LITTLE ASIAN GIRL, AFRAID OF GUNS

[gundownunder]

Three years ago my daughter married a man from Bali, Indonesia. He had a daughter from a previous marriage.
Two years ago as a 12 year old my new granddaughter received residence status in Australia, she arrived here in March 2015.
Back then she was a very shy little girl who spoke no English, other than "hello". Since then she has learned to speak English very well. She is now tri-lingual, speaking English, Indonesian, and Balinese.

When she was informed that her new grandfather was a shooter who owned several guns, she was not happy. In Indonesia only terrorists and the army have guns, excluding some rice farmers who may have an airgun to shoot small pests on their crops.
We told her that she could come out with poppy to shoot guns as well, and she was absolutely horrified at the idea.

Fast forward two years to 2017.
Back in February I asked her if she would like to try shooting just once to see what she thought of it. To my surprise, she agreed. So off we went to the range and she shot a 50 round lever action match with my 39A.
She was hooked.
Two weeks later she attended a CLAS match and shot with my Marlin Cowboy 357. I told her that she could shoot in the Western Australian state championships if we got her signed up for SSAA and the Perth Lever Action Rifle Club in time for the event, and she agreed.

We got the paperwork done in time and Thursday night my daughter delivered her to my place ready for the Easter weekend. Bright and early Friday morning we headed off to the range. The first match was the 80 round rifle match. Although the full house silhouette rounds I use for turkeys and rams tend to knock small girls around a bit Wina stood up and did what needed doing. Those loads consist of my homemade 180 grain Accurate bullets and a case full of ADI 2205 (IMR 4227) She entered the rifle match ungraded and walked away from her first 40 with an A grade. In her second 40 Wina shot another A grade score. First round was 15 points, and second was 20 points. 35 points was not enough to win an A grade medal but it was more than enough to show a bunch of experienced adult males how it should be done. Wina was awarded a junior gold medal for rifle.

Saturday we shot the 80 round pistol caliber match. Again Wina used the 357, but this time with a more sedate load made up of my home made 180 grain Accurate bullets and a case full of Trailboss. Last weekend we shot a pistol match and Wina scored 12 points. This put her in B grade for the championships this weekend. For her first 40 on Saturday she shot 15, her first A score. In her second 40 she shot 16, her second A score. Wina is now an A grader in pistol caliber CLAS. There were five B graders in the match. Wina, and four experienced adult males. At the end of the match Wina had earned not only the junior gold medal, but the gold medal for the B grade match as well.

Yesterday we shot the rimfire match. As we had shot the rimfire match last weekend Wina went into the match as an A grader, after last weeks score of 18. In her first 40 yesterday, she shot a score of 20. and in her second 40, a score of 16. Again she showed more than a few adults how it should be done. Unfortunately her score wasn't high enough to get an A grade medal, but she did take out the junior gold medal.

With a total of three junior gold medals, Wina took out the junior top gun trophy for 2017.
Add to that her B grade gold medal for the pistol caliber match, and there is no argument, Wina is going to be a force to be reckoned with at future events.

Wina has accomplished a lot in a very short time, and I am happy to shout it from the rooftops,
I AM VERY PROUD OF MY GRANDDAUGHTER, WINA

[PatientWolf]

You are a very lucky grandfather and she is a very lucky granddaughter.

[DadsMod12]

Way to go Grandpa! You're helping to raise her right. I hope to do the same with my granddaughters.

[piller]

Wonderful! It seems as if she is doing quite well. Hope she continues to enjoy shooting guns.

[Blaine]

[gamekeeper]

Well done for getting her over her fear of guns and well done Wina it's a pity you can't take a few politicians to the range with the same results.

[Borregos]

That is great, well done both of you

[PaperPatch]

Well done!

[hfcable]

wowee !! this story made my morning, made my day!

you two are blessed to have each other : )

[Pete44ru]

.

OUTSTANDING ! !

Please convey our congratulations to her.

The next thing you know, she be applying to the AFP for a position !


.

[Griff]

You are a very lucky grandfather and she is a very lucky granddaughter.

+1. Congrats to GFather & Gdaughter!

[earlmck]

I am so envious. By the age of 11 all my granddaughters have begun the process of weaning grandpas from their social schedule and by the age of 13 it is pretty much complete. I hear of exceptions to this natural phenomenon but it hasn't yet occurred in my family. Big congrats to the both of you!

[marlinman93]

Congratulations to her and you! Great that she was open to the exposure, and is now enjoying the sport!

[Sixgun]

Super! Goes to show you the brainwashing governments put in young people's minds when they are little.

Tell her congratulations from all of the boys here at Leverguns.--- ----6

[Old Ironsights]

"I AM VERY PROUD OF MY GRANDDAUGHTER, WINA"

As you should be. And even more proud that you knew the best possible starter gun for those games. Many old gun cranks wouldn't even consider the .357...

[AJMD429]

I am CONVINCED that the humble 'levergun' is the best firearm for such an education and transition.

A breakopen is not exciting enough, a bolt-action is too 'sniperish', and of course a semiauto is an 'assault weapon'

.....but a levergun is not intimidating, and is easy to use, and FUN...!

CONGRATULATIONS for helping raise a wise grandkid.....too many geezers just sit and reminisce about how bad kids are these days, but fail to insert themselves in the lives of their grandkids.

[ollogger]

Awesome job for the both of you!!



Brad

[Ysabel Kid]

That is simply WONDERFUL! Made my day!!!

[Gaucho Gringo]

Congratulations to both of you. May she do well in future matches over the years to come. And you as her teacher & mentor must be proud(and rightly so)of her accomplishments knowing you are the one who guided her on this path. As a father and grandfather I realize it is not my accomplishments that matter anymore but the ones of my children and grandchildren are the ones that really matter at my age and it is my job to help and guide them so.

[gundownunder]

Thanks guys, Wina is really happy that so many people are congratulating her on a job well done.

Old Ironsights, I had no choice in the training tool, the 357 is the biggest gun I own, and it's what I've been using for CLAS for the past 6 years. I guess I will need to go shopping for a new gun for myself now.

Hey Gaucho, I'm glad my accomplishments don't matter any more, makes me feel a whole lot better about walking away from the state championships with only one bronze medal to show for it

We now have 6 months to train for the lever action nationals in Adelaide, South Australia.
That includes a 1700 mile camping road trip across the Nullarbor Plain, just to get there.

[piller]

The camping trip sounds fun. It should be a chance to pass along knowledge about plants and animals.