Teaching kids long range

[Esam85]

I recently introduced my son into a little more distance. We have really concentrated on 50 yards and in until this week. We have ready access to 300 yards within 15 min of home but have property that reaches to 1000 a few hours away.

Anybody have any tips or maybe reticle training information to help explain some more about ballistics to the kiddo?

Rifle he is shooting is a
Radian receiver set
Criterion .223 18” barrel
Lantac EBCG with headspaced bolt
Surefire RC2
Triggertech diamond trigger
Steiner T6 2.5-15 scr

 

[diverdon]

If it's fun for your kid then you're doing it right. If it starts looking like work to him break out a .22 and do some plinking.

 

[DFOOSKING]

Get him started in NRL22 or PRS22 or the like....

Tons of skill building to be done playing that game that translates directly over to centerfire.

 

[Esam85]

If it's fun for your kid then you're doing it right. If it starts looking like work to him break out a .22 and do some plinking.

His biggest complaint that day was his 2.5” groups at 100.

 

[Maurygold]

print off a page-size reticle and laminate it so you can point and explain things clearly. He would probably have way more luck shooting off a bipod and bag other than shooting off a tripod since it is much harder to shoot from that platform.

 

[RS14]

If it's fun for your kid then you're doing it right. If it starts looking like work to him break out a .22 and do some plinking.

Get him started in NRL22 or PRS22 or the like....

Tons of skill building to be done playing that game that translates directly over to centerfire.

print off a page-size reticle and laminate it so you can point and explain things clearly. He would probably have way more luck shooting off a bipod and bag other than shooting off a tripod since it is much harder to shoot from that platform.

All very good points here. I got my son into shooting very young and started precision rifle/long range around 11. Making him understand the simple side of dope and the reticle really helped. And I always had a picture of the reticle to show and explain.

We started NRL22 soon as he had the basics of long range down. He already had some fundamentals just from shooting.

But the key is him having fun.

Now at 13 he completely does all his own reloading, match prep and stage prep with zero help(sometimes a friendly reminder to do it). But he is completely self sufficient. Making my life easier during the match. And he does a damn good job. This was from our match last month.

 

[strikeeagle1]

Anybody have any tips or maybe reticle training information to help explain some more about ballistics to the kiddo?

I like to use a mocked up target with reticle markings at the firing position to discuss POI v. where they were holding the sight picture when they broke the shot. Dry fire practicing 5-10X at the target prior to live fire to watch for trigger jerks etc. Start in close 25 yards then advance to 50 etc as they demonstrate proficiency.

 

[DFOOSKING]

print off a page-size reticle and laminate it so you can point and explain things clearly. He would probably have way more luck shooting off a bipod and bag other than shooting off a tripod since it is much harder to shoot from that platform.

Or better yet...print them on transparencies. Then you can move the reticle on a drawn target sheet of your choosing.

 

[strikeeagle1]

Late thought. For most youngsters spool up their skill set on rim fires out to 100 yds. Avoiding center-fire ammunition recoil to almost eliminate one variable (flinch, percussion) while focusing on the remaining fundamentals of the art.

 

[Shivy85]

How old were your kids when you introduced them?

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

Get him the Applied ballistics library. Make them part of his required summer reading. Quiz him and make him earn range trips and trigger pulls, while understanding whats actually happening and why.

 

[NewsShooter]

I started my nephews out with ruger 22's I built from parts. We only shot at 25/50 yards once. It was too easy for them. After that it was onto the steel range shooting from 50 to 225. Prone mostly, they had mil hash scopes they could dial. They really liked shooting the chickens in the head at 225. Then I made up games, multiple targets at different distances, just like a PRS match. They were 9 and 11 at the time.

 

[TimK]

Get him a buttstock with an adjustable cheek riser and fit the rifle to him. Kids have tiny heads and typically need a tall cheekpiece to get a cheek weld. If his head is wobbling all over and his parallax isn't perfect, he's going to suffer.

I started both my kids on suppressed .22's as another poster mentioned. Basically zero recoil and noise lets the little ones concentrate on sight picture and trigger press. Highly recommended. I made up several dozen steel targets out of 1/4" mild steel in appropriate sizes for .22's out to about 300. Much more fun to have something move and make a noise when you hit it. My son was into dinosaurs for years, so I asked Austin at AA Targets to cut me out some Dino targets. They turned out great, and even more fun to shoot.

Back to fitting the rifle to the kid, it takes me 30-45 minutes to get a rifle set up correctly for a new kid (or one that's grown since the last time they shot!). Be picky about getting the length of pull, cheekpiece height, and distance from the scope to the eye correct so they can just flop down behind it and have edge to edge clarity both horizontally and vertically. If you've ever shot someone else's gun and struggled to get comfy on it, you'll know how a kid feels on an adult sized rifle. If you see lots of head movement when he's trying to look through the glass, you'll know you have a problem.

 

[Yondering]

If it's fun for your kid then you're doing it right. If it starts looking like work to him break out a .22 and do some plinking.

This. Keep it fun. Use steel or other reactive targets instead of paper, for example. My kids loved the feedback of steel ringing at 600 yards, especially the girls who'd never shot centerfire before that.

Also, IMO - with longer distances start him/her off with the rifle set up. Just let them shoot and make hits at distance; they can learn how to find and dial dope later, but letting them see they can actually make hits a long ways off changes it from "boring math" to "wow that's cool".

My older son started shooting centerfire rifles at 11, and shot his first deer that year (with a 9" 300 Blackout AR, because that's what fit him). By 13, he was able to make very consistent hits at 1,000-1,300 yards, including holding into the wind, even though he hadn't learned yet how to set up the rifle to dial it in for that distance. Letting him just learn the shooting skill first got and held his interest. After that he started wanting to learn about the ballistics and dope, etc.

 

[chevy_man]

First thing I'd do is get him a good back bag and bipod.

Don't go to the tripod until the fully supported is solid.

Practice, practice, practice. Buy .22 match ammo by the case. Still my kids favorite.