A Nurse with a Gun

Sunday, October 05, 2008

The Lilac Riflegirl

This afternoon Little Darling and I had a range date. As with any student, we recited the Four Rules on the way to the range. Click to enlargeWe took her Ruger 10/22, her Mossberg 20 gauge, and her Ruger MKII, but she wanted to stick with her lilac Ruger. Yes, she is wearing earplugs underneath her hair. I tried to keep up with her, loading magazines with all the speed I could muster, but she was relentless. If she shoots, I do not. It is her day.

If you are getting bored with the same old drills, introduce someone new to shooting. Teach what you know. There is no better way to get back to basics yourself than teaching them to someone else. Little Darling has learned that the person who shoots the best is the person who applies the basics more consistently than anyone else.

Click to enlargeWe started at 15 yards, and quickly moved out to 25, and then to fifty. With each increase Little Darling saw her groupings open up, and she had to reapply the fundamentals to pull them back together again.

Little Darling just turned thirteen. She was shooting better than men twice her age, using a pawn shop Ruger and a Tasco scope. She is justifiably proud of her shooting. So am I.

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16 Comments:

Blogger phlegmfatale said...

butt-kicking cutie!
The future looks good.

8:44 PM  
Blogger Keith Walker said...

Xavier,
It looks like your daughter out-shot you. I didn't see any holes in your target on the right. ;-)

8:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Prpbably wrote this at least once before, but my son - then about 12, had been shooting my old Henry .22 at paper targets and was doing well, but was - truthfully - bored. So I brought out the steel "swingers", and he went to work on the largest, then worked down through to the smallest of the three. About 150 rounds later, he asked if there were more in the car.
[Then there was the day he blew up a wooden framed target with my .44 Special; and that's a story for another day.] OldeForce

10:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"...the person who shoots the best is the person who applies the basics more consistently than anyone else."

That's *got* to be etched in stone somewhere.

10:57 PM  
Blogger DouginSalcha said...

Xavier,

Don't know whether the young girl was your daughter or not (don't think you specifically said one way or the other) but I like the fact that you were willing to take the time to teach her.

If she is your daughter, it is no more than I'd expect from any decent and loving father. If she isn't, I consider it a very decent thing to do - to teach a young woman that she can develop the tools necessary to defend herself and her family when the time comes to face the preditors of the world.

Thank you!

11:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Butler Creek mags, perhaps?

12:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

you go girl!

5:09 AM  
Blogger breda said...

there's a girl who will grow up to be a strong, secure woman. Good job, Xav!

(and great target too! Brava!)

8:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Warms the heart that does.

10:58 AM  
Blogger BobG said...

W00t! I like seeing youngsters getting introduced to shooting and safety early.

1:02 PM  
Blogger SpeakerTweaker said...

I'm with Miss Phlegmmy. If that's what the future looks like, it's very reassuring.

Nicely done on raising the little shooter.



tweaker

1:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

She doesn't look near as scary as teenage girls are reported to be.

Mine's still got about a year and a half before the evil teenage years. :)

2:29 PM  
Blogger stbaguley said...

She's proud of the target, but you can see she sees the guy behind the camera as the guy who "hung the moon". Good work Dad. To Jeff There may be a gap for a while during the later teens but keep a light touch and she'll be back. (I got an "I love you Grandpa" from a 2 year old on Friday that still has me grinning on Monday.

4:07 PM  
Blogger nature223 said...

Xavier..that scope looks a little high with the look under rings..she MIGHT be using a chin weld rather then a good cheek weld..that'll cause some larger groups to occur

6:26 PM  
Blogger TheBronze said...

Excellent! Good job X!

5:39 PM  
Blogger Mikael said...

I'm sure she'll treasure the memory of times like this as long as she lives.

I still treasure my old shooting memories. I still know by heart my record series with a pelletgun as a 14 year old in a gun club, my first grouping with a hunting rifle, and other such memories.

Hope she grows up to be a confident woman.

10:39 PM  

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