Topic: Carbine shoot with kids

[Desertland]

OK so I've been taking my son out shooting off and on since he was 4 years old. He is now but weeks away from being a teenager and he joins me and a select few others to go out past Kuna to shoot carbines. We have set up a few make shift run and gun events and done lots of drills. Speed has not been the subject of these sessions , just being smooth and in control of the weapon.

Any other folks out there with Jr carbine commando's? I'm not talking shooting at a single target while standing by the tailgate. I mean the kind of stuff you see in a VTAC or MAGPUL video..

[luvmy45]

Yup, it's called 3 gun on our world.   

As long as he's safe and has good gun handling skills you should bring him out to a 3 gun event. The New Year's Day MGM 3 gun is a great place to try it out. Shotgun, rifle and pistol.

You could also do the steel challenge, with a .22 carbine rifle, 10/22 or so. It's a lot of fun, Timed targets in different sequence, very popular and good for kids of all ages. I take my 11 and 16 out in the summers along with my wife and shoot them. Rumor has it we may do a few winter ones as well in Nampa.

And last but not least, in the summers, after some of the matches we will do a rifle match with the AR type guns.

Lot's of opportunities, and if you son is really into shooting he should check out the MGM Junior Shooters camp that is an AWESOME experience. http://www.juniorshootercamp.org/  The camp is right here in Idaho, and you won't find a better opporutnity this close to home for your junior.

[avking]

There are a lot of local juniors shooting in 3 gun matches. You might try taking your junior to a match. He would probably love it. I am mentoring a jr for pistol shooting right now and plan on getting him into a 3 gun before the end of next year.

[Desertland]

Hi Guys,
           I was not asking so much about 3 gun matches. Was more interested to see if there were any folks who took matters into there own hands. Hit the desert on the weekends with some thing more than a few guns and targets.

I built two of the VTAC style 9 hole barricades and have 5 target stands for paper and three for steel.
Anyhow the hope / interest was finding a few others who had some interesting training tools. A group of two or three different folks could put some thing together that would be more interesting than just what you can do on your own.

I had made some other barricades from pallets to restrict shooting positions. They worked great and three of us had fun that day but set up was a pain. Made the mistake of leaving them behind. Next week we were out again but already one barricade was Swiss cheese.

[luvmy45]

That's what I'm sayin... it's the power in numbers kind of thing.

All the barricades, shooting positions, multiple targets, etc... we set those up all the time, just about every weekend for club shoots. 3 gun, USPSA, IDPA, Steel fun matches, etc... they are competitions, but are a local level have fun, learn your equipment, practice with what you bring type of shoot. We have the VTAC barricades, more target stands that you can dream of, steel targets of all varietys, clay pigeon throwers, we even shoot from moving vehicles at times. :-) We use rifles, pistols and shotguns. Sometimes all three, sometimes pistol only, sometimes rifle, sometimes a combination of it all.

When you have 10 or more guys setting up steel, targets, barricades, with a trailer and designated pits it's a lot easier than dragging it all out yourself. 

For me, if I am home, I go out to a local match on the weekend and shoot, take my kid if I can get him out of bed, and have fun. We also do long range shoots, and stupid long range shoots, (that's 1000yd and less vs 1 mile)

If you haven't tried some of the local club shoots in Parma, Nampa, and Emmett, you should come out and give it a go. I think you will find, that what you are doing on your own, is what we do as a bigger group, and have a lot of fun hanging around each other at the same time, and bring your boy he's welcome too.

Shooting every weekend when I can, and doing so at the local club level is great practice, and you get to shoot with some of the top shooters and instructors in the valley... for almost nothing, spend 3-4 hours on the range with a great shooters and you learn a lot watching them and seeing how they do it.

Nothing wrong with doing it yourself, but I think you might find the local matches a great way to build your skill set, your boys skill set, and hang around with some great guys that are like minded. 

[Desertland]

OK, that sounds a little different. At least it sounds "flexible" and not a cast in stone competitive event.
Nice to hear I'm not the only one doing shooting from a mobile platform.

[luvmy45]

Impromptu shoots can be fun, so I don't mean to put down your carbine shoot, I just usually go to the gun range, Parma in my case, take the family, load up with targets and have a blast... literally.

The competitions and shoots that we talk about in the Sports section are really like a bowling league, just no long term commitments and we don't drink while we shoot.

Safety is our number one priority and we have rules that will make all of us better shooters by following them, but we also have a lot of fun at our informal shooting matches. You can't just shoot whenever you want, but that is more than made up by seeing how other people shoot the course of fire, then figure out if you can do the same thing.

If you haven't tried one come on out, I think you will find that it is fun, challenging, and while not training in the strict sense, does build your gun handling and shooting skills and confidence. Check out a few of the events coming up in December and if you want to come and see what it's about your more than welcome to come and watch as well.

See you at the Range!

