Unforgiven ,,,,,,,

Life waits on no one and growing old holds no mercy.

Last June my son decides to take a major step toward his future. He wants to fly someday. After a year of examining the civilian path in an aviation university & the military path, he chose the military path.

We meet with the big four & opportunities were explained by each. There will be some time before we officially proceed. Just enough time for Dad to teach Son how to shoot a rifle. Now, son shoots .22 target with a rifle and trap with a 12 ga. for several years now. But dad is going to teach son how to shoot America's rifle, the M-16. See, dad used to teach other men how to shoot this rifle when he was young; teaching son will be a pleasure & a breeze.

So dad runs down to his favorite gun store of 30 years, Lou's in Miami. Dad needs to get son an AR-15, the civilian version of the M-16.

Dad, " Can I please have an AR-15?"

Young, nice sales lady of 25 years old, "A what?"

Dad, "An AR-15, long black, tri-angular handguard, look like an M-16, 5.56 caliber,, looks similar to one of those (Dad points to tiny rifle on wall). "

Young Lady is bewildered.

I hear laughing coming from the desks to the left of me.

"John, we haven't sold an AR-15 like that in 30 years.", This from one of the old timers I know there.

Old Timer, " John nobody buys them. We could probably order you an H-Bar from Colt. People now purchase AR platform rifles such as these."

He points to a wall of rifles that look like they belonged in a Star Wars movie.

Old Timer, " John they buy mostly M-4 Carbines."

Well, I ponder the situation, hell they look similar to what I want, just smaller,,, they must work the same. :shrug:

Dad, " O.K. I'll take a Colt M-4.'

Out the door, happy as can be.

So dad sets up a training course for son. Six months of training(No Shooting), Monday thru Friday,, one hour a day on the history, mauntenance of the M-16 thru the M-4 of today. Some of the days were missed due to other family obligations, but the schedule endured. Son cannot fire the weapon, until all is known about the rifle first. Range day is upon us. Fun day !!!

3 hours of prep the night before the range, all equipment staged. Arrival at the range,, set-up complete, magazines loaded.

Dad to son,,, "It's a new rifle, I'll shoot it first, slap a mechanical zero on it, get it on paper at 50 yards,, after that we will step her out to 200 yards."

2 rounds down range,,, "How do they look son?"

Son with binoculars, " Dad you missed the target."

Dad, "Not possible,, look again !!"

Son, "Dad,, there are no holes in the target."

" Give me the da%n binoculars!!"

Sure enough, no holes 2 misses.

Long story short,, I thought there was glare on the front sight post, making it a blurr,,, no glare, I was under an overhang.
I'm blind, I can't see the front sight post clearly. I have great vision at a distance, but the front sight is as fuzzy as a giant Tribble.

Bad morning for dad, 120 rounds,,, about 11 hits in a 13 inch group at 50 yards.

Home we go,,,, next day I'm bit#hing at the archery club. One of the old guys laughs & tells me to try this out, a pair of shooting glasses he retrieves from the office. The glasses had a little rubber stick-on black circle. he said, "Look through the tiny hole first , then at your front sight post." I used my keys as a sight post & It worked !! The key became clear!!

I spent all day putting these together,,,, using black sequins ,,, holes punched of various sizes.

Back to the range the following week & all hits back in the black,,, Dad can shoot again !!!!

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,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c43ZwANJr8w

I feel your pain when it comes to open sights. I still use open sights with my black powder guns but with my AR-15 it's a Conquest 4 1/2 to 14 scope. My AR is a colt H Bar. with a 24 in barrel. Don't know how old it is but i looked at the M4 type and i need more weight to hold steady. It's a b--h getting old and worse not getting old.

I can't say anything that can and will be used against me because in Ca. the Colt AR15 Sporter 2 is banned. Especially if you own a pile of 30 rnd, clips and cases and cases of .223 :p . I can say I bought 1 when they first came out and used the heck out it. Never had a gun before that would allow me to hit with open sites what I could barely see at distance. And hold the butt against your nose and fire it. I love that thing. Now it's in a non communist state sitting in a safe waiting for me to pick it up on my way out of California.

