Proud Papa!

[liltank]

We were at the range this past Saturday. I was rather proud of my 7yr old. He has been spending a lot of time defending our home from the invasion of soda cans, juice bottles, and gatorade bottles with his Red Ryder BB gun (sorry no compass in the stock). He has been shooting it since he was 5. He has been shooting my .22LR just as long. He has been laying prone and dry firing since he was 4. I made some dummie rounds 2 of which he put together himself so he could learn how to run the bolt. Well the practice has paid off. He wanted to run the .308 for the first time. So let him do it. The first round caught him off gaurd, but the following rounds he snuggled up nice and tight and squeezed them off. The smile on his face and the excitement in his eyes was priceless. If ever I should need a patronus spell to ward off a herd of Dementors this would be the thought to come to mind! (

bit of a Harry potter geek) He only had one flyer, but the rest are where they are suppose to be at 100yds. His last shot is in the diamond and the second to last was just high and left.

Reduced: 78% of original size [ 1023 x 811 ] - Click to view full image

Tank

 

[WyoElk2Hunt]

Good job dad. Keep up the good work.

 

[fmajor]

Good job!!! Lots to be proud of there - he's gonna grow up shootin' straight - just like his papa!!!

 

[Korhil78]

That is awesome. I cannot wait until my little buddy gets old enough to start shooting. I will not be able to buy him a single gun though. He is only 2 years old and my dad has already bought him a pellet gun, a shotgun, a .22 and a 22-250. I guess I can save the money for his college but man..talk about a grandparent spoiling their grandchild! Sheesh! All I can remember getting when I was young was the belt! Funny how things change!

 

[liltank]

That is awesome. I cannot wait until my little buddy gets old enough to start shooting. I will not be able to buy him a single gun though. He is only 2 years old and my dad has already bought him a pellet gun, a shotgun, a .22 and a 22-250. I guess I can save the money for his college but man..talk about a grandparent spoiling their grandchild! Sheesh! All I can remember getting when I was young was the belt! Funny how things change!

Well you can always to a custom build for him! Heard Shawn, Jim, and Kirby make nice rifles!

 

[Korhil78]

Haha...hold on there! We have a Hierarchy here! Dad first! But yeah..I plan on getting him a custom build when he graduates highschool. So on that note...Kirby and the others...you have to keep on kicking for that long!

 

[RDM416]

Awesome! Great shooting and great coaching from dad!

 

[WildRose]

I see a .260 or .243 on your Christmas list...

Good for the kid and I certainly understand the fatherly pride.

 

[Boom]

What a great story and experience for your son and you!! Congrats!

Quick question: What was he shooting? Just curious as my son just turned 8 and is shooting a .223 but I have not let him shoot larger guns yet. Thanks for any advice.

 

[liltank]

What a great story and experience for your son and you!! Congrats!

Quick question: What was he shooting? Just curious as my son just turned 8 and is shooting a .223 but I have not let him shoot larger guns yet. Thanks for any advice.

This is the rifle. It does have a muzzle break on it. Muzzle break in this pick is an old one that is now on another rifle.

Homemade break by a local smith.

Tank

 

[liltank]

I see a .260 or .243 on your Christmas list...

Good for the kid and I certainly understand the fatherly pride.

I was contemplating the .260 for him. May happen yet. He is getting a compound bow for Christmas that we found at Cabela's.

Tank

 

[rscott5028]

You need to put that boy to work and go get some meat for the table.

Congrats!!!

 

[backwoods83]

Tank, you better watch out looks like he might be schooling you in another 7 years! Congrats bud.

 

[WildRose]

I was contemplating the .260 for him. May happen yet. He is getting a compound bow for Christmas that we found at Cabela's.

Tank

Well I got my AR-260 upper in today after a long wait and much anticipation.

Essentially you have 308 knock down. Better ballistics especially at long range with no more recoil than a 243. I'd rate it as nearly as comfortable to shoot as a .220 swift to be honest.

If I had a kid coming along and wanted to get them a great rifle they could do it all with throughout their youth, and have a dandy little varmint, deer/antelope gun for the rest of their lives as well that's definitely the way I'd go.

Put a linear comp on it (next step for me) and you can see your hits even at close range.

As it was with the AR I was watching all my impacts from about 250yds out to 750yds which was as far as I shot it today.

I thought long and hard about going with a .243 or .243 AI and now that I've put some round on target at various ranges I'm really glad I went the way that I did with it.

I'll give you a little advice here on something else.

The time you put in with your kids on things like this will be the moments they remember the rest of their lives.

My dad is in the process of passing away at this moment and has been for the last week. All of my fondest memories with him are from our hunting/shooting/ fishing/ camping trips in my youth. Make sure your kids have a lifetime's worth of memories when they get to the same point where I am today and you can pass with a smile.