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Took my stepson out to the gun club today and learned something.

I recently put a new scope on my .308 and sighted it in. While there Joshua was shooting his Marlin .22mag bolt action. At 50 yds. he has a group you could cover with a silver dollar, at 100 he has a very similar group including hitting a quarter sized target with one shot.

Nobody was there so I decided to go up to the 300 yard box, 300 shoots over the 100-200 yard pits so if you want to shoot there you have to be the only one there.

He asked if he could bring his .22mag, and being a sport I said sure.

I told him how to aim high since we didn't want to mess with the crosshairs, and spotted for him with my spotting scope.

Took about 20 rounds for him to figure out the ballistics and how to read the wind but next thing I know he's on the paper! Managed to get five rounds on the paper all without messing with the scope.

I told him that we'll go out earlier one day and work through 100-200 then 300 to see how well he does with the scope actually sighted properly for the range.

Not bad for a $179.99 rifle and a $40 Tasco 3-9X scope huh?

Good work!!! The wind on my 50 & 100 yd targets with my 22s is a real factor that has to be learned. You guys playing at 200 & 300 did really well considering that you had to deal with elevation and windage, and lots of it.

A good way to get familiar with your weapon is to experiment. When out hunting you don't always have the time advantage to adjust for distance. Being able to understand the ballistics of the caliber will determine if you have a successful shot when "holding over" or using Kentucky windage. Your stepson has a talent for shooting that you should continue to encourage.

R,
Bullseye

The kid's a good shot. It's funny, his sister is a far better shot with a pistol, she can put ten rounds on a half dollar at 15 yards with iron sights with my Mark III, but really isn't too good with a rifle. Joshua can't hit the broadside of a barn with a pistol but is a tack driver with a rifle.

Everytime going to the range comes up their eyes light up, so I indulge it often as possible.

I'm hoping that available ammo improves next year cause I'd love to get them involved in a local kids league for their respective disciplines.