We had a fun shooting weekend. One of the county 4H Blackpowder instructors invited us over for a picnic (and to help halter-break a 900 pound steer) Way off topic...
We were rewarded with shooting blackpowder. His 10 YO son did most of the teaching. As a recall the song goes, "powder, patch, ball..." We had a great time and a new addiction was born!
Again it was my daughter that stole the show. While we were shooting and reloading the rifle, Mike brought out the .45 BP revolver and showed her how to load it. We each got a chance at throwing the six chunks of lead out and she would reload. Finally I asked her if she would like to try shooting. I had guessed that the smoke, noise, recoil would scare her away. I was wrong, she got a huge smile and jumped up to shoot.
Now I have to admit I was 10 when I first shot a Ruger Blackhawk with .38 specials, but this is my daughter! Yeah, I'm a little protective. I kept seeing that chunk of iron coming back and smacking her in that beautiful little forehead. So I went through everything I could think of for safety (yeah, she was tired of hearing it by the time I was done) I finally shut-up and decided to reach around her and with my right hand under the grip to hold some of the weight and my left hand over her double grip. We (she) prepared to fire...
She said 'a little higher, a little higher, to the left' and BOOM. She put the first shot 2" to the right of bullseye at 25'
The gun came back down to ready. I did the daddy happy dance, and told her how great she was. She gave me the look, and I realized that I was holding up her getting to the next shot. The second shot I only put my right hand under the grip to help hold up the gun. She did the next four on her own.
Her birthday is in two weeks. Is a 45 BP revolver a good gift for your 10 year old daughter?