Kid is doing good, Jeff. He's just shy of 21 and into cars rather than guns, but he's been making his own living for three years doing things mechanical. I credit that to him growing up in and around a gunsmith shop and growing up using tools and solving problems. Skills transfer and you teach kids they can fix any damned thing they want to at an early age or they never learn it.
He's on his way to Alaska. There's a job waiting for him paying twice what he was making here and the chance to go to the U of A part time. He's not taking any guns until he gets settled in, but he told me I could start looking for parts for a heavy rifle for him after he gets through his first Alaska winter and if he decides to stay more than a year. I'm thinking .35 Whelen, but the .338 Mag is a possibility.
Kid learned a lot being around guns and shooting, reloading and bullet casting. He learned stuff that will serve him well even if he never fires another shot in his life. Patience, care, attention to detail, thinking things through, reaching for a manual when you need one, doing stuff right the first time.
I ain't saying guns are the only way to teach this, but it's A way. IMHO, kids who grow up around parents with a serious interest generally turn out OK, and kids who grow up around couch potatoes generally don't.
