Right on, Wynn. I once had a BB dug out of my lower lip by Dr Tolbert
Yater. David Merrill shot me from about two feet with one of those slide
action BB guns that came out in the '60''s.......we considered them to be
magnums at the time. It's a wonder he didn't put out an eye or something.
One time Mike Winters dad bought him a carton of about a million BBs and all
the neighborhood boys divided them up and chose sides and had an all day
war. Half of us were holed up in Mr Winter's garage and the rest slinked
around the back fence and in the alley and we shot back and forth all damn
day. I don't remember if anybody got shot but I DO remember that Mr
Winter's garage looked like a golf ball when it was over. Had to be 5000 BB
dinks in it. That said, I have a 50th Anniversary Red Ryder Commerative BB
gun that I can shoot like a laser and have popped many a dog in the arse to
get him out of my trash can. I used to show off by shooting from the hip
and hitting my mailbox from my front porch about 7 shots our of 8. World
class shots can do that.
BB guns are fun but get kids on firearms as soon as you think they are
ready.
Lanney
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Wynn Ormond" <cheyenne@pcu.net>
To: <hist_text@lists.xmission.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2004 11:00 PM
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Starting young ones
> Dennis how the hell did those kids get that old? It just aint been that
> many years has it?
>
> Secondly, someone suggested a bb gun and that is something I don't agree
> with. For the most, I believe they are too inaccurate to teach sight
> picture and marksmanship, but more importantly, safety, they get treated
> like they are not a real gun. My friend Tom said his Dad agreed with me
and
> he owned a muzzleloader instead of a bb gun. The idea of plinking birds
out
> of a tree with the nieghbors window next to it was unheard of for him.
But
> how many times is that exactly what happens with a bb gun. We even played
> army with our bb guns as kids and we near put a kids eye out.
>
> Wynn Ormond
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dennis Knapp" <dennis@clearsprings.com>
> To: <hist_text@lists.xmission.com>
> Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2004 8:43 AM
> Subject: MtMan-List: Starting young ones
>
>
> > Frank,
> > I know every child isdifferent. That being said, this is what occured
with
> my boys. We began doing the mountain man thing when my boys were 6 and 3.
> Alan, now 16 began
> > shooting at 6 years old. Andy, now 13 did not begin shooting till he was
> seven. They both began with sawed off cheap .50 cal cap locks guns. Then
> both moved onto
> > Traditions youth model .50 cal flinters. Since out growing both of those
> guns, they both shoot flintlocks (one a Lyman GPR, the other a T/C
Hawkins)
> rifles and ML
> > shotguns. Throughout the years since they began shooting, both went
> through stages where they did not want to shoot at events or club shoots.
> There IS/WAS no pressure for
> > them to do so, even today. All of our hunting has been with ML's. In 4
> years of hunting Alan has killed 2 mule deer bucks and an elk, all with
his
> flintlocks. Andy has
> > hunted 1 year and killed his first buck with his smokeploe as well. They
> are both into the historical aspect of this hobby as much or more than the
> shooting.
> > Treat each child as their interest and abilities dictate. Never pressure
> them or you'll loose them. Get them on the ground as much as possible too.
> They will grow up with
> > a respect for history and the life this hobby provides. As they mature,
> their lives may turn such that the hobby has to be put on the back burner
> for awhile, but they
> > will return as it is a part of their being. BTW, the boys and I are
> heading out on a Missouri River canoe trek next week, ending up at Fort
> Union.
> > Lastly, enjoy your time with your children, they grow up way too fast.
> > Regards,
> > Dennis Knapp
> > southern Idaho
> >
> >
> > ----------------------
> > hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html
>
>
> ----------------------
> hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html
>
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Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 05:01:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Lars <camperfox428@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Starting young ones
- --0-665453163-1086955273=:42152
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
I can relate to kids not being supervised and shooting birds with BB guns, not to mention their eyes out. Parents that give their kids these to "play with" never read any safety guidlines. Young ones (4 or 5 year olds) can learn safety with BB guns if they are taught to treat every gun that shoots the same in regards to safety. New ones are plenty accurate for 20' to 25' to learn techniques (pick one with a good sight). Cans, plates, clay pigeons, they all provide good targets with movement (on a string). It's a tool for young ones. I never allowed my sons to have free time with the BB gun. It was always a controlled experience where safety is concerned. I liked the idea someone mentioned about a 1x2 wooden gun with sights being used to teach the first steps of handling a gun on a range. Great teaching aid. And yes, they always start from a bench rest. Same with a BB or an unloaded firearm. You have a good point with strenght being a factor with age. It's just if you start
the real young ones out with something to shoot at an early age, always having controlled supervision for safety, and something that doesn't kick, they have fun and want to shoot more often. They progress to the big bores in no time. Muzzle safety and control becomes second nature. Too many youth learn gun handling from movies.
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<DIV>
<DIV>I can relate to kids not being supervised and shooting birds with BB guns, not to mention their eyes out. Parents that give their kids these to "play with" never read any safety guidlines. Young ones (4 or 5 year olds) can learn safety with BB guns if they are taught to treat every gun that shoots the same in regards to safety. New ones are plenty accurate for 20' to 25' to learn techniques (pick one with a good sight). Cans, plates, clay pigeons, they all provide good targets with movement (on a string). It's a tool for young ones. I never allowed my sons to have free time with the BB gun. It was always a controlled experience where safety is concerned. I liked the idea someone mentioned about a 1x2 wooden gun with sights being used to teach the first steps of handling a gun on a range. Great teaching aid. And yes, they always start from a bench rest. Same with a BB or an unloaded
firearm. You have a good point with strenght being a factor with age. It's just if you start the real young ones out with something to shoot at an early age, always having controlled supervision for safety, and something that doesn't kick, they have fun and want to shoot more often. They progress to the big bores in no time. Muzzle safety and control becomes second nature. Too many youth learn gun handling from movies. <BR></DIV></DIV><p>
<hr size=1><font face=arial size=-1>Do you Yahoo!?<br>Friends. Fun. <a href="http://messenger.yahoo.com/">Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger</a>
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Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 22:31:26 EDT
From: JSeminerio@aol.com
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Starting young ones
- -------------------------------1087007486
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
In a message dated 6/11/04 8:01:58 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
camperfox428@yahoo.com writes:
Too many youth learn gun handling from movies.
I was real worried about that too. I bought a "model" side by side from
Sportsman's Guide. You can't really call it a toy. It is REALLY nice, incredibly
detailed. I bought it for my father in law so he could help train my son who
is now 5. I did some investigating on the Net about kids and firearm safety.
There is a WHOLE MOVEMENT that wants to band all forms of toy guns. One side
of the argument wants them banded for moral reasons the other side wants kids
to learn safety using training guides and fire arms (under adult supervision
of course) That side believes toy guns only confuse children about the
responsibilities of firearms.
It turns out my boy is totally uninterested in the shot gun. I'm still
trying to get him into his rondy clothes to do an event or two this summer.
