getting ready for his first "match"

[JodyH]

Here's a quick video of my 8 year old boy practicing for his first match.
He'll be shooting in next months "Concealed Carry Match" our club puts on.
Since I'm stage designer, range officer and match director, I'll design 1 or 2 stages to be "midget friendly" and he'll only shoot 2 or 3 targets in the other stages.
No draws, no reloads, no moving for him yet. He'll start from low ready and shoot without moving under my direct supervision.
I was proud of him when he maintained muzzle and finger discipline when he dropped his spare magazine. That's better than some of our adult shooters.
His gear will be a Walther P22 with Viridian green laser and a kydex belt holster for between stages.

All his body shots were "A's" but he missed his head shots (the laser will be a big help when I install it). His sight alignment still needs some work.
This was at around 4 yards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuDEAFNZreg

[Pennzoil]

Awesome, Looks like a future pro in the making!

[David]

http://pistol-forum.com/images/icons/icon14.png I hope he has a good time!

[jetfire]

I wish more stages were midget friendly. Last IDPA match, I had to literally stand on my toes and crane my neck back to hit a target partially obscured by a no-shoot because the stage designer forgot that not everyone is 6'5. SOME OF US ARE 5'6.

[JDM]

Walther P99?

[JodyH]

Walther P99?
Walther P22

[KentF]

Great video, thanks for sharing!

[NickA]

Looks good, I'm sure little man will do great and have fun with dad.
May I ask when /how you got him started? My daughter is almost 4 and I'm trying to figure it out; she's not a fan of loud noises so we'll have to start slow.

[JodyH]

Looks good, I'm sure little man will do great and have fun with dad.
May I ask when /how you got him started? My daughter is almost 4 and I'm trying to figure it out; she's not a fan of loud noises so we'll have to start slow.
He's always liked toy guns (duh, he's a boy) and we slowly introduced safety rules to him in his toy gun handling.
For live fire I started him out with airsoft rifles and pistols at around 4-5 years old until he had the safety rules down good and the general aiming concept down.
Then we moved on to shooting a .22 rifle off the bench at around 6 years old.
He now shoots a red dot equipped .22 AR off the bench and has started to shoot a .22 pistol.
My goal has been to never let the gun "hurt" him.
By that I mean he always wears good fitting ear-pro, safety glasses and a hat.
I've never had him shoot a gun with any recoil.
I'm sure he could shoot my .223 AR just fine, but I don't want him to be exposed to the recoil and muzzle blast until he's older and more confident.

He's helped tape and reset targets at several matches so he's comfortable with the regular shooters and understands how the matches run.
Once he's proven his ability to be safe (which he's doing great at) I'll let him shoot a "training wheels" version of the match.

[NickA]

Looks like a good solid progression, i hadn't thought of using the safety rules with toy guns. One of the issues I have is the boys at our day care are always "playing guns", which the teachers discourage (I guess they kinda have to these days), and now my little one is always saying "we don't play guns." I've been trying to figure out exactly how/ when to show her the difference between real guns and toys, but she's probably a little young yet.
Soon I hope to start taking her to some rimfire rifle matches I shoot in. It's a very family oriented club and the volume of fire is pretty low. Only problem is our range is next to a commercial range and there's usually some loud stuff going on over there.

[Wheeler]

Very well done! I have a 10 year old that is shooting a .22 bolt from a sitting supported position and occasionally shoots clays (static) with a .410. If he ever takes a serious interest in shotgunning, he's getting a 20 guage, I can't afford .410 ammo!

I have a hard time holding his interest with paper targets, he wants to see something fly apart or jump. That being said, we do a lot of plinking, with a little bit on paper when his sight alignment or trigger control starts to slip. I've forgotten just how much fun a single shot .22 with a finishing nail for a front sight can be :D

Jody, how did you get him interested in shooting paper?

Wheeler

[JodyH]

Jody, how did you get him interested in shooting paper?
He won't shoot just any paper.
It's got to be a IDPA/IPSC target and I have to make a "stage" for him to shoot.
The stage is usually a fault line and some instructions such as "2 body, 1 head".

[Wheeler]

He won't shoot just any paper.
It's got to be a IDPA/IPSC target and I have to make a "stage" for him to shoot.
The stage is usually a fault line and some instructions such as "2 body, 1 head".

That's awesome. I might have made a tactical error taking mine to shoot clays. He wants the instant gratification of seeing something come apart. On the other hand, he's interested in shooting, and enjoys it. I guess it's a good problem to have.

Pass on to yours that I wish him well at his match.

Wheeler

[rsa-otc]

My kids were always expected to treat their toy guns the same as daddy did his real guns. They started coming to the range to watch daddy teach around 5 or 6 years old and slowly worked up from there. They shot the state Q course in their early teens. Kens now 23 and BRI will be 21 next month. Both are now gun enthusiasts.
I wish your son the same as he starts his firearm journey.

[peterb]

Very well done! I have a 10 year old that is shooting a .22 bolt from a sitting supported position and occasionally shoots clays (static) with a .410. If he ever takes a serious interest in shotgunning, he's getting a 20 guage, I can't afford .410 ammo!Wheeler

To transition to a 20, I'd suggest the Fiocchi 20LITE training load. VERY low recoil and noise.

[Wheeler]

To transition to a 20, I'd suggest the Fiocchi 20LITE training load. VERY low recoil and noise.

Thanks peterb. I'll keep that in mind. It will actually take him at least another year or so to be big enough to shoot and swing a 20. He's just a little feller :) unlike his dad :D

Wheeler