Wives shooting??

[kevinpagano]

How many of you have your wives shooting with you. Mine shot her second fun match and hit a 9/40. This is the first shooting game she has ever tried with me and is actually showing some interest. She really likes the no recoil and low noise factor.

Kevin

[nomad]

Do NOT fall into this trap!
(I speak from experience!)
THINK about it:
2 of EVERYTHING! (2 of each gun, a scope and mount for each, 2 vests, double amount of ammunition, etc, etc)
2 entry fees at each match!
On top of that, she WILL outshoot you! Very quickly! (Which is not only hard on your masculine ego, it's downright DANGEROUS!)
ALL your 'fellow' shooters will soon be saying things like: "Where's Buffy?" (Muffy, Bambi, Sandy, Whatever) "We like shooting with her MUCH more than we like shooting with you!"
You stand on the brink of a very slippery slope...

[papabear]

I am guilty as charged.

I bought a 1712 for my wife so she can shoot, because duckgumbo convinced her to shoot.
In the back of my head I was thinking she will not shoot for long and then I will have a 1712.


WRONG , she still shoots and is getting better. I keep her working so she does not have enough time to practice and outshoot me. Hope she does not wise up to this ploy soon.

[chardonnay]

Wives... Kids are just as bad. Currently trying to get the money together to get my son his own outfit. While I am dreading the cost factor of entry fees and ammo I am really looking forward to having something so much fun I, mom, can share with my son. Since my video and computer game skills stink maybe I can keep the upper hand in this game for a little while. Tried to get my dad into it but he mumbled something about I beat him at 3/4 position when I was in high school that was enough. Still trying though.

[TXCharlie]

Yeah, but the separation/new living quarters has been a big drag on my financial standing also. A few extra bullets and rifles are cheap.
My ex did not like guns, much less shooting, so what did I do.....kept shooting. Now I have more time to shoot.
C-Ya,
C

[Gator]

Kevin

That

[kevinpagano]

Well, we just got back from a practice session with my 2 boys and my wife. I done alot of mag reloading and watching. From the looks of things tonight she is nipping at my heals already. In her words "That was fun" This is the first time my wife has been trying to improve anything when it comes to guns. My 9 year old hit his first chicken tonight also(well a little swinger the size of a chicken at 40 meters). The one thing good about all of this is she wont shoot on Sundays being religious and all so I will still get my own glory from time to time.

Kevin

[atomicbrh]

Kevinp said: "The one good thing about all of this is she wont shoot on Sundays being religious and all so I will......" Kevin, now you have touched on what is a big stumbling block for my family. We belong to the Presbyterian Church of America and we enjoy attending church as often as possible, usually three times per week. My son also enjoys running the sound system at church. We believe that we should obey the fourth commandment which is "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy...". My 14 year-old son sometimes wants to forget the fourth commandment and its "lets shoot , Dad. Do we have to go to church?". So, because my son does very well in SBRS, I compromise. A few months before the season starts, we plan a certain number of Sundays that we are going to miss church and shoot the bigger 3 day matchs. We do not go over that limit. On the first Sunday of the month we travel the hour and 45 minutes to Winnsboro, attend Church there in the AM and shoot the Winnsboro Monthly in the afternnoon after Church. The Johnson Family is thoughtful and puts the match on in the afternoon so that competitiors can attend church. I spent many years racing gokarts all over the country(resulting in a World Karting Association National Championship in 1994) and not spending time with my wife and kids and not going to church. These years that I wasted is something that I really regret. God has really blessed me and my family and our participation in SBRS so we do want to ever forget that. The people at our church have supported and helped my son's competition shooting in ways that you just cannot imagine. Learn from my mistakes. Here's some advice: Go to church with your wife and family. Your shooting will be more successful. Your family will get along with each other better. Life will be much better than you can ever imagine.

Sorry to ramble on everyone but I made a lot of selfish, stupid mistakes for the first 40 years of my life.

Bobby R. Huddleston

[kevinpagano]

Bobby, I do attend church 3 out of 4 Sundays. My wife will not shoot any competitions at least most of them because she does not believe that keeps with her beliefs. She does not usually have a problem with me missing from time to time. Family activities are very important that is why I started shooting this sport as opposed to others is so she will participate on some level. One of the problems that I have here is that there are no matches except on Sunday mornings. I understand that this is when they get their highest participation and that many people are doing other things on Saturday. We started fun matches at our local club and I hope they turn into sanctioned matches. We do these on Saturdays and are getting 6 to 8 competitors so far. When ever you participate in competitive venues it is a juggling game between your hobby and quality family time, work etc.

