Manly Things

I spent a week away from home and away from my family. Once I got back to the Yacht Club I decided I needed to do something with my sons.

You know, bonding type things.

So I asked if they were interested in doing Manly Things with their dad.

We had already gone to worship on Sunday, which was our first Manly Thing. Real men worship Jesus Christ, real men love Jesus, and I want to make sure my kids know that.

With our weekly manly thing complete, we set off to do a new Manly Thing. I loaded a couple (ok, four) of my favorite .22LR guns into the van and we went to the range. Well, the gravel pit actually. We ventilated pieces of paper. We riddled cardboard boxes and old soup cans with holes. We went shooting.

Once at the gravel pit I showed my boys the proper way to hold a firearm. I showed them the basics of gun safety: Treat EVERY gun as if it were loaded. Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Be sure of your target and beyond.

Then we took turns shooting. We started off with a single shot Ruger revolver. Of course, I got to shoot the first cylinder worth, and then each of the boys got to fire of two or three cylinders. We then switched to the Ruger 2245, a semi auto. They really liked shooting the 2245 more than the Single Six. I did too. I also shot a cylinder through my Hi-Standard double action revolver, just because I hadn't done that in awhile. I had forgotten how much I love that gun. It's my first handgun. We never got around to shooting my Brazilian knock-off Nylon 66. Maybe next time.

We were shooting Remington Thunderbolt .22LR rounds, and they were terrible. Duds just about every time we loaded. Not a real big issue with the revolver, but a serious pain in the a$$ in the auto-loader. Thank goodness there was a fork in the van to pry the dead rounds out of the chamber.

I think all of the boys need some help lining up the sights and target, but they were able to hit our target nonetheless. Of course we were only shooting from about 15 feet.

But this wasn't about hitting the target. This was about spending some quality time with dad. We did that.

Once we got home we took the time to make sure the guns got cleaned, oiled, and put away. I explained that some of these guns could not be replaced and that is why we take care of them. None of the guns have intrinsic value, but they have sentimental value. The Single Six was given to me by my father-in-law. As mentioned the Hi-Standard was my first handgun. Sure, I could probably find each of those guns somewhere, but they wouldn't be the same and wouldn't have the same value.

I guess it's just about stewardship. Taking care of that which God has given us.

Guns.

And kids.