I did quite a bit of Daisy Ryder BB shooting as a kid. Got a Marlin bolt action .22 rifle at around age 10, but almost no ammo. Lived at the edge of town, so I could walk to rabbit shooting.
U S Army, 82nd Airborne, really enjoyed jumping. One spring they took all us corporals from the third batalion and told us we would be .45 pistol instructors for a while. Fine, but . . . what's a .45?
Mornings were classwork, wander around the room and kick the chair legs of college ROTC students who were falling asleep. After lunch we all trucked to the pistol range. Each corporal had about five or six students. They knew less than I did. I was big enough and strong enough to control the .45, and there was no rapid fire allowed. After they each got to shoot a few rounds, and few of them could hit the six foot square target at maybe 30 feet, we'd pick up brass after they left. Then all ammo had to be shot, none was to be taken back.
After a few days of shooting a lot after class, I got where I could put five slowly into a couple of inches. Really enjoyed it. From then on, I'd shoot five slowly to start my students. I proved the .45 could shoot straight, challenged them to do as well. Not one ever came close. The Army's system of teaching was pitiful. If we had .22s first, showed them how easy it was at that huge target so close, then maybe a few could transition.
Never happened in my time. Too bad.
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