Natalie's first aimed shot

[MBTcustom]

Well, it's Sunday. Church was nice, mom came over for a visit, I had a nice restful nap, and a nice disgusting cigar on the front swing. Life is good.
Natalie came out and sat on the swing with me, and we listened to the birds while I puffed on my cigar and she made mud pies and had a pretend restaurant and "cooked" for me. LOL!

I asked her if she would like to shoot some, and she was very excited to do so.
Up till now, I have helped her hold the gun, and used my ability to aim the barrel over her shoulder to put her on target, reminding her the whole time how to line up the sights etc. (I grew up on a 1851 confederate Navy cap and ball revolver, and that was the only way you could aim it anyway, so she usually hit what we were aiming at in this way.)

Well, today, I had been eyeballing her little play table and figured it was just the right size for a little persons shooting bench, so I grabbed my bag of shop rags and laid it down for her a makeshift rest, and we got one of her little chairs to sit on. I put the target on the seat of the swing (we put on our safety glasses) and I drew her a picture of what sights should look like when they were lined up.
The orange target spots were a big help as a visual aid because I could draw an accurate representation of how the big spot would appear to her at five meters by sticking the next size down on the paper and drawing the sights on it with a sharpie marker.
We are still working on form and keeping the gun level, but this proved to be a powerfully effective visual aid for the girl.

This time, I stood behind her and offered encouraging tips based on whether she was lined up with the target or not, and tried not to overwhelm her with details. It's a hard ballance because if she doesnt shoot and hit, she will lose interest, but if she does it wrong, she will learn bad habits, and we can't have that. So I have picked just two or three things to work on, and as she advances, I will start to fold in more details.

The important thing about today, was that for the first time, she made an aimed hit unassisted and completely by herself.
I took a picture of that shot, and it was high fives from everybody and we were very proud of her.
I see it as a milestone, and I wanted to share.
I'm just really proud right now!
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It bears mentioning that her BB gun is no Avanti by any means, and even with me behind the trigger, it was all I could do to put 5 in the ring at 5 meters, much less the diamond. The only way she could have made that shot was if she was doing exactly what I told her.
We shot quite a bit more, but she missed a few times and lost interest, but this is solid improvement!
Good job Natalie!

[Just Duke]

Cute!

[xbeeman412]

Wont be long before You have to take her to the range with You and buy her a bigger rifle!!

[williamwaco]

Way to go Goodsteel.

We need all the support we can get.

That smile tells me she will grow up to be one of us.

[Rick Hodges]

Way to go....enjoy her they grow up so darn fast....a day teaching a youngster to shoot and a good cigar on the porch. Count you blessings....you are a rich man, indeed.

[bnelson06]

Great to hear, I will also be teaching my daughter how to shoot this spring, can't wait for her first hit :)

[MBTcustom]

Wont be long before You have to take her to the range with You and buy her a bigger rifle!!

buy her a what?

I will be building her a very fine firearm on a Sako vixen if I can find one by that time.

For now, it's her pink BB gun, and then (if she doesn't hate it by the time she's ready to move up), I have a quackenbush 22 that our own Ken Caldwell gave me for her.
It should be a fun time as she grows up, and I dare say, she's going to have a hard time finding a boyfriend who can outshoot her if I have anything to say about it. LOL!

[btroj]

Well done Tim. Start em out right and they will never forget the lessons.

Time well spent.

[xbeeman412]

My son in law got out shot by My Wife and asked if I wasn't afraid to have a Wife that was so goo a shot! I told Him I lived right and didn't need to worry. When She gets old enough to Date make sure all prospects know how well She shoots!!

[Bzcraig]

Awesome day brother!

[shooterg]

Very very cool.

[ph4570]

Sweet -- I see the joy on her face.

[Mod42]

Count you blessings....you are a rich man, indeed.

Much greater riches than gold or silver.......

[44Vaquero]

Start them young!! Good job!

[MT Gianni]

That grin is priceless.

[btroj]

Won't be long before she is making her own rifle Tim. Trust me, it won't be as long as you think.

[MBTcustom]

Won't be long before she is making her own rifle Tim. Trust me, it won't be as long as you think.

I'm hoping she will have an adept hand at checkering. That would be huge. I see women like Esmeralda doing awesome things with handgun grips, and it makes me wonder if Natalie might take to it someday. Oh well, we'll see.
Knowing my luck, and the family history, she'll probably end up being a darn pharmacist or something. LOL!

[Jailer]

Awesome. I started my girl out on a pink BB gun too. She would also quickly lose interest.

I recently picked up a 300 blk Handi rifle because she said she wanted a break action gun "because they are cool". She also made sure to tell me when she wanted something new to make sure it wasn't pink. :grin:

Enjoy them while they're young it goes fast.

[btroj]

I'm hoping she will have an adept hand at checkering. That would be huge. I see women like Esmeralda doing awesome things with handgun grips, and it makes me wonder if Natalie might take to it someday. Oh well, we'll see.
Knowing my luck, and the family history, she'll probably end up being a darn pharmacist or something. LOL!

If she is a pharmacist she will be able to support you as you grow older.

If she learns to checker make sure she gets a job close by, no use wasting money sending her stocks.

[MBTcustom]

I read her the first few lines of this thread so she could see that you all were proud of her too. When I got to the part about building her her own special rifle, she said "Oh thank you daddy!!! just a minute, I know just what I want!"
I sat here in total wonder of what she was going to do.
She ran into the bathroom and came back in a minute with March2014 issue of American Rifleman and showed me the cover shot of the Beneli Ethos. She pointed at it and said "this one daddy. This is the one you need to get me."
She's gonna be high maintenance fellers. LOL!

She's 5 you know.

I was shocked that she obviously looks at the pictures in American Rifleman.

[btroj]

A Benneli? Not a fine walnut stocked Mauser?

Tim, you need to work on her on the fine art of taste. Classic rifles are to be appreciated at all costs.

Be careful, don't want her buying an AR do you?

[MBTcustom]

Fine walnut stocked Mausers are not the norm in American "Rifleman" anymore. I went flipping through that rag just looking at the pictures, and there's not a single rifle in there that I would really call "fine". At least the Ethos is a quality firearm with some semblance of style built into it. I thought she did right well for a daughter of mine.

[btroj]

True enough. Black is the in color.

I appreciate the durability of modern stocks and gun finishes but they will never have the class of walnut and blued steel

I suppose a fine hunting gun is different than a battle rifle. I don't plan on going into combat so I will stick with walnut and blued steel.

Tim, let her shoot what she likes. Better shooting a Beneli than not shooting at all.

[AlaskanGuy]

Awww tim... What a heartfelt lift I got out of reading that... Thanks man... Most of mine are grown and the grandkids dont get to my neck of the woods much, but your story brings back awesome memories.... You truely are a great dad timber...

My son got drawn for his first moose tag last week for a hunt this comming fall, and we will also be going on his first brown bear hunt together in about a month, so hopefully I will also have some neato firsts to report...

Grab these moments sir, we are blessed with a few short years to make a difference with our children, and it is good to see that you are making good use of them...

Bless you sir...

AG

[NewbieDave007]

Congratulations Tim! You have a great family and I'm sure you will have the boys afraid of you both soon enough.

[runfiverun]

start her out with a caliber you know you can get brass for and begin loading right now.
I have littlegirl going through 7 mauser, 7.65 argie, and 223 brass like it's free. [to her I guess it is :lol:]
just glad I got her off the 45/70 kick, holy moses that thing eats lead..

I left the truck home last hitch and it took her 3 day's to finally tell me how that black spray pattern got on the hood of my new silver dodge.
as if the blood in the back of the truck and 3 more rock chuck tails in the garage wasn't clue enough.
I tried to tell her 180gr home swaged argie bullets aren't for varmints [face/palm] and that 60gr 223's were.
she said she made them and she'll shoot what she wants with them.

anyway.
there's a glimpse into your future,,,, 15 years down the road.

[Stephen Cohen]

That Sir is a priceless memory thanks for sharing.

[JeffinNZ]

Sweet. Looking forward to the red Savage Rascal arriving here for my girls.

[Bjornb]

Tim what a precious little girl. See ya in Arkansas.

[**oneshot**]

You done well!! Better start saving your money. lol.

[btroj]

start her out with a caliber you know you can get brass for and begin loading right now.
I have littlegirl going through 7 mauser, 7.65 argie, and 223 brass like it's free. [to her I guess it is :lol:]
just glad I got her off the 45/70 kick, holy moses that thing eats lead..

I left the truck home last hitch and it took her 3 day's to finally tell me how that black spray pattern got on the hood of my new silver dodge.
as if the blood in the back of the truck and 3 more rock chuck tails in the garage wasn't clue enough.
I tried to tell her 180gr home swaged argie bullets aren't for varmints [face/palm] and that 60gr 223's were.
she said she made them and she'll shoot what she wants with them.

anyway.
there's a glimpse into your future,,,, 15 years down the road.

Man, you got it bad.

I thought mine was bad with 9 mm ammo.

What are you saving rock chuck tails for?

[gray wolf]

Now that's what I'm talkin bout, She needs her own shootin jacket.
Great job Sir, God bless and happy days on you.

Sam

[375RUGER]

Well done indeed, Sir.:drinks:

[cbrick]

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Priceless!

Rick

[runfiverun]

I give them to fly tyers.
I'm impressed how tough the skin is on them little buggers.
it's in the neighborhood of elk skin tough plus some, the fur would make some nice dubbing for the fly bodies if you could skin one easily.

[searcher4851]

Great news and great pictures. Please pass my congratulations on to your budding little sure-shot.