Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:
The weather was too nice to sit in the office [last week] so I cut out early and took my 11-year-old grandson to the shooting range. He already knows how to shoot a bow and a shotgun, thanks my son-in-law. I had planned to let the boy try a single-action .22 revolver first, then work our way up to bigger guns on a later visit. Didn’t happen.
Every member we met asked: “Would you like try this gun? Here, let me show you how it works.” He ended up shooting several revolvers and semi-auto pistols, an AR variant, a brand-new 9mm carbine and finally an exquisitely preserved 70-year-old .30 caliber M1 carbine that I suspect is worth more than my car.
All these people, spending a few moments of their time and donating their own ammunition to show some kid they never met how to shoot a different gun . . . that’s how a cultural heritage is preserved. It’s passed down from the grandparents’ generation, from people who are thrilled to see a young person take an interest in something us oldsters have loved our whole lives long.
Priceless.
Joe Doakes
It’s heartwarming.
No, I”m not being glib or sarcastic.
Perhaps your grandson will be fortunate enough to attend one of the 450 schools that offer competitive trap shooting.
http://www.startribune.com/high-school-trapshooting-league-continues-to-grow/307269561/
Many of the Iron Range colleges allow students to bring their firearms and archery equipment to school with them. Of course, all of them are kept in gun safes in the dorm manager’s office, which is also secured with reinforced doors and bulletproof glass. When my daughter attended Vermillion is few years ago, they were just adding a fourth safe.
Last week we brought the 17 month old daughter and 4 year old nephew to watch while we shot trap. Last night we brought the 6 year old nephew out for his first shot at live ammunition in the .22 you single shot. Next time we go, the plan is to swap out the .22 barrel for .410.
As Joe said, The best part of bringing kids to the Club is that EVERYONE is supportive. Last week they wanted photos of the youngins. Last year they merely Oh’d and Ah’d over the 4 month old that sleep through all the noise.
I’m imagining the kick of the Garand on an 11-year-old shoulder, and the weight. That kid has a memory for life.
My grandfather gave me a single-shot .22 from his collection when I was 10 or 11. I learned to shoot with it, and later so did my daughter, who now has the gun down in Iowa for shooting possums that want to nap in the baby-stroller. She’s a crack shot, and one day my grandchildren will probably learn to shoot with this as well. I also just bought a Henry AR-7, a sweet little .22 semi-auto with an 8-round magazine, and I can’t wait for the day when we can all go plinking together.
NW, if the Garand hasn’t had too many rounds through it, there’s not much kick. By the time you get up around 100 or so you wind up crawling back up to the firing line, but the first 50 or so are pretty tame because the rifle weighs so much (there’s a reason the M15 is so popular vs. the M14/Grarand, and it’s due to hauling the rifle around).
But note: the 11 year old was firing the M1 Carbine, not a Garand, and those have almost no kick. Personally, the Garand will always warm my heart, though. That’s the one I did long-distance competition with and to this day I still wish I hadn’t had to sell it.
Funny you should mention that, Emery. Last summer, I went to “Novice Night” at my gun club, where a round of trap is $3 and seasoned shooters volunteer to coach new shooters. I drew a 17-year-old kid and thought “What can he teach me, I’ve been shooting 40 years?” That was before I watched him break 22 birds in a row. Turns out, he’s captain of the Tartan High School Trap Team. Ooo-kay.
Nerdbert, you’re exactly correct, the boy was shooting the .30 caliber paratrooper version, not the .30-06 infantry version. Manufactured at the height of WW II so it’s even more rare than the standard M1 and more remarkable for the owner to hand to a kid. What my Dad wouldn’t have given to be there to see the great-grandson shoot his old weapon!
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I would love to have an M1 Carbine! Sorry that I didn’t notice the reference in my first read through. I got to handle the M! a little last year and my first thought was how heavy it was; couldn’t imagine being chest deep in surf, lugging it to Omaha Beach or climbing Pont du Hoc – except that I’d be damn glad to have it once I arrived at my destination.
I had a Crossman BB gun replica of the carbine when I was in junior high; it couldn’t be pumped up for greater power like the most popular Crossman, but it was accurate and beautiful to look at. To have the real thing would be such a joy and an honor.
My gun club is a sponsor of several HS trap teams. I was just looking at a picture of the 2015 Princeton Tigers Trap Team that is one we sponsor, I count at least 40 members, guy and gals in the picture. I call that heartwarming!
If we can elect a pro-2A president and Congress, there’s a chance we might “let” the South Koreans send back all the Garands and Carbines they’ve been storing since the seventies. These could go back into the Civilian Marksmanship Program.