John, when I was young, and used to shoot NRA competition bullseye matches, the old guys used to use the Merit optical attachment You can still get them. :gl:

For general use to eyeglasses (see options)

https://www.meritcorporation.com/products.html

For AR-15 (to the weapon)

https://www.meritcorporation.com/via.html

Jimmy, I saw these before I made the glasses. I searched the internet for the exact little stick-on that Bill at archery had. The company was out of business & later I came across Merit.

I have to keep the rifle as close to specs as possible, as the goal is not to make my son or myself a competitive shooter, but make any training he gets from Uncle Sam a little easier.

I borrowed an H-bar also, so he gets to shoot both each week.

One of the guys at archery, is a competitive shooter, he uses an AR platform & is older than me. He competes twice a month, shoot twice a week. He handed me a bag, quite large, of all the optics he has tried over the years. He had suggested a few days before I made the glasses, to go to Wal mart & buy the lowest prescription reading glasses & try them.

I read with cheap 2.75 maginfication,,, I picked up a 1.00 magnification glasses,,, held them up & they not only made the front post crisp,,, they actually slightly sharpened the target in the distance.

$5.95 gasses at Wal Mart solved the problem. I use both the peep glasses I made & the reading glasses.

A few days ago, life kicked me in the privates again,,, Alan the competetor told me that the chances that my son gets trained on fixed sights is slim to none, as most of the services, if not all, train in boot camp now with optics, such as systems like ACOG from Trijicon.

I know nothing about scopes, other than a little with a Leupold 3-9.

Then I looked at the cost of an ACOG & had to sit down before I passed out.

There are mathematics involved in today's shooting with optics,,, a subject that is my worst,,, I barely learned my multiplication tables & I have forgot most of them now.

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Originally Posted by Hirlau

A few days ago, life kicked me in the privates again,,, Alan the competetor told me that the chances that my son gets trained on fixed sights is slim to none, as most of the services, if not all, train in boot camp now with optics, such as systems like ACOG from Trijicon.

I know nothing about scopes, other than a little with a Leupold 3-9.

Then I looked at the cost of an ACOG & had to sit down before I passed out.

There are mathematics involved in today's shooting with optics,,, a subject that is my worst,,, I barely learned my multiplication tables & I have forgot most of them now.

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John, I think that if your son learns to watch the sights, trigger control, breathing, and snapping in to firing positions he'll pick up on whatever optics they are using when he gets to that bridge, and have a great advantage over not having any training at all. Just IMHO.

This is what I'm hoping for Jimmy,,,, I just wanted him to have a little edge on the kid next to him, so they will be screaming at someone else but him.

damn the young lad is to good to you
I would have cop crap of the boys for sure if I was proven to be blind LOL

I made this rest the week before the first day; I didn't want to pay for a plastic one & over $100.00 for steel. Don't laugh at the duck tape, :nono: because it was last minute. It hides some nice layers of colored foam,,, but the glue did not bond the foam well & I had to finish with the duck tape. The rest is solid though & adjusts nice. :shrug:

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I attached tractor tube rubber with 3M 5200 to keep it from sliding.

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Great post John, thanks for sharing. Getting old is full of unpleasant surprises.

Bob

John your actually doing it right, always teach them the basics, optics fail now your shooting iron sights. Them breaking those young men out on optics is just another tool. You still have to be able to shoot the weapon right. I wouldn't worry he will be miles ahead of the boys who didn't do this first. I was army in 71 so we learned only on iron sights,, later when optics came along and I used them, all it did was give me a better sight picture for my old eyes. It was still me at the trigger, good luck to you and your son. Tc

by the way,mid you've been there, you also know most of the military forces we fight, don't have the money for all the gadgets we have. I've picked up and used an Ak-47 a time or two, so knowing basic shooting can come in handy in these days too. Tc

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Originally Posted by Hirlau

I made this rest the week before the first day; I didn't want to pay for a plastic one & over $100.00 for steel. Don't laugh at the duck tape, :nono: because it was last minute. It hides some nice layers of colored foam,,, but the glue did not bond the foam well & I had to finish with the duck tape. The rest is solid though & adjusts nice. :shrug:

I attached tractor tube rubber with 3M 5200 to keep it from sliding.

