Waved the young, ahem, gentlemen off to the range via Chevy Trailblazer this afternoon and off they went with various weapons. A ChiCom SKS, a CZ SxS 20, a no-name Italian O/U 12, a Ruger American .22 and an Aero Precision AR 10, all very 7.62.
Boom, and what could possibly go wrong with this scenario? Good question, and I asked one of the young men if he was a shooter. "Not really," came the reply, "Just some time with 9s and .22," so I fixed him with a steely eye, "Just make sure you don't shoot your buddy, alright? That's a no-no." He then rattled off the rules of marksmanship and I felt marginally reassured.
Well, all you parents out there, perhaps you get the concern and in case you think me somehow "micro," "helicopter" or "nanny state," consider this.
The man who owns the range, it's part of his farming empire, loves to shoot and he took his only son out to the place for some plinking enjoyment. All good, until the kid shot himself in the groin with a .22 and bled out on the way to the nearest hospital. It's a larf, right, until it isn't.
That in mind, the boys did well, didn't shoot each other and returned back to HQ in good style following an unreformed diner burger at Campbell's(?). Looks like a shack, is pretty much a shack, but serves great diner burgers, rock on.
Message to market. Enjoy firearms, blast away and be free, but respect the weapon for what it is. Does that sound sententious or preachy? No, just solid common sense.
Shoot straight,
LSP
Teaching boys to shoot many years ago - .22 rifles - most often said comment: "get your finger off the trigger until you are aiming down range..."
ReplyDeleteBack in high skool, a buddy of mine was running his trap line when he somehow got his foot confused with a trash panda in his trap and perforated his foot with a 22 revolver. A month or so later, another buddy running his trap line decided to save the bullet and swung his 22 rifle at a trash panda by the muzzle, and perforated his arm when it went off.
ReplyDeleteYou know what they say, safety first, or you'll be next.
People think .22s are BB guns.
ReplyDeleteI just did some work today on my .22 Luger and took it out to the garage to see if it was fixed. .22 JHP 1250 fps into a 2x4 and they all came out the other side into the 4x4 behind it.
Darn, that was a clean 4x4.
Precisely, Seamus.
ReplyDeleteWell, one of them is an expert marksman, so.
Right on, Wild.
ReplyDeleteI nearly blew my foot off with a 12 in a moment of carelessness, and I'm trained not to do that. Kyrie. That was a wake up call for me.
Let's not scoff at the humble rimfire, Ed, not for a second.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I like those fast rounds like .17HMR and .22 WMR, maybe the latter best. Great fun.
Safety. Given the many generations use of firearms in our extended family you would assume safety is ingrained. Not so, a cousin riding in the rear seat of a Jeep had his .22 butt on the floor and muzzle pointed toward his face. The Jeep hit a bump,the rifle fired, and Little Lee took four days to die in the nearby hospital.
ReplyDeleteAnother time a seasoned firearm user borrowed my Model 94 .30-.30. You may remember the old pickups that had a floor board well next to the door. He opened the door, the rifle fell out butt first, and a round went through the roof (lucky that is all that happened). Those old Model 94's had a safety but you needed to bring the hammer to 1/4 cocked. With one in the breech, they will discharge with the hammer down if dropped.
The young men, as is the case in 99.999999% of the time, safely enjoyed a day of turning money into smoke.
WSF, all it takes is an instant of foolishness or accident and there it is. No unlike horses, come to think about it.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know that about the 94s, I'll stand advised against the time I, finally, get one.
And yeah they did, well done boys.