Took the Son Shooting This Weekend

[Guest TNDixieGirl]

My 15 yr old hasn't been shooting with me in a few months so after he treated me to dinner Friday night, I invited him to go along with me to the range.

I took the Beretta 22SR Minx, the Beretta 22LR 950 and my Kahr CW9.

He loved the little Minx, said it was like shooting a bb gun (and it is). And he shot darn well with it.

He shot just as well with the 950 (he had shot that one before), then turns to me and says he wants to try my Kahr. Remembering how he didn't particularly like the recoil of my Sigma, I let him know the recoil was worse on the Kahr but he was welcome to shoot it.

Oh how I wish I'd had a camera after he fired that first round. He slowly turned his head around to me and gave me that li'l smirk only a teenage boy can give and said "It's a Beast!" (that's teen speak for "pretty incredible"). He ended up shooting about 3 magazines worth and I must say, the boy did better than I did the first time I shot with it.

Then he got to browsing around the rifles when we got done shooting. The lady at the shop said she had the very rifle he was looking at, so she would bring it to work with her Saturday morning so he could shoot it.

Here's how he did with the rifle, and a pic of the rifle he shot.

And if I don't word this with the right gun lingo, don't laugh.

He got a quick safety/operation lesson from the owner of the rifle, and then he was off and running. He kept his groupings to 2 inches dead center with every magazine/clip he shot. Not sure what to call it on a rifle, but it looked like a magazine to me. He handled that machine like he'd owned one all his life. I was in awe. I shot it too, and did pretty well (better than with my pistol), but not as good as he did.

Now he wants to shoot every rifle in the shop. He heard his grandma ask the shop lady how much it cost, so I think he might see one as a 16th birthday gift come next month. But he said "Mom, tell her not to buy this one if that's what she's planning. I want to try them all and be sure what I like the best first." So the son who constantly makes fun of my "gun fetish" seems to have picked up a new habit himself.

So that brings me to ask y'all.....what are the differences in rifles? Are they all .22's? Are different calibers available? If he decides on this one, is Walther a good way to go? Are there specific things we need to look for in a rifle? Specific things to avoid in a rifle?

Im sure his dad can answer most of these questions for me, and we'll eventually get around to that conversation. But I like to have input from every source I can tap before making a big decision like this.

[Guest EasilyObsessed]

If he likes to "tinker" with stuff, buy him a Ruger 10/22 instead. There are aftermarket equivalents for literally every single part on that gun and he would be able to customize it to his liking. Research on what to do could keep him busy for months

try rimfirecentral.com for more information than you could ever possibly need about 22lr guns.

[Fallguy]

Sounds like a great time.

[Guest Halfpint]

Congrats to the kid, and ditto on the 10/22 . . . they're addictive. The manager has four, the owner has 2, and I'm considering one myself, can't speak for the other employees.

But yeah, they're fun