Hundred Year Spread...

[thedaddycat]

Today I took my daughter out to the range to do some New Year's Day shooting. She wanted to try rifles out, so I brought a few along for her to try, along with some handguns. We shot the micro NAA which she named "Alien Blaster" after the tiny alien gun in Men In Black and the Hk 9mm. When it came to the rifles we started with the Camp 9 and Camp 45. I stepped her up to the 1894 Marlin in .44 Mag. Then we went to the 7mm Chilean Mauser.

Now that Mauser dates to 1895 which makes it 117 years old, and she just turned 17 a couple of weeks ago. So today she got to shoot a rifle that was 100 years older than she is. We had a good time.

Here are a few pics of her at the range:

With the "Alien Blaster"

With the Hk

With one of the Camp carbines

 

[Skadoosh]

Interesting position for the weakhand index finger while holding the micro NAA.

 

[littlmak]

Must need a gorilla grip to pull a trigger on one of those

 

[MLeake]

Looks like you two had fun. Is that a VP70? Rarely see those...

Just a thought, but your daughter leans backward when she shoots (at least she does in the photos). I seem to recall that causing me some back pain, before somebody gave me tips on shooting stance and posture. It also isn't great for recoil control, if you give her something a bit hotter than a 9mm in a heavy pistol.

Weight forward and knees slightly bent would probably be more comfortable, and would definitely soak up recoil better.

Cheers,

M

 

[Standing Wolf]

Good for both of you!

 

[medalguy]

Man that's a tiny little gun. I'm not sure my big ol' hands could hold it and shoot it without taking off a fingertip!

 

[jgcoastie]

Something my Dad told me about 20 years ago when he taught me to shoot rifles:

"Bring the rifle to your nugget, don't take your nugget to the rifle."

I was cowering my head down to the butt of the stock like your daughter is, I was also leaning back like she is.

A bit of instruction and practice from you on her stance and cheek weld and she'll be enjoying this hobby even more.

It does my father's heart good to see other dads teaching their children to shoot. I can't wait for mine to be old enough to enjoy shooting.

 

[Sgt.Fathead]

Ditto on jgcoastie's post regarding bringing the stock to your face, vs. bringing your face down to the rifle. Good range day! Glad she enjoyed herself.

 

[Cowboy_mo]

Great job DAD!!!!!

You and your daughter had a great time and spent time with each other!

I started mine on a pellet rifle and .22 years ago and she had a good time and got pretty darn good!

Yea guys, she could have better form but pushing her for that form could also turn her off to the experience..

I applaud the guy for taking her and having a fun time!

I just wish mine still wanted to go but alas she has found other interests.

 

[Walklightly]

The Mohawk has been around way more than a 100 years

 

[thedaddycat]

Thanks guys. Part of my reason for taking the pics is to show her some of the things you brought up. I have been telling her about leaning into the firearm but so far she has not caught on. The same goes for cheek weld. This was her first time with rifles though she has shot some of my shotguns before. I started with the .410 then 28 ga, 20 ga, and 12 ga. She likes the .410 which is the one I got as a kid of about 12 years of age, 40 years ago. I asked her which gun she would want if she had her pick and she said she wanted the .410 so I told her it was hers (when she is 18, legal age here).

That NAA micro is about the size of a Bic lighter, and I can only get one finger on the grip when I hold it. That makes it a little hard to hold on to and I think she just instinctively wrapped it up with both hands. We will have to make some more range trips to work on form I think... like I need an excuse to go shooting. lol She has a preference for hand guns so far and has shot up to .44 Mag. Again, she likes the Ruger Mark II best for its low recoil and 10 round mag. If this keeps up I'll have to be getting new guns for myself as between her and my son they would take them all. Now there's a thought... So far the younger two are not too much into shooting but both have gone with me. The youngest (13) is more into it than the middle one but got a new laptop and some games for Christmas and was glued to the screen...

Yes, the Hk is a VP70Z DAO pistol. She didn't like the trigger on it and I have to agree that is isn't my favorite either. I like the trigger on this S&W 459 much better. I had that one out there to show her how the mag from this pistol would also fit the Camp 9. It is slightly longer than the Camp 9 mag (which will not fit the 459) and you can see it sticking out the bottom of the mag well in the rifle pic.