Who taught you to shoot?

G

geetarman

New member
Harold Louis Edward Blase, 91, retired United States Army sergeant major, passed away peacefully at his home in Fort Worth on Friday, Feb. 13, 2015.

This man, more than any other, taught me how to shoot a rifle. He was Army Blue, through and through.

I realize now, more than ever, just how much I did not know back then. I learn something every day from the good folks who post here, but the good Sergeant Major got me started down the road of rifle shooting.

He taught me how to use a sling. He got me started in reloading. He taught me how to be safe. He taught me in a non confrontational manner with kindness and humor. I will miss him.

Rest In Peace
 
Sorry for your loss it sounds like the Sergeant Major was a wonderful man. I learned to shoot like many young men do from my Father, Grandfather and the Boy Scouts.
 
A late Texas Highway Patrolman took a 17 year old kid and taught him pistol shooting and rifle. We later shot competition together. Army in 64 further honed shooting skills. I have passed this on to my kids!
Dan
:cool:
 
I was in the Navy and we had one day at the range. . .

I had hunted with a shotgun before I went in but had never shot a centerfire rifle.

The day I got out of the Navy, I bought a Winchester M70 Varmint rifle in .225 Winchester. I bought the rifle at a camera store in Charleston South Carolina. I did not know a thing about it. The store owner sold me a Marbles base and Lyman 8X All American scope and mounted it for me. It was one of those bases with the eccentric bushing in front for gross windage adjustment. He boresighted the thing and little old me, I thought that was all there was to it. I had that rifle from 1965 until 1970 or so when the good sergeant started working with me. He showed me how the windage worked and once you got it close, how to use the turret adjustments to move the point of impact.

The day we finally got the rifle all together, by chance and chance alone, a fat old groundhog came out and climbed up in the low branch of a tree. I did not know at the time they could climb. I thought they always stayed on the ground. Anyway, Harold was with me and he said the groundhogs ate a lot of soybeans and were pests so he said to take a shot at it. It might have been 75 yards or so. Not very far at all. He coached me through the pull and the rifle went off and I heard the smack as the bullet hit the hog. Quite satisfying. I have not hunted in years but I get the same satisfaction punching paper. He was quite a guy. Never drank coffee or alcohol. . .not even in the army. When he cleaned his cars, he did it the army way. Almost complete disassembly!!! They did run good and the WERE clean.
 
At first I was on my own,,,

At first I was on my own,,,
Pop raised us kids on the principle of Benign Neglect.

Which meant as long as we stayed out of his hair,,,
He was happy to leave us to our own means.

Looking back I think it's a mackerel that none of us kids shot, maimed, or crippled ourselves.

I didn't receive any training,,,
From anyone who knew anything,,,
Until I enlisted in the Air Force at 19 Years of age.

I searched out the base range master at every station I was assigned to.

I told them I wanted to learn to shoot,,,
Most of them were happy to oblige me in this.

Most Airmen had to be dragged kicking and screaming to qualification,,,
I was standing at the gate asking to shoot as often as I could.

I envy you guys who had a shooting/hunting mentor as kids.

My dad trapped and hunted as a means of income,,,
He was the youngest son of a subsistence farmer in the depression.

He had no interest in guns or hunting as an adult.

"There's fresh beef or pork chops in the fridge.
Why do you want to shoot and eat some nasty old rabbit?"

Aarond

.
 
My dad was a WW2 vet and saw some rough action in N. Africa, Sicily and Italy and had little love of guns after the war so I was schooled by my best friends dad at about 12 years old. He took us out to an old creek bed and set us down, gave us a lesson in gun safety and pulled a large coffee can of 357 ammo out. He then showed us how to load a Ruger BH and told us to get a good grip and squeeze the trigger.
Paul went 1st and got a nice knot on his head from the recoil. His dad just laughed and looked at me and asked me what I learned. I said to have a better grip than Paul did.
Once we had both shot a cylinder full he taught us how to aim the gun.
We spent the next 2 hours emptying that coffee can.
Not long after that we got our 1st lesson in reloading.
 
Me.
None of my family has/had any interest in firearms.
I have never been in the military, or law enforcement.
 
I was taught in basic training US Army style.Qual'ed as expert with the M-14,then later transitioned to the M-16 when I was ordered to SE Asia...aka Vietnam.

