Today I introduced my 14-year-old grandson to true break barrel pellet sports using a Hatsan Striker Edge Alpha youth rifle. Up to now he's been shooting low cost, low power BB chuckers and I realized that he's not a little boy anymore. Still, he's a small guy, smallest in his class, so putting one of my break barrels in his hands was just going to frustrate him with the gun's weight, length of pull, and cocking effort. The Striker Edge Alpha solved these problems since it is sized for smaller shooters and has a mid-teens cocking effort that suited him to the nines. His eyes lit up like Christmas when he realized that the rifle in the Mossy Oak case I pulled out of the car wasn't his BB rifle but now held something very different. I must admit, sitting on my in-law's deck while he experienced his first shooting session with a break barrel sized just for him was a deeply fulfilling experience for me. Everything, from demonstrating how to break the barrel and load the pellet to discussing the various parts of the "grown-up gun" and why they are the way they are, made this an outing to remember. Simple things like explaining how to position the front sight post in the sight picture and reviewing the auto-safety feature of the gun to give him confidence in handling it... suddenly more than four decades fell away and I was a scout at the single summer camp I ever attended, being shown how to handle a rifle for the first time. I hope to be an effective mentor and eventual shooting buddy with this youngster. I know of no better method to encourage mental discipline and the development of confidence and curiosity in a boy than to put a capable rifle in his hands, explain the safety features of the gun and the site chosen for shooting, and then gradually build up his physical strength, mental toughness, and spiritual acuity through shared experiences on the range, in the woods, and at the workbench. Shaping lives is an awesome responsibility - I am so honored to have the chance with this youngster, and I am so very glad he finds as much enjoyment in punching paper and popping cans as I do.