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A young man who works with my wife just quit his job because he's getting ready to join the Marines. He's been working out, running and so on so he'll do a little better in basic.

Talking with him, it came up that he had never handled a firearm, so I volunteered (when the weather permits) to have him come as a guest to the gun club, where he can shoot a little. He says he wants to be an armorer and work on guns, so I thought we could tear down my Mosin Nagant and M1A back at the shop after shooting them.

I guess my Marlin model 60 .22 rifle, the Mosin and the M1A would be best to let him shoot. I have plenty of ammo for those. Now for the first time, I regret selling my AR15, as that would be closer to what he'll be seeing in training, I would suppose.

I'm not certain about the Mosin-Nagant as it kicks quite a bit more than the M1A. - They won't have him shooting anything that kicks in basic, so there's probably no point in subjecting him to that. - Maybe I'll just talk about the gun's history and let him tear it down instead of shooting the old war horse.

He seems to be excited about going shooting, but we have to wait for better weather. Right now the high is in the low 30's and its supposed to get down to 16 tonight. Carlos doesn't like the cold weather much as he hails from Puerto Rico. A couple of months ago I kind of steered him away from gang membership, and I think that might have had something to do with his decision to join the Marines.

Anyway he's a nice young man who is going to be out there protecting my freedom so I thought I ought to do what I can to help him get a leg up for that.

While I'm at the gun club, I can look around for an empty 12 gauge shotgun shell hull that I can punch the primer out of, and use as a cleaning rod guide for the M1A. - The plastic part slips right over the muzzle brake, the cleaning rod goes through the primer pocket. ( After drilling it out a little )

How did the range trip work out?

Good deal Charles. Getting someone basic knowledge and having fun is almost more fun than alone "zen" time to yourself at the range. ... it'll help the boy at basic to have some familiarity with boomsticks

The weather has moderated, hoping to get together in the next few days.

I decided I wanted high brass for my M1A 'shotgun shell' bore guide, so I'll bring my Mossberg 500 along for its yearly function test and cleaning.

I have an Astra A-100 in 40 caliber that also gets fired and cleaned once a year. Might as well bring that along too.

Having the range to myself is easy. - I just show up in the early afternoon, in the middle of the week.

Charles - Kudos for taking the initiative and giving your time, tools and expertise to that young man.

I have a similar experience. My son-in-law and I hosted a young man who was about to enter the Army... summer of 2012. He too never shot a firearm of any type. We sponsored a 2 hour session at our favorite range... shooting a Stag Arms AR-15, a Savage .308 bolt rifle and a SIG 1911. He was a track athlete during his freshman year ay Elon College but enlisted to eventually get help with the balance of his university expenses. His natural physical abilities and great vision made the range time a quick study. Net: He qualified for Marksman in basic training.

Since then we hosted a second young man with aspirations to become a Navy Seal.

These are rare and rewarding opportunities for both the giver and the receiver.
Coach

Good work, Coach.

I trust you survived the snow and traffic jams.