I was taking a 15 year old shooting for the first time. I had really severe time constants, he had to back by 12 for a family function, and the range I was at opened at 9.

The range I was at has a one shot per second rule. So I didn’t bring anything automatic or double action, so he couldn’t break that rule.

I brought a Marlin Lever Action .22 and a very old (my first gun) High Standard Sport King Pump Action .22. And I brought a Ruger Bearcat, and a Ruger Single Six. The Ruger Bearcat is a very small single action .22. Most Bearcats are steel frame and weigh 23 ounces. This one is very old and has an alloy frame and weighs 17 ounces. A Single Six is a large size .22 Single Action Revolver with fixed sights. The version with adjustable sights is called the Super Single Six. I think.

Anyway, the Marlin and High Standard rifles both worked out well, they had very long 24 inch barrels, and it was easy to keep him from pointing the guns at anyone. I only had him shoot the Bearcat once, then put it away, and took out the Single Six with the long barrel. This person was actually bigger than I am (I am five foot four, 118 pound). I didn’t weigh him and measure him, but I would say he was about at least five inches taller than me, and maybe as much as 30 or 40 pounds heavier. A Ruger Bearcat that weighs 17 ounces with a four inch barrel is good for someone like me, with very small hands. For him it was just so small, he kept forgetting where he was pointing it.
So I gave him the Ruger Single Six, and stood practically touching him, and every time the gun stopped pointing forward, I would lean forward and grab the gun and point it back towards the targets. It’s not easy to teach a person who is a lot bigger than you how to shoot a gun, particularly when they are immature and keep having memory lapses about the gun can never point sideways towards the other shooters. He made me nervous, and anxious, and after a half hour I had him shoot the rifles again.

As he was shooting the rifles, I saw he had no problem and I stepped back to the table to get something to drink. I drink a lot of water. Two older guys came over to talk to me. I guess I and my friend looked strange. You had a five foot four, 118 pound 33 year old man, teaching a very tall 15 year old boy how to shoot. They asked me if I was teaching him how to shoot. I said it was his first time. They then BOTH told me that I was doing it all wrong. I was over at the metal plates. This particular range has a very large and extensive metal plate section, with probably over a hundred swinging plates. I figured I would just let him come and have fun the first time and shoot the plates. The two old timers told me you ALWAYS have someone shoot a target the first time and that I was going to make him a bad shot. When a person shoots a target they claimed, the person understands that how you hold the guns affects where the bullet goes. They both got sort of pushy and controlling and acted like I should immediately go to the target office and get a target and set it up at the next cease fire. When I didn’t do so, they both started saying things like I was doing the boy a big disservice and the like. I didn’t know whether to take them seriously or not. I have long black hair, I am thin, I wear Birkenstock sandals, and most people over 50 who are at a target range tend to take an immediate dislike to me. They even (all older males at a shooting range do this to me) said that “Well if you had ever been in the Armed Forces, you would know that what we were saying is true.” I think I have heard THAT one about 10,000 times. They are usually shocked when I pull out my wallet and show a picture of me as a Private First Class in the U. S. Army. But what I am trying to figure out is are they right? Should I have taken him first to shoot targets on paper? Or was their nature dislike of people who look like me kicking in?
Levi

You learned to shoot in the Army? I didn’t. I learned when I was nine years old. Didn’t remember seeing any Army around.