A bigger day for me!

[Ryninger]

My 5 year old expressed a lot of interest in "making bullets," so tonight he helped me make a small batch. The brass was already prepped and primed. I short metered the powder, and had him watch the scale as I trickled in the last bit. After he said it was level, and was verified on the sly, I dropped the powder and placed the casing in the press. After being shown how, he sat the bullets, and the put a crimp on them. He was very excited about being involved, so I placed them in an empty box, labeled it with date & load info, and set it aside until he is big enough to shoot them.

 

[oldpink]

Way to go, dad!
It does a shooter's heart good seeing a fellow just at eye level with the bottom of that Rock Chucker and running the ram.
It's even cooler that you thought to write down the specs and set aside the ammo that he finished for a later shooting engagement, all the better to give him a sense of satisfaction.
This is exactly how best to ensure that our sport and hobby has a future.

 

[gmcttr]

Wonderful...but get him safety glasses for the next time.

 

[Doublehelix]

Very cool story! I warms the heart for sure. Thanks for sharing.

 

[derrickgoins]

Very Nice. Great story.

 

[Broom_jm]

Yep, that's the best story I've heard in a long time. God bless you, your family, and this great country we live in!

 

[1911ly]

Awesome! Teach them young. My son has saved a round from every caliber that he has reloaded. He has to load what he shoots now. With my watchful eye of coarse. It's great family time!

 

[oldpink]

Wonderful...but get him safety glasses for the next time.

Good advice for reloading at all, but he's only seating bullets, not priming.
It would still be best to have eyewear for the whole process, though, if for no other reason than to make it a habit so it's easier not to forget it.

 

[Family man]

Congrats dad. Younger than I started my daughter. I think she was around ten. I explained the process of the dillion set it up and let her pull the lever, place the bullet. Like you i marked them. That season she shot her first deer with rounds she loaded out of her suppressed 7mm08 in ky. I was one proud daddy.

 

[Cynical]

Those pics are priceless. Reminds me of having my daughters helping me reload. One is married and expecting my first grandchild and the other is a sophomore in high school. Awesome work dad, he will remember those times just I like I do with my dad.

 

[oldpink]

Forgot to ask, but exactly what caliber/bullet combo?
It's hard to make out enough detail, but it looks like short bottleneck cases with polycarbonate-tipped bullets (Hornady?), possibly .300 Blackout?

 

[Ryninger]

Thanks all! Good call on the safety glasses! They are indeed 300blk, 125grn SSTs on top of 17grns w296. I enjoyed the session very much with him, got a video that turned out great.

 

[oldpink]

W296/H110 is a great choice, and I've used it quite a lot for serious power out of my .45 Colt Blackhawk and Marlin 1894.
Pretty soon, he'll be learning about primer seating depth, full length vs. neck sizing, crimp or no crimp, powder charges, and all the other aspects of the process.
You both have quite a lot to look forward to getting there.

 

[Leo]

Great pictures. Might want to get the boy a coke crate to stand on.

 

[SSGSAD]

I had my kids, shooting at 5, reloading at 10 .....

Good Job, Dad !!!!!