Our young houseguest flew home today after a week of shooting. A city kid who had been to the range exactly twice in his life with .22s, before he got here last week, he left some pretty good scores behind. He was averaging three-quarters of a second to react to a start signal, raise his AR15, off-safe it, and score a hit at seven yards. Took him around one second to nail the target twice.\u00a0 He was averaging a 95% score at 100 yards with the 5.56mm, did fine with the Beretta M9 pistol, and he just ate up the civilian versions of the M14 and the precision rifle.\u00a0 It was a thing of joy to watch. He wanted to learn, and had no bad habits to burn out before he focused on building strong, repeatable technique.<\/p>\n
I really enjoyed reading the commentary on my previous blog entries about his visit, and his familiarization with the guns he\u2019ll be working with in the USMC.\u00a0 I have no illusions about being able to train the lad better than the Marine Corps, but at least he won\u2019t be flabbergasted by totally new technology and technique when he gets to Basic.\u00a0 I agree in theory with those commentators who\u2019d like to see some elements of the Swiss Model of citizen\/soldier training incorporated in the USA, but I also agree with those who sadly say that the budget isn\u2019t there to make it happen.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I think it\u2019s important for us, the civilian friends and families of the next generation of fighting men and women, to give them the kind of head start that allowed Sergeant York and Colonel George and Audie Murphy and Carlos Hathcock to come back from war in one piece\u2026and to leave so many enemy soldiers neutralized by the time their duty was done.<\/p>\n
As I mentioned earlier, the little .22 Long Rifle Smith & Wesson M&P rifle, an AR15 clone with the exact same \u201cmanual of arms,\u201d proved to be a great training tool.\u00a0 It\u2019s time to be thinking about \u201cChristmas Presents for Shooter Folk,\u201d something I touch on annually here.\u00a0 The M&P .22 is available for under $500.<\/p>\n
In my December 12, 2010 post here almost a year ago (archive function is at the right) I mentioned the Konus spotting scope as an excellent Christmas present. It has certainly served me well in the intervening year. The Konus was on the firing line the whole time the grandson was shooting at Appleseed last week, and is still an excellent buy. Ordering info is in that prior entry.<\/p>\n
Konus spotting scope allows doting grandmother to tell when two of her grandson’s .22 slugs have gone through the same hole downrange at an Appleseed shoot.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
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