[Desertland]

Thanks for the invites. Sadly if it means going to Parma then we will have to miss out.
Not sure what the location is in Nampa but if it is the range with high gravel berms dividing the lanes even that spot reduces the odds of going out very often.

[mikedamerell]

This may not be your type of thing, but have you thought of the young marines?

http://idtvym.com/default.aspx

I do not have any kids in it or interested in it BUT, a very close friend has his kids in it and they love it.  He loves it because he gets to play also.  Tons of training and shooting ect.  It is however not everyone's cup o joe.  Just a thought.

[Desertland]

Hi Folks,
           Maybe I should rephrase things a bit. Not looking to change my ways and join some one else's organization. Going shooting is not an every weekend event, it is seldom a full day event.. maybe I should say it is never a full day event. Anyhow we have fun and do new things on our own. So I guess the idea was to see if anyone else out there kinda "did there own thing" on a similar level. You know, more than just show up and shoot at a target like I see when I'm out.

  If there was, the thought was once in awhile our paths might merge out there and some thing even more grand could be set up.

Not putting down the folks who go to the range.. not putting down the folks who shoot from the tailgate at a single target either. Just thought there might be others doing some thing similar even if they can not take a full day to do it.

[luvmy45]

Most of the shooting events are half day at the range, they are not full day events, unless you do a "big match" With the amount of organized shooting that the clubs do around here, the weekend that you have some free time you can usually find an event going on to try out. From $5 to $20 depending on the event, it's cheap and easy.

Going out when you have the time is great as well, I was just hoping to make you aware of some organized shooting events that are available. It seems that outside our little group of shooters, most people aren't aware or think that the club events take some special skill to do, which isn't the case at all.

I do run out to the desert every now and then usually just to test fire a few rounds or blow up a pumpkin with my kids.

Most important thing is be go out and SHOOT and if you can involve the kids or the wife, it's even better!!!!

Happy Shooting and Hope to see you at the range sometime!

[Nealio]

Hi Folks,
           Maybe I should rephrase things a bit. Not looking to change my ways and join some one else's organization. Going shooting is not an every weekend event, it is seldom a full day event.. maybe I should say it is never a full day event. Anyhow we have fun and do new things on our own. So I guess the idea was to see if anyone else out there kinda "did there own thing" on a similar level. You know, more than just show up and shoot at a target like I see when I'm out.

Yeah on occasion I go out to Ten Mile Creek or south of Kuna and set up my steel, paper, and cardboard targets.  I run and gun the close stuff, flop down and shoot some 200+ yard steel, run some MGM steel knockovers with my shotgun. Sometimes I shoot off/over the truck.  Its all fun.  I need to bust out my 9mm carbine more though.

[Desertland]

Hi Nealio,
            Ten mile creek?  Not sure of that location.  When we go it is out past the power lines down Swan Falls road. Planning on going this Sunday.

[Jaggy13]

I used to go out past the powerlines all the time, I would go WAY out though.
My problem there was even if I was there alone, someone would always show up and ruin it for me. (Poor etiquette, not observant of others, you know, they typical clown shoes maneuver.)
Ten mile creek is great for a test fire or short trip but even more clutter with douchers.

I got to the point where you are at, and was spending more time setting up than actual shooting. not to mention still having to tear down.

We would set up some pistol courses and do some drills and a little medium to long range rifle. (Not long range like you do...)

I got to the point that I was hitting the wall with what I could pack and setup and made the decision to start shooting competition. My goal was to take my shooting to the "next level". I had no idea what I was getting my self into.

I still go out and do drills, either with Nealio or by myself. Since starting to shoot practical pistol and 3 gun I have  a list of things I feel need work and just head out to focus on pieces of the entire puzzle.

If you do ever feel like shooting with us at a comp, its a ton of fun everyone is out there for their own reasons. The new years day match is a great example, what else are you gonna do on January first? Better than nursing a hangover!

[Desertland]

I used to go out past the powerlines all the time, I would go WAY out though.
My problem there was even if I was there alone, someone would always show up and ruin it for me. (Poor etiquette, not observant of others, you know, they typical clown shoes maneuver.)
Ten mile creek is great for a test fire or short trip but even more clutter with douchers.

I got to the point where you are at, and was spending more time setting up than actual shooting. not to mention still having to tear down.

Well that is interesting. I have not had a negative experience with clods showing up. Pretty much I would get a wave as they moved on down the line to find there own spot and that was about it. In general there was always a 200 to 300 yard gap between groups.  matter of fact one time I kinda felt like I was traffic control, everyone would stop by, asked who else was out and let me know were they went as well as what direction they were shooting. I'm pretty sure the M 134 mounted in the back of my truck had nothing to do with how people treated me that day.

I'd like to know where 10 mile creek is just to look it over. If it is closer it could do for those occasional tests that don't warrant a long trip or spending half the day.

Only real work out I had for a set up was the one time I used pallets for the barricades. Anyhow that is in the past. What I haul out is not bad to deal with and I have help. I don't do tactical carbine practice on my own.