I'd love to hear people's tales of first times, and how you learned to shoot!
I think my first and best teacher was the grizzled old marine Sargeant that ran the range when I went to Boy Scout camp at lake Arrowhead. The only merit badges I ever got were safety ( required before you could get any others) and "Rifle and Shotgun". So, this Rangemaster taught us safety in the manner you'd expect from a boot camp drill sargeant, which I think we all duly took on board. Some general words on sight picture and breathing, and trigger control, and then we set to with bolt action single shot .22lr rifles with irons. Probably 50' out to the targets. I spent every day for as long as the range was open shooting. I think on the third day, I put four shots in the same hole, and the 5th just touching, and he told me I wasn't allowed to spend any more money on ammo; I was now a coach. Then the Girl Scout troop came over to shoot, and I didn't really mind so much not being allowed to shoot any more.
I think my first and best teacher was the grizzled old marine Sargeant that ran the range when I went to Boy Scout camp at lake Arrowhead. The only merit badges I ever got were safety ( required before you could get any others) and "Rifle and Shotgun". So, this Rangemaster taught us safety in the manner you'd expect from a boot camp drill sargeant, which I think we all duly took on board. Some general words on sight picture and breathing, and trigger control, and then we set to with bolt action single shot .22lr rifles with irons. Probably 50' out to the targets. I spent every day for as long as the range was open shooting. I think on the third day, I put four shots in the same hole, and the 5th just touching, and he told me I wasn't allowed to spend any more money on ammo; I was now a coach. Then the Girl Scout troop came over to shoot, and I didn't really mind so much not being allowed to shoot any more.