I had to teach myself how to shoot a handgun...after I had procured a GI .45 auto and discovered I couldn't hit a soda can from 15 feet.! :(

It was then that I found that I must focus on the sights...to get good hits on the target.That kinda fascinated me.I became better & better as I applied this new found knowledge to shooting other guns..so much so,that I joined IHMSA and competed in all sorts of classes,& actually set a 1st perfect score state record in 1983.

Long story short..I got burned out after about 20 years of it and moved on to other hobbies..now my interest in guns/reloading is coming back and a lot has change over that last couple decades.

I still have my reloading dies and plenty of brass,bullets,etc.which is a good thing. :)
 
These questions always bring a tear to my eye, because they bring back poignant memories of loved ones long passed.

My Father and Mother, and Grandfather taught me. Dad was an NRA certified RIfle and pistol instructor, and we (the kids) helped him with the Hunter Safety Courses from the time we were big enough to carry boxes and guns to the car.

Mom was a crack shot with her JC Higgins .22, and Ruger Super Bearcat. It was her rifle that we got to start out with.

"Papa" (my grandfather) taught me the shotgun. Squirrels and rabbits, pheasant and "patridge" (what he called it). The old man would take me on walks in the woods and fields, naming every plant, and often what they were good for. I REALLY wish I had paid attention better!

I still have his shotgun. Ithaca SxS 12ga, which he bought, made to his order, in 1909. (I'm not sure if its a NID or a Flues model). 26", choked full/full, double triggers, extractors, not ejectors, splinter forend, and stock made to his measurements. Farmer's gun, not a duck hunter's gun. It will go to which ever of my grandchildren is most worthy and responsible, its more than just a gun to my family.

Papa left us in 82, Mom, in 90, and Dad in 03. Long years now in the home of he wind, and I'm ok with it, until I write something like this, and it all comes back.

If you are one of us who had someone teach you to shoot because it was their pleasure, and not their job, you know what I mean. It is a special relationship, and even if they aren't family by blood, you become family in a special way, and its a sad day when you lose that part of your life.

Dad wasn't overly concerned about teaching proper "form" for shooting positions, within reason. After all we weren't training for competition. You got the basics, and if it worked for you, it worked. And it did work. I learned to shoot fairly well. I only learned that "pretty well" was better than a lot of folks when I got into Basic Training.

Zeroing the M16, 25 meters. We were actually firing from a standing position, but from inside a board lined "foxhole fighting position". Shooting offhand, I shoot with a high right elbow. This was not what the Army was teaching. They said to tuck your arm in (down).

I had fired 3 rnds (we were shooting 3 shot groups), when an angry voice behind me shouted "who taught you to shoot that way, Trainee????!!!"
(meaning, NOT in the ARMY approved position)
"My Father, Drill Sargent!!"
He had my target pulled.
Other trainee's shots were on their targets. Mine were on the "X". (I was upset, they weren't all touching!)
The mean face under the big hat gave a lopsided grin at me, (VERY BRIEFLY), and muttered "..hmmpf,..well, keep it up!" before moving on to the next troop.

Thanks, Dad!
:D
 
Pops taught me the basics in the back yard one afternoon with a BB gun. I was about six or so.

As I got older, we progressed to a pellet rifle and then a 10/22. Then shotgunning. Pops also coached the 4-H shotgun team, deployments permitting.

MSgt Hughes coached the JROTC rifle team I was on in high school. Learned a lot about precision from him.

When I attended OSUT, the Army was in the midst of Afghanistan and Iraq was coming more unglued daily.

There was a harried Sergeant First Class running the rifle range. As we were firing he moved to each of us, when he got to me, he looked at my target, patted my shoulder, said "Doing just fine" and moved on down the line.
 
My dad gave me my M45 firestar when I was 5. I fired a 6 round magazine out of it with his assistance and did okay.

When I was 12 we got my marlin .22, and we made regular trips to the target range to shoot it and the M45.

He basically got me started, and taught me basics, as well as firearm safety, but I spent the latter portion of my teen years practicing with a pellet rifle at home to perfect my trigger squeezes and stances. I learned a lot more in MCJROTC in high school handling the M14s we drilled with and shooting at the pellet rifle range we had indoors. My MI, a master sergeant of 27 years, taught me most of what I know.

As I got older and into my 20s, I learned mostly from books, magazines, and videos. As my friends who were in the military came home, I began to learn from them. One was a SAPPER in the 420th Engineer Brigade, another was a Marine designated marksman.