Kevin

[Guest]

Kevin, it sounds like you have a very good wife and family and they have a very good husband and father. The kart racing was a very bad hobby for me even though I spent 15 years competing in it. It was very expensive and demanded tremendous amounts of time away from home and family to succeed. It was also loud, dirty and dangerous. A kart in the 1980's and 90's costing around $2K plus could turn into junk in a few seconds when someone wrecked me. Sometimes you raced into the wee hours of the morning at the lighted tracks. My youngest child at age 7 or 8 wanted to have an adventure hobby because he was growing up around old retired Special Forces guys that I work with and he was interested in guns and Military equipment. I knew racing anything was out. I had to find some hobby that appeared exciting but was really safe and would teach him worthwhile skills. I thoroughly researched the shooting sports unlike racing which I just jumped into without any research. We looked into IPSC, across the course highpower, etc. These were all too expensive, too loud, too much reloading and too much for a little kid to handle. We found out that some Service rifle barrels only last 4,000 rounds. Then we found Smallbore Rifle Silhouette. Some more research about cost and equipment life revealed shooters with over 250,000 rounds down Factory Anschutz barrels without any effect on group size. My son liked the fact that he was not allowed to wear one of those heavy, hot restrictive coats in silhouette. We liked the fact that performance and match outcome are not related unlike the ball sports. You shoot your best and the other competitors shoot their best. You cannot control what others shoot. We knew that Smallbore Silhouette was for us. I went to a few matchs at Woolmarket, MS. to watch and verify this was what we wanted to do. We liked the people that participated in Silhouette and they helped us learn what to do right from the beginning. I bought a synthetic stock Savage bolt action used and a cheap BSA scope with Target Turrets for less than $120 and my son started shooting at age 9. This was the heaviest rifle that he could shoot standing. My son was a great athlete at this age. Able to run 7 miles in less than an hour cross country. He also still played competitive baseball, basketball and tennis. At age 10, the start of our second silhouette season, I purchased a CZ 452 American Classic and a better scope because he was stronger. He shot this combination until age 13. At age 11, he decided that silhouette was so much fun that he quit basketball and baseball. It was interfering with Silhouette practice and match attendance. I was also tired of the bad behavior and late nights at the ball games. In 2005 at age 13, he was able to handle the 1712 and Weaver scope combination. Also, we won more stuff at the first Winnsboro Southern Nationals Match we attended than I won in all the 15 years that I kart raced. The important things when starting little kids off is to get them a bolt action so they will not shoot too fast and make sure the rifle is light enough. Shooting a 40 shot match is like a marathon to a 9 year old. The rifle that seems too light for practice and the first few banks of animals will be just right by the time a small child is fatigued on the last few banks. Also, get them off the bench and standing as soon as possible. Funny thing about little kids is they will find the right position before you will: bone on bone, because they are flexible.



Another reason that we liked Rifle Silhouette is that the rules allow the parent to bring the child's rifle to the firing point. The child handles the rifle between the ready command and the cease fire command. Then the parent can touch the rifle again and put it on the rifle rack. This is a very positive rule for safety when little kids are beginning and a major reason I chose rifle silhouette. The parent can have absolute control of the rifle.

Also, I think all the driving to matchs and practice, camping out at matchs, shooting, spotting, dry firing, cross-training and equipment cleaning we have done together has really made us bond together in a way that no other sport would do. I just cannot list all the benefits we have received from Silhouette Shooting.

If anyone is contemplating starting a spouse, child or grandchild shooting silhouette, do not hesitate. The benefits greatly outweigh any costs or sacrifices.

Bobby R. Huddleston

[kevinpagano]

Bobby, I have experienced some of what you have said. I have raced motocross, shot trap, idpa, ipsc and now smallbore. I have not felt completely comfortable with letting my kids due to age experience, safety issues etc, try these other sports. I knew when I started looking this year I wanted a sport that the whole family could enjoy if not compete at least be able to come to the range with me for practice sessions and enjoy shooting. That is the way I grew up and I think way to many young kids and wives spend too much time in front of a mechanical box of some sort. I am amazed that the turnout for the Silhoutte matches is as low as it is. We have become a lazy nation and lazy parents. I started my 9 year old out on a CZ scout and my 11 year old out on a CZ American. I also bought an American for myself then I found a great deal on a 1712 and gave my wife the American. My wife came to me for the first time ever and asked when we are going shooting again. Now that is progress.

Kevin

[177fan]

He loves it. He uses about 1.5 times the ammo I do. He out shoots me; beat me Sat @ PSC.

I thought 22lr ammo was pretty cheap until he started. Now it's about 3/4 brick everytime we load up the car. Fed 711B ain't so cheap! I need dirt cheap ammo with match grade accuracy (or at least for him as I an't so good). Pretty tall order.

I whine but I love having him along. He picks up on the 'lingo' of shooting and loves to rib me when his Turkey score is higher (which is often). On the way home he's in charge of picking the burger or Mexican food stop.

He's got a 9 year old bro who does not seem to have the drive when it comes to shooting. I'll not push him and see if he comes around. If he does then it will be a brick per outing!

Pete A.

[papabear]

There must be a reason why we have this on the Home Page of this forum

steelchickens.com - the new home of your weekends for the forseeable future, more fun than Disney Land, and certainly just as expensive.

But think about all the quality time you are spending with your family. A brick of 711B is cheaper than movie tickets popcorn and drinks. Downside is that most movie theaters have AC.

Also the more time you spend on the range, the better he gets, and the lesser the chance of you getting yourself into mischief .

See you on the range......