a "utopian butt" Hmmm , I've never seen a utopian one of those !

Actually, I'm pretty sure I've seen one that was Utopian, but it wasn't Joe's...
...I think maybe it belonged to Jennifer Lopez.

All BS aside , I don't believe we have any chance of stopping or turning the tide . The best we can possibly hope for is to delay the inevitable .

Maybe if we slow it down enough, some other factor will turn the tide. At least in movies, when the big asteroid hits or the dinosaurs re-emerge, everyone gets all 'united' and so on...

[6pt-sika]

All BS aside , I don't believe we have any chance of stopping or turning the tide . The best we can possibly hope for is to delay the inevitable .

Maybe if we slow it down enough, some other factor will turn the tide. At least in movies, when the big asteroid hits or the dinosaurs re-emerge, everyone gets all 'united' and so on...

You mean like the satellite they're saying is quite likely to hit some motropolitan area soon

[Chuck 100 yd]

Now ya gone and done it!! Better teach then to load and cast too or you wont have any time for anything else!

Good job!

[Ysabel Kid]

Excellent! Time more than well spent. Even if the person from Germany doesn't move here, now they understand a bit more of the nature of freedom...

[win7094M1]

Way to go! Just think of the result if each shooter took one new person to the range once a year using a well thought out plan like our OP used...

[Steve Collins]

You done good!

[LESAGEMIKE]

Well maybe you have refined your technique. I remember going to your house for the first time around 1979 as a 21 year old. Even though I had been hunting since I was 9 years old and had lots of rifle and shotgun experience I had never shot a pistol. You thought it would be a good thing to let me shoot a Ruger Blackhawk 44 mag. After the appropriate safety training and how the sight picture should look we shot at beer cans. I hit the can with my first shot. The muzzle recoil and flash were so scary I didn't hit anything with the next 5 shots.After the first shot I remember pointing the muzzle safely to the ground and saying "wow".Your response was "I guess Jonathan loaded these kind of hot".
I do have a lot of pistols now though and love to shoot them so maybe that approach wasn't all that bad after all. Still you are doing the right thing helping others to enjoy the sport of shooting. I always start people out on 22 LR stuff too.

[AJMD429]

Pictures added:

The 96/22 with Tru-Glo holographic sight is perfect for first-timers...


The Marlin 1894 .357 using .38 Specials is perfect for the first centerfire shooting...


When they start out slowly like this, with rimfire rifles first, they often hit the 10" gong at 50 yards, to their great surprise. Shown using a Ruger Single-Six, this newbie later hit the 50-yard gong two out of five times with the .357 Mag Taurus Tracker (again, using .38 Special ammo)...


A good First Centerfire revolver will be heavy enough up front not to recoil, have comfortable soft grips, and I like .38 Specials in a .357 Mag like this Taurus Tracker...


Here is one of the LAST Centerfire handguns I'd have a newbie shoot; GREAT for carry, but a guaranteed flinch-starter. Nice little light-weight Kel-Tec 9mm I borrowed just for this session...

[RIHMFIRE]

Ya done good!