Earlier today, I went to the gun range with my daughter. She has expressed a strong interest in being able to go deer hunting with me next fall, and so I want to get her ready to go to Hunters Safety Glass in the spring.
Even though we have made a handful of trips to the range already, I really haven't taken her much beyond the 'being satisfied to make a hole in the piece of paper' point. I also haven't had her shoot anything really big yet...90% .22, and then a few rounds of .38 out of my lever-action Marlin.
Both of these things are going to have to be addressed before she can go deer hunting, so during the previous week, I took the scope off 'my wife's' .270, and installed it on the .243 barrel of my daughters Rossi. There isn't anything fancy about it...it's a Nikon Pro-Staff 2-7 variable...should be plenty of scope for a year or two of doe hunting(there are several areas in Eastern Washington where 'youth' can shoot does).
So...all that being said, today was the first time she actually sat down behind her new rifle with the .243 barrel on it. I tried to warn her that it was going to kick more than anything she had shot so far. I checked the way she was leaning over the gun several times, telling her to socket the stock home against her shoulder, and that the tighter she held it, the less it would kick...
In the end though, it was going to be up to her to pull the trigger when she felt good and ready.
She wasn't ready when she pulled the trigger.
The scope didn't catch her, which is nice(my wife cut her forehead with the exact same scope once)...she just didn't have the gun seated well when she pulled the trigger, and it kind of snapped back into her.
To her credit, she didn't cry, even though I knew she wanted to. She didn't do anything unsafe with the gun either. She just put the safety on, set it down, and rubbed her shoulder a bit...and kind of decided she was done for the day. Made me glad I waited until we were almost done to swap the .243 barrel on.
Next time...she will be a little more ready, and maybe I can actually get her to fire off a group.
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