Proud of my 12 yr old daughter on her 2nd trip to the range with the Marlin .22...

M

MEATSAW

New member
2 weeks ago my usually aloof 12 year old daughter had a spark in her eye when I suggested that she go to the range with me (the alternative was another boring day on the couch in the doldrums of summer vacation). We had a great time and she was really motivated to learn and she was quick to pick up the most important thing: safety (and respect for the gun!). Unfortunately I didn't pack enough .22 ammo! I had discovered too late in the day that she was sighting through the scope with the wrong eye. When we got back to the house I was surprised to see her enthusiasm to learn how to disassemble and clean the Marlin 60SB. It's really neat.

Fast forward to today (Thursday) and it was time for another trip to the range. We got up early and headed out and this time I packed all the .22 ammo I had -- and yes we shot every last bit! I zeroed the scope before handing it over to her. It was like she instantly picked up on all my instructions for breathing and trigger squeeze. Below are a couple of her targets from today. I am humbled by her abilities. That is some damn good shooting for her 2nd time with the rifle. Range was 50 yards shooting 38 gr HPs through a 3-9X40 scope. I had to share. You never know when that spark will ignite a life long passion for shooting. She's already nagging at me to go next week :)

3-shot and 5-shot groups = remarkable:
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She likes this one...
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Thats cool. I remember the 1st time I carried my now 15yr.old daughter shooting with the pink crickett I bought her. She outshot my son after some good instruction fron dad. I will never forget how well she listened and learned, or how mad my son was when she out shot him. Of course I was having a blast. Thoses are good times meatsaw, enjoy.
 
Good for you MEATSAW, My Father taught my niece to shoot shotguns, I taught her to use pistols. She's darn good with both
 
Some of the best times I spent with my daughter when she was growing up were at the range.

Just the 2 of us.

As she got older I even found out stuff I didn't want to know.

AFS
 
Got to love it when the girls get out there. My daughter started about 12 with the Win 1890, now in her 20's she's always on me to go to the range with the G22. I keep asking her to swing by Wallyworld and pick up some ammno occaisionaly:D
 
Quality Time

Sometimes people forget that there is more to child hood than just being home and playing video games. Meatsaw you are an awesome dad! You must be so proud. Reminds me of when I first took my son shooting with his very own 597. He was very excited and had a smile a mile wide. I had gone over all the safety instructions at home before we went to the range, And the first time he handled it, I saw the respect he had for that rifle. Not one time did I have to remind him of clearing his rifle or making sure its on safe and pointed down range. By the end of the day, he had that sparkle in his eye of when can we do this again. We went a few more times, shooting different rifles and a couple of pistols. Each trip a bond between father and son. Right now he is overseas with his mom and step dad. I don't get him again until Christmas time. We have already talked about going shooting. He wants to shoot the bigger caliber rifles and maybe a shotgun. I can't wait until our next trip to the range. :)
 
Girls with guns

I brought my 5 1/2 year old to a buddy's range and watched her come to life while shooting her little Chipmunk! I love bringing others into our hobby and the fact that it is my Daughter just makes it all the better!
 
I taught all 4 of my daughters to shoot. The first three became acomplished shots by the time they were old enough to start hunting. Their reward for passing the hunter safety test was a sporterized rifle (no bubba job) so that they could go deer hunting with me. I also taught them to reload and gave them the equipment to reload for each of their rifles when they got married. They go hunting every year now, even though I am no longer able to go with them.

My fourth daugher came along late in life and from another marriage but shooting is one of the things that we enjoy doing together. She is 9 now and is already pestering me about going hunting. Looks like its about time to dig out another old mauser and start building.
 
Good to see that you have her on the right track. Some girls just want to play with Barbie Dolls, which is ok, but it is a plus when they learn to shoot.
 
Wow...y'all are some great dads..I had to teach myself everything I know about shooting...and the only thing my dad ever taught me was how not to raise a child...I suppose I can thank him for that...the children mentioned here are very fortunate...I hope that when I have some of my own I can hold a candle to what y'all have done
 
Thanks all for the comments. We visited a local gun shop together and we bought another 525 rounds of .22 -- I'm sure it will go towards some more good times. While we were there I gave her the responsibility to get some more targets and some aerosol gun oil. She went with RemOil. :)

Looking forward to Tuesday which is our next trip to the range! If she continues to do well do you think its okay to let her shoot my AR? This will be her 3rd time to the range...I want her to keep progressing but I don't want to rush things either... I know she is a little intimidated by it because its pretty loud and its an "army gun" -- what do you think?
 
Good stuff!

That's great! I hope one day my daughter who is now 2 years old will also want to shoot. We'll see!

I too would recommend you wait on the AR. Let her get some good muscle memory. If she's a little hesitant, she will more than likely flinch, close her eyes, etc etc. All in due time she'll be ready.
 
If your AR is in 223 then by all means take it with you. While she is spending range time with the 22, you can let her fire a few rounds out of it. The key here is just a few rounds at a time. As she gains confidence and experience you can make small progressions upwards. By the time my three oldest daughters were 12, they were comfortable with .270. But they started with the 22 at the ages of 8-9 and we went out almost every weekend.
 
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