A Day At The Range With Jake!

Well today was pretty windy and we decided not to do a coyote hunt, instead Jake and I headed to the rifle range to do a little shooting. Jake wanted to take his Marlin .22 out along with my Ruger .17 HMR which he had never shot before, I decided to take out the new toy! The Bushmaster AR-15 I recently purchased was itching to be shot for the first time, not to mention the fact that I had just put a new set of eyes on it from Leupold!

Me With The New AR-15!

Jake got busy with the .22 as soon as we got there. Take a look at his shooting prowess in the video below!

He next got busy on the Ruger .17 HMR that we set up for night hunting coyotes! He took right to that little popper! The .17's are a real nice smooth shooting rifle for youngsters to get the feel of a rifle that can take game other than just a squirrel. They have enough power to put down a coyote if the shot is placed in the right spot and there isn't any recoil to speak of, which makes them a very nice rifle to hit the field with for those younger hunters.

Jake Taking Aim

With The Ruger .17 HMR

After Jake finished up with the two smaller caliber rifles, it was time to get out the AR and try to set up the scope for future coyote and varmint hunts. I started on the 25 yard range and made a few adjustments to get it on center and then moved to the 50 yard range. It didn't take long to aquire the bull at 50, so we moved on to the 100 yard range to tweak it in. I was amazed at how loud the AR barked, but the bite was minor with very little recoil. In the video below is the first shot I took with the new firearm. Excuse the moving video below, it was shot by Jake my 10 year old son.

After I got it zeroed at 100 yards, it was Jake's turn to give it a whirl! He was eager to get behind the stock of this one! I know what your probably thinking right now, "How in the world would anyone let a ten year old shoot a gun like that!" Well let me tell you something, I have watched this young lad shoot for over four years now and he is safer with firearms than most adults I know! He has shot a .30-.30 deer rifle at the range with no problem, so a .223 should be a piece of cake for him. I only put one round in the firearm at a time just for safety reasons.

Jake Getting Ready!

Below you can see Jake taking aim and squeezing off a round on the AR. These firearms are really no different than that of his .22 Marlin that he was shooting in the video earlier except for the size of the cartridge. They are both semi-automatic firearms that shoot only one round with a single pull of the trigger. As I said before he is very aware of being safe, watch Jake lay his finger on the side of the frame and then acquire the target before he puts his finger in the trigger well. After shooting he immediately throws the safety on! This is what taking a youngester to the range and teaching them safe firearm handling will do! When you take the curiosity out of it, they respect and learn how to safely handle a firearm.

I will say that before he shot the firearm he was excited about shooting it, he mentioned the look of it like most people do but once he was finished shooting today it wasn't a big deal anymore! He told me that it was just like any other firearm we had. If you take the curiosity out of it, they will respect them and learn how to safely use them, just like he did today with the AR!

Jake Getting Ready To Shoot!

I did more than just take Jake to shoot today, we spent quality time today at the range bonding with each other. After shooting the AR today he was no longer interested in the "Cool" looking firearm, instead he was asking questions about how to zero in the scope and how math was used to figure out the minutes of angle and yardage. The allure of the AR was not an issue any longer, it was now just another firearm we have to take to the field or to the range. It was an important lesson for him to learn today, maybe you too have learned something about the AR today by reading this blog. I hope that you don't judge a firearm by the way it looks, by its color, or because it was patterned after a military style firearm. If you have any questions about these new sport rifles feel free to stop by our web site and email me. I will be more than happy to discuss any questions you might have about them! Now get to the range and start practicing for the upcoming season!