Today, the planets aligned enough to allow me the opportunity to take my 7 year old son shooting for the first time. We loaded up the car with my AR and my .22LR rifle and headed out to a friend's place in Mooresville. I couldn't really tell if he was super excited or not, so I just assumed he was.
Anyway, I loaded it up and proceeded to let him shoot. I think he did pretty well. I could really see the interest opening up with that first magazine unload.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY-CJu52dz0[/ame]
The first round of "kills."
He shot about 20 rounds out of the .22 before he pointed at the AR and said, "Daddy, I want to shoot that one next." I looked at him with a bit of skepticism and agreed. I put one round in the magazine and let him shoot it. A 5.56 consuming monster was born.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJQpdiEeN98[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJkYcKjpq7U[/ame]
I then mixed up some Tannerite for him to shoot since he did such a good job with the bigger rifle. We moved back to about 40 yards or so, unsure if any chunks would be flying back at us. I put about six rounds in the mag to give him plenty of shots to take to be able to hit it.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SssiwTpK8Jg[/ame]
As you can see, it was unneeded.
We took the rifle back up to about 20 yards from the target and I let him shoot about eleven rounds at a smaller target. I'm quite pleased as a father with the results of my offspring's abilities. Count the shots and then count the holes.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51rQ8NX2IPE[/ame]
I let him shoot a bit more out of the AR before we packed it up. Here's the results of his target.
I can't wait for our next trip to the range. I just have to find more 5.56 for him to chew through.
Anyway, I loaded it up and proceeded to let him shoot. I think he did pretty well. I could really see the interest opening up with that first magazine unload.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY-CJu52dz0[/ame]
The first round of "kills."
He shot about 20 rounds out of the .22 before he pointed at the AR and said, "Daddy, I want to shoot that one next." I looked at him with a bit of skepticism and agreed. I put one round in the magazine and let him shoot it. A 5.56 consuming monster was born.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJQpdiEeN98[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJkYcKjpq7U[/ame]
I then mixed up some Tannerite for him to shoot since he did such a good job with the bigger rifle. We moved back to about 40 yards or so, unsure if any chunks would be flying back at us. I put about six rounds in the mag to give him plenty of shots to take to be able to hit it.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SssiwTpK8Jg[/ame]
As you can see, it was unneeded.
We took the rifle back up to about 20 yards from the target and I let him shoot about eleven rounds at a smaller target. I'm quite pleased as a father with the results of my offspring's abilities. Count the shots and then count the holes.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51rQ8NX2IPE[/ame]
I let him shoot a bit more out of the AR before we packed it up. Here's the results of his target.
I can't wait for our next trip to the range. I just have to find more 5.56 for him to chew through.
I've been working with him for years on trigger discipline. He's usually better than that where I don't have to remind him, but I think he was just excited in the moment. I will admit, he really surprised me with how well he took to that AR. I think he shoots it better than I do. 
Great start with the next generation of a rifleman . At todays prices this could become an expensive addiction .
