Great Kids
Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 12:56 am
Today was a GREAT day.
About a week ago, I bought a Cricket .22 for my daughter's 42nd birthday.
She is disabled. She is a dwarf (3' 6" tall), has other muscle and bone/joint issues since birth. It's extremely hard for her to shoot any "normal" gun, but she is stuborn and independent (as much as possible). The old .22 I was/am building for her is in a friend's shop to have the barrel re-taped after I cut it to legal minimum. (he has a bigger lathe). So I bought a Cricket. The barrel is already 16 in. (legal), and I cut the stock off so OAL is 26 1/4 in to stay legal. THis gives her a length pf pull of 7 1/2 inches which is just barely short enough. Total weight when done is 2.00 lbs, so she can hold it up. She can't grip the bolt knob well enough to cock the gun. Back to the bench, and made a new bolt knob from a 1/4 in bolt. machined (slowly with a file and drill press) the front of the bolt for the firing pin return spring, drilled it for the cross pin to hold it in place, and bent it at a 90 degree angle for form handle for the left of the gun about 1 1/2 inches long with a knob on the end. (she can't use her right fingers individually enough to grasp well.) Anyway, it sort of looks like an extra bolt knob on left side. It works for her. (ugly but it works.) our to the range, set her upwith a low table and stool, put a rest under the forend at at 10 yds, she promptly shot a 1.5 inch 5 shot group, the a 1/4 inc. group. she said she hadn't been able to shoot at all since my divorce in 1980. She was all smiles, and giggles. We now live only j40 miles apart, so se a lot more of each other than earlier.
The icing on the cake was watching the face of my 6 year old grandson with his 1st and new Red jRyder shooting at a coffee can. Man What agreat day.
About a week ago, I bought a Cricket .22 for my daughter's 42nd birthday.
She is disabled. She is a dwarf (3' 6" tall), has other muscle and bone/joint issues since birth. It's extremely hard for her to shoot any "normal" gun, but she is stuborn and independent (as much as possible). The old .22 I was/am building for her is in a friend's shop to have the barrel re-taped after I cut it to legal minimum. (he has a bigger lathe). So I bought a Cricket. The barrel is already 16 in. (legal), and I cut the stock off so OAL is 26 1/4 in to stay legal. THis gives her a length pf pull of 7 1/2 inches which is just barely short enough. Total weight when done is 2.00 lbs, so she can hold it up. She can't grip the bolt knob well enough to cock the gun. Back to the bench, and made a new bolt knob from a 1/4 in bolt. machined (slowly with a file and drill press) the front of the bolt for the firing pin return spring, drilled it for the cross pin to hold it in place, and bent it at a 90 degree angle for form handle for the left of the gun about 1 1/2 inches long with a knob on the end. (she can't use her right fingers individually enough to grasp well.) Anyway, it sort of looks like an extra bolt knob on left side. It works for her. (ugly but it works.) our to the range, set her upwith a low table and stool, put a rest under the forend at at 10 yds, she promptly shot a 1.5 inch 5 shot group, the a 1/4 inc. group. she said she hadn't been able to shoot at all since my divorce in 1980. She was all smiles, and giggles. We now live only j40 miles apart, so se a lot more of each other than earlier.
The icing on the cake was watching the face of my 6 year old grandson with his 1st and new Red jRyder shooting at a coffee can. Man What agreat day.
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