Pretty much learned from all over. :P
 
Had a gentleman in the neighborhood that loved to hunt ducks and pheasants. Went to the same school with his son, different grades.
I was asked if I knew how to shoot one day. I did not. My Dad got a phone call and was asked if he would allow me to be taught to hunt. Dad approved.
I was granted the use of the family home defense gun, a Winchester Model 37 16 Ga shotgun.
I learned to shoot. Was sent to take the required hunter's safety course and to get a license. Went on many duck and pheasant hunts with the rest of the neighborhood guys and this gent.
Then I joined the U.S.Army. My first record fire attempt, I hit 38 out of 40. Drill Sgt. couldn't understand how a city boy from the L.A. suburbs could shoot that well. I just asked when we were gonna get the real ammo to fire. The darn M16A1 didn't kick enough for my tastes. I got to do pushups for a while after I was cleared from the line.
 
My Dad was a certified rifle and pistol instructor, a competition shooter, and was also a LEO for a while, so I started learning as soon as I was big enough to hold a gun, and had access to some full auto weapons at an early age

My Grandfather was ex-Army, and he also taught me a lot.

Most of the males on both sides of the family hunted, so I started that as soon as I could carry a BB gun

I killed my first Squirrel with a Daisy, and also learned that if you run over and pick up a squirrel before it's dead, it WILL bite you

I can't remember a time after I was about 5 years old when I didn't shoot and hunt
 
We had a friends of the family that was an avid hunter and kitchen table FFL and he was the first to put a .22 rifle in my hands, showed me the ins & outs and laid down the ground work for safe and enjoyable shooting on his property. When he saw that I could manage to do this safely and enjoyably, he left me to have fun. I was 15 years old -- pretty late for most "gundoods" but I had many years of BB guns and air rifles under my belt so I had a solid base and ability with safety, using the sights and hitting targets. He left me to enjoy myself and came back out an hour later to see that I was still having a blast and running out of ammo. He produced a Ruger Single Six revolver and those were my first ever shots from a handgun.

He then produced a Ruger Security Six with a four inch barrel and asked me if I wanted to try a .357 Magnum. I asked if it was going to hurt and he told me that there would definitely be recoil but it was nothing that I couldn't handle and nothing that would damage me. I asked him to shoot it first and he said "Nope. You don't have to shoot it if you don't want, but either you try it or I'll just take it back to the house." So I accepted and I sent six rounds down range and something PHYSICAL happened inside me and that was THE EXACT MOMENT that I became a handgunner.

Shortly after, my Mom got both of us out to a Sportsman's Club in the next town over. We learned to shoot skeet and there was a Junior Rifle team also, four position smallbore at 50 feet. She introduced me to the coach and he asked if I'd like to get involved. I didn't have a lot of interest in it, but both thought it was a good idea so I did it. And that man was my coach (Doug Dennis) and that gentleman really taught me how to shoot. He taught the whole group of us marksmanship and I always said that the shooting I did on that team was more "serious" than it was "fun" and I suppose that I meant that all the shots counted and our "skills" were on display for anyone and everyone to see and judge, but there is no doubt that I had a lot of fun, I learned a heap and it helped form me in to the shooter and person that I became.

To the OP, rest in peace, Mr. Blase.
 
My dad was the one who first introduced me to firearms; although he has never been much of a gun guy. His only gun, a S&W model 18, was the first gun I ever shot. He knew enough to teach me the four basic gun safety rules, but nothing more. It was my brother who taught me more marksmanship related things, like a good stance, proper breathing, trigger control, etc.

When I attended Army Infantry OSUT at Fort Benning, they only built on what I had learned, and made me even better. Countless hours of dime/washer drills probably had something to do with that.
 
Sorry for your loss geetarman.

I learned to shoot with my older brother, and other kids in the neighborhood. Still have the guns we shot. We had thick woods several miles deep and wide to shoot in. Part of those woods have been developed. Most of the woods are still there.
 
I'm not sure who taught me to shoot. Had a BB gun from very young--maybe 10 or 12 yrs old. First firearm was probably a .22 single shot bolt gun at Boy Scout summer camp at 11 years old. I remember my older brothers (6 and 7 years older than me) letting me shoot their pellet rifles and, at about age 14, shooting their .308 and 30-06 rifles in the gravel pit out behind my cousin's house in rural PA. Father was retired Army, but never had much interest in teaching us gun use, except he was quite an accomplished skeet shooter when active duty.
 
My big brother taught me to shoot, course he shot himself in the foot with a single shot 22, so guess I just must have picked most of it up by trial and error thereafter.
 
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