A few years ago for our anniversary Mother Superior asked for a pistola.  She had two reasons for wanting one.  The first was she felt she needed to become versed in the art of shooting mofos who might be a threat to her, or hers.  Second, she was sorry that our children had been raised without any exposure  to responsible gun awareness.   Instead, they were treated to the standard gun nut attitude we have come to expect from our public schools.  She thought that perhaps her involvement might serve as a bridge into the shooting sports for them, and to an extent it worked.  She got a S&W Model 41, joined a shooting club, took instruction, and learned to shoot.  Three of our four kids took time to learn fundamental gun safety rules, and fire at the range.  Two of them participated in Bullseye competition.

One problem she has is finding the time to run off to the range.  I bought a cheap pellet gun from Wal-mart, and we began plinking at home, just to keep in practice, but there was little resemblance to the cordite experience.  We ended up just shooting squirrels that ate our bird's food.

This year one of my gun guys got involved with sanctioned NRA air pistol shooting.  This is a real serious sport where many shooters compete using Hammerli air pistols costing $1300 and up.  Anyway, he came up with a deal on a Russian made Baikal IZH46M pistol, at about a 40% discount for club members.  I figgered that was 'zactly what MS needed, and probably wanted.  D:

I will set up a 10 meter range in the basement where we can both keep in practice.  Additionally, I think we can get back to involving the kids when they come over (target shooting is great fun).  The Baikal is no toy.  It fires a .177 pellet at a velocity of 470 fps.  The target above shows the first five shots fired from the  new pistol,  no sight adjustment ... nothing, from about 33'.  With Christmas coming, air pistols are a nice, inexpensive gateway into target shooting.  There is no license required either.