Introducing my daughter to shooting for the first time!

[Schwing]

I was blessed with 3 little girls. I've never regretted having girls but have not had much luck getting interest mustered where shooting is concerned. I have a 15 year old, a nine year old and a 5 year old. The oldest has been a couple of times but doesn't have any interest. The 5 year old has been out in the woods with me a couple of times and is dying to turn 6 so that she can join me at the range. It is the 9 year old who is finally going and I am ecstatic! She asked if we could "Go to the range tonight?" The answer is obvious.

She is very timid and is frightened half to death but I am starting her out with single round loaded magazines in a Walther p22 and with my Neos. Ear plugs as well as electronic hearing protection I am hoping will help prevent shell shock. It is an out door range with plenty of space between lanes.

Any advice any of you might have to help ease her into it would be great. I know this is short notice but I don't want to try and do this at a later date as I think she might change her mind.

 

[allaroundhunter]

Exactly what you are planning sounds good. Start out with the targets fairly close so that she can build some confidence and only move them further back if she wants you to.

Eventually (and if your range allows it) she will like some reactive targets. Water bottles work great, but many ranges don't allow them due to people leaving them all over.

 

[doc2rn]

I like shoot and see for kids as well, just not the ones with the furry lil creatures on them. Maybe some used boy toys like GI Joe from garage sales will also get her interested.

 

[tyeo098]

The little 8oz water bottles hit with a 22 hp put on a spectacular show.

If its a outdoor range try biodegradable targets. A box of keebler club crackers should be perfect for taping to a target and disintegrate when you get them!

As stated, start close. Let her judge the distance she wants to shoot at.

3 girls. Blessed. Heh. (My grandfather raised 3 girls, no boys. He said it was 'interesting')

 

[Sam1911]

Best way? Put your arms around her and your hands over hers. Provide comfort and guidance at the same time as physical control of the weapon. As her comfort develops you can ease back on how much physical contact you maintain.

Let her shoot as much as she wants, and not one shot more. You control the safety, she controls the extent of her exposure/experience.

Before you know it, she'll be graduating to bigger and better things! (Note, even after her having several year's shooting experience here, I'm still maintaining very close control over the weapon.)



There's just something about S&W 629s that tickle 7-year-old girls!

Now she's 11 and is practicing to shoot IDPA competition next year when she's old enough to be an official "Junior."

 

[Schwing]

Awesome!

 

[Al Thompson]

One thing I constantly see is new instructors taking the fun out of shooting by being too grim and stern. Big targets, fun targets and a positive attitude helps, IMHO.

 

[hso]

Make sure you're using a spoggle with straps instead of safety glasses so you get the best seal on the electronic muffs. The gap from most safety glasses causes about a doubling of the sound getting through compared to the flat band of a strap or flat ear pieces.

http://www.safetyglassesusa.com/gg-45ws3-af.html

 

[Akita1]

Excellent post Schwing. I started with a kid's bow, then airsoft, then .22. Now she wants the .223. The targets were always colored water balloons, etc. Ironically, my little girl is a much better shot than my little boy because after all those trips to the woods I told her she wasn't "big enough" to handle weapons and a challenge was all I needed for my strong-headed kinder…now she wants to stick a pig. But no bunnies or does or course…and then there are the cats - UGH save me.

 

[Akita1]

Make sure you're using a spoggle with straps instead of safety glasses so you get the best seal on the electronic muffs. The gap from most safety glasses causes about a doubling of the sound getting through compared to the flat band of a strap or flat ear pieces.

http://www.safetyglassesusa.com/gg-45ws3-af.html

Great tip - we use those too

 

[Akita1]

Amen Al. Mine are 8 and 9 and soft/colorful things are still the focus, even if it's a target. Not exactly sure when that changes (if ever).

 

[hso]

Paper cups can be used to make ice targets that you don't have to worry about picking up. Get larger cups for larger targets and use smaller cups for more challenge. Work your way to ice cubes eventually. Helps keep the drinking water cold as well.

 

[allaroundhunter]

Paper cups can be used to make ice targets that you don't have to worry about picking up. Get larger cups for larger targets and use smaller cups for more challenge. Work your way to ice cubes eventually. Helps keep the drinking water cold as well.

You can also add food coloring to the water prior to freezing it. Colored ice cubes have worked for me.

 

[SconnieGirl]

Make it fun!

When I was introduced to shooting, the guy who took me made it fun. Targets that react from a distance I couldn't miss...much.

Steel was fun. As were water jugs and ice blocks.

The supported control was good even for me in my late teens and gave me a feel for what to expect without a huge surprise.

 

[danez71]

A lot of good advice so far. I'll just highlight a couple I feel are worth repeating.


Sam1911 said:

Let her shoot as much as she wants, and not one shot more. You control the safety, she controls the extent of her exposure/experience.

Excellent advice. I'll expand a little bit on the words to use. Don't ever say "Now shoot this... now do that...." ect ect.

Instead, word it as "Do you want to try shooting this.... do you want to do this now... " Let her pace it. Let her make the decisions (aside from safety issues of course)

Make it fun!

When I was introduced to shooting, the guy who took me made it fun. Targets that react from a distance I couldn't miss...much.

Steel was fun. As were water jugs and ice blocks.

The supported control was good even for me in my late teens and gave me a feel for what to expect without a huge surprise.

We have a new member providing good input!!

Be careful of shooting steel at close range .... but SconnieGirl had validated some of the other advice and actually explained why in her last sentence.

Welcome aboard SconnieGirl.

 

[Schwing]

Thanks guys! It was a great night at the range. She had a blast, wasn't scared, and even managed a couple of bulls-eyes. those goggles are a great idea. I am going to find some this weekend.

One thing I really didn't anticipate is the weight of the guns. Even with the neos, it was a little big for her to handle (she is a petite little lady). She did quite well with the walther. She was tending to let the barrel dip towards the table with the heavier gun. Next time I am thinking about maybe trying my mossberg 46b bolt action .22 with a rest.

thanks again guys! This, to me, is what the whole hobby is all about.

 

[bannockburn]

The weight of the gun should also be a consoderation when starting your kids out with shooting. I used my lightest .22 auto and it worked out fine. Eventually I let my daughter pick out her own .22 and she chose a Bertta Neos. Of all the guns we tried she liked that one the best for the overall feel and balance in her hands. Since we do mostly indoor shooting I like to use the Shoot-N-C targets.

 

[hso]

My daughter's pistol is a Ruger 22/45 Lightweight and she's 14 now. If a young person has to struggle to hold a firearm up they're going to have less enjoyment. Good of you to recognize that.

 

[Sam1911]

My kids love the Ruger Bearcat .22 SA revolver. Very light, very small-scale. It's a gun that is literally scaled down to youth sized, as very few handguns are.

For rifles, I like the Savage Cub (not made any more, but their Rascal replacement should be nice), or the Henry Micro-bolts. (Don't care at all for the Cricket rifles.)

A cool first center-fire is an M1 Carbine. Probably not for a small 9 year old, but in a couple of years she should be strong enough to support it.

 

[cfullgraf]

My kids love the Ruger Bearcat .22 SA revolver. Very light, very small-scale. It's a gun that is literally scaled down to youth sized, as very few handguns are.

I'll second the Ruger Bearcat.

When my daughters were growing up and wanted to learn to shoot, I learned about the Bearcat. But, the Bearcat was out of production for a time during that period of time. I could not find a used one so we had to make do.

As an aside, while both my daughters are not avid shooters, they do know there way around a firearm. Also, they both can drive, and have, a standard transmission car (aka straight drive). Both skills have helped me in reducing the worry of "all the boys in town".

 

[bandur60]

With younