schooter

i am looking into teaching my niece how to shoot. i have .22 that i let her use at first. it is one that i have got from my grandpa after he died. i need to take it in and look over because i didnt get right away i just want make sure everything is working before i use it. i have never taught anybody how to shoot so any ideas are welcome. thank schooter

no_skill

Easy, if your using Ironsights tell her how to hold the weapon properly and lay her head on the stock at a comfortable position where she can look down the iron sights and make a E, then take the weapon off safe and ease the trigger. If it's an old school weapon with a hammer single load. Teach her to pull the hammer back without her finger in the trigger guard get a good position to shoot take the weapon off safe and pull the trigger.

usmc1978

First and absolutely foremost issafety. You need to drill these three rules into her head: muzzle always in a safe direction, finger always off the trigger until ready to shoot, treat all firearms as if loaded/open the action to find out if they are loaded. Correct her each and every time she violates one of these rules. She needs to understand how important they are.

Next, she needs to understand sight alignment and sight picture, if you're using iron sights. I recommend a scope, though. It may cost you a few bucks to set up, but it's much easier for a beginner and she'll start hitting right away, which will keep her coming back for more. Since 9 year olds have a short attention span, I would sight in the scope before you start with her. It may still need a minor adjustment for her stock weld and all, but it will be substantially there. Once you know she's hitting on paper, set up some reactive targets, like cans or gongs. Instant satisfaction! Bang, clang!

Motivate her. Shooting is an Olympic and NCAA sport, and you don't have to run a 4.0 40 yd. dash to be good at it. Tell her about Kim Rhodes winning an Olympic gold medal in trap when she was 17. Tell her there are more NCAA women's rifle teams than men's (there are).

Keep drumming safety. In fact, I strongly recommend getting her into a hunter education class. They're usually free and even though she may not want to hunt, these classes will teach a lot about firearms (they're not weapons unless you're using them for fighting) and related topics.