Standing under the hot sun Saturday, 8-year-old Chawndra Craig thumbed a bullet into a .22 caliber rifle.

Craig sighted carefully down the barrel and fired, absorbing the recoil.

”It’s kind of like catching a grasshopper,” she said, ”being really steady and getting really ready.”

She and her 11-year-old brother, Cole, have been coming to the Central Oregon Sport Shooting Association’s 600-acre shooting range for roughly one year. The association held its first-ever open house Saturday to allow Central Oregon residents to learn more about the array of shooting disciplines available at the range.

”We’ve been (building) here for 10 years, and we still get people who say, ‘I didn’t know there was a range out there,’” association president Bill Fockler said. ”We felt this was a good time to maybe get a little more exposure.”

The site contains more than a dozen ranges set up for different firearms, including handguns, rifles and shotguns.

Chawndra and Cole Craig, who live in Tumalo, were practicing on the youth range, which is reserved for children ages 5 through 12.

Chawndra said she likes the youth range because the instructors – who work one-on-one with students – are helpful.

”I like it a lot,” she said, ”because they’re nice; they cheer you on,” she said.

She said shooting is one of her favorite activities, even though she’s not as good at it as she would like to be.

Cole said their whole family hunts, and he fired his first .22 when he was 3.

”It’s fun. It’s something to do and you win stuff,” he said, referring to the medals awarded when shooters reach certain levels of expertise. ”I’ll shoot anything I can get my hands on.”

At another area at the range, the Lady Hawkes helped women learn how to handle a firearm.

The Lady Hawkes is a women’s group affiliated with the Central Oregon Shooting Sports Association that focuses on handgun use.

”If you want to learn to use and carry a handgun for self-defense, this is the place to do it,” member Milly Whatley said.

Whatley said, however, that she and several other members only shoot for recreation.

”It’s a type of activity that you can always improve at,” she said. ”We’re not competitive. The instructors are really good and really help with your skills.”

Another section of the range is dedicated to ”cowboy action shooting,” the style used by the Horse Ridge Pistoleros. The pistoleros are also affiliated with the Central Oregon Shooting Sports Association.

The pistoleros use guns that were in existence before 1899, particularly those in use in the Old West, according to member Bob Barker. Members choose an alias, dress up and assume a persona fitting the time period.

”We get to dress up like cowboys (and) we get to shoot real guns,” he said. ”As soon as it doesn’t become fun anymore, we (won’t) do it.”

He said the pistoleros is just another avenue, albeit a unique one, for participating in shooting sports.

”That’s what this whole open house is about – people who are interested in the shooting sports (can find out) what discipline they might be interested in,” he said.

”It’s all about safety and fun,” Barker said. ”And looking good.”