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Now that is a great idea ! :bow

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Originally Posted by tcrideshd

John your actually doing it right, always teach them the basics, optics fail now your shooting iron sights. Them breaking those young men out on optics is just another tool. You still have to be able to shoot the weapon right. I wouldn't worry he will be miles ahead of the boys who didn't do this first. I was army in 71 so we learned only on iron sights,, later when optics came along and I used them, all it did was give me a better sight picture for my old eyes. It was still me at the trigger, good luck to you and your son. Tc

by the way,mid you've been there, you also know most of the military forces we fight, don't have the money for all the gadgets we have. I've picked up and used an Ak-47 a time or two, so knowing basic shooting can come in handy in these days too. Tc

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Thanks Tc,,,, I actually have had an AK for the last 18 years,,, a Bulgarian SLR-101, milled. He has some basic training on it already, but could use more.

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Originally Posted by Hirlau

This is what I'm hoping for Jimmy,,,, I just wanted him to have a little edge on the kid next to him, so they will be screaming at someone else but him.

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See there, that's the opposite of what I'd expect for any of my sons that decide to go into the military. I absolutely would want them to get yelled at—pushed around—anything at all that entails adversity if for any reason than that'd create a hurdle for them to get over. Basic training today is too easy—I do not want it to be even more easier for them.

I did my time on the trail. I've never hit my boys, but I sure have incorporated the corrective training methods I used as a Drill Sgt. into fixing their gaffes growing up.

Now, that's not saying they don't know how to shoot, they do—one of them competes on again, off again in match target rifle competitions, and the other likes to hunt big horn sheep.

I think what's important is that they're familiar with firearms more than it is they ought to have used ACOG's and red dot optics.

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Originally Posted by BloodOrange

See there, that's the opposite of what I'd expect for any of my sons that decide to go into the military. I absolutely would want them to get yelled at—pushed around—anything at all that entails adversity if for any reason than that'd create a hurdle for them to get over. Basic training today is too easy—I do not want it to be even more easier for them.

I did my time on the trail. I've never hit my boys, but I sure have incorporated the corrective training methods I used as a Drill Sgt. into fixing their gaffes growing up.

Now, that's not saying they don't know how to shoot, they do—one of them competes on again, off again in match target rifle competitions, and the other likes to hunt big horn sheep.

I think what's important is that they're familiar with firearms more than it is they ought to have used ACOG's and red dot optics.

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I understand this thought process & it has merit. I think that when the decision is made to take this path, you will want your son's to have an edge too. The boot camp training process is soundly designed to produce the product intended, you know that.

As a youngster growing up in rural West Virginia ( I am showing my age here) it was common to hunt before school and afterwards. I would carry my .22 to school and the teacher would stow it ,along with several others in a locker to be retrieved after school. I later joined our high school rifle team which competed state wide with other school teams. Upon joining the military I was amazed how few recruits were familiar with weapons and even more chagrined at the utter lack of respect shown for them. I commend your effort John, it will serve well both father and son in the future. When he is ready send him to school here. :gwh: https://www.facebook.com/WVURifle/

Thank you for the link Wirm.
We used to have "Show & Tell" at our high school in the mountains of North Carolina. We had to do it after school in the parking lot. They did not want them inside the school as it was a "distraction" from studies. The day we returned from Christmas was the best.

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Originally Posted by Hirlau

Alan the competetor told me that the chances that my son gets trained on fixed sights is slim to none, as most of the services, if not all, train in boot camp now with optics, such as systems like ACOG from Trijicon.

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John, he won't likely use the ACOG. He'll use a non-magnifying reflexive sight which minimizes parallax. I'm a prior Infantry helicopter pilot. My dad also taught me rifle marksmanship fundamentals before I entered the Army. I believe your efforts will pay off tremendously regardless of whether he goes into the military or becomes a pilot. The fundamentals will make him a far better marksman regardless of the optic used. It's like learning the fundamentals of hand planing before using a machine plane...or learning to shave with a straight razor before using a DE or Mack 3.

I sure hope so,,, thanks for the optics info. ,,,, tonight I will have to GOOGLE, " non-magnifying reflexive sight which minimizes parallax" :rofl2: