the boy and IDPA

[bamaranger]

Well, bamaboy, age 16, has been to about his 6th IDPA match. This time, with 31 shooters, he finished #10 overall, and I barely squeaked in ahead of him at #9 (dang non-threats) .

We started with him observing and pasting. Then the club allowed him to shoot a few stages with the Ruger MkII .22 from ready at the end of the relay. Then I worked with him and the G20, loaded down...way down...allowed in a club match. Why the 10mm??, ....cause we had it and it seemed easiest to teach, no decock, no safety, good trigger.

We scrounge his brass at matches like fools, considered a .40 barrel, and began to take a bunch of grief from the guys...."get the poor kid a Glock 17 (or G34)".

I propose a deal, ".....you save half the price, I will front the other half and we'll get one." A buddy calls this weekend, bamaboy fields the call, I'm at work. A used G17 is at a local shop, will go for about $400. I come in from work, the boy has a note with the info. He gives me same, tells the tale and disappears into his room. Comes back out with a handful of green and dramatically (but respectfully and some pride) plops a wad of bills on the kitchen table. .."Here's $205....my half". Talk about show or fold!!!!! I had no idea the kid had $200 bucks.... and tell him so. He says..."I've got more, but I'm saving it for magazines and components!" That's a lot of yard mowing!

Two days later the pistol comes home with me. He says it kicks a lot less.
And I and some other guys are likely gonna get it put on us by a 16 yr old.

 

[Steviewonder1]

Good for you and him. When I got into shooting IPSC the first thing I did was get into Range Officer School to learn the safety aspects of shooting and running with a live gun. I already knew how to shoot fairly well, but the new concept of competetive shooting was really a rush. It is good that he is getting in at a young age as there are lots of us that are in the over 60 crowd and it is the young folks that will keep things going. I have just turned 21 in the competetive shooting world and not ready to retire anytime soon.

All the best to both of you!

 

[Ambishot]

Great story and congratulations!

Never underestimate a determined kid.

 

[benenglish]

Congrats to bamaranger for having a hard-working kid.

Mods feel free to delete this for being OT, but I can't resist.

"Never underestimate a determined kid."

True story: Next door neighbors kid started mowing lawns at 11. He got his parents to agree that they'd match whatever he saved so he could buy a car at 16. They should have never done that.

By age 12, he bought a second mower and was subcontracting lawns in the neighborhood to younger kids. By 14, he had a half-dozen kids working for him, multiple mowers and lawn equipment, and a virtual lock on all the accounts in the two neighborhoods within walking distance. He bought a small cart and rigged it to the back of his bike so that he could pull a full set of equipment to the next neighborhood over and start the whole process over again.

You can see where this is going, right?

On his 16th birthday, he presented his parents with his bank statement. He had saved close to $20K. He told his parents exactly which new BMW he wanted for a little under $40K. He was ready to saddle up to go get it.

His parents were completely floored and unprepared. They had to admit they couldn't match it and couldn't keep their promise.

The kid bought a basic pickup and a trailer with just his money and continued to build his business. That was nearly 15 years ago. These days in my part of town, I'm likely to see a half-dozen of his company trucks on any given day. He has a large and successful business. But the failure of his parents to keep that promise caused a rift in that family that never really healed.

Never underestimate a determined kid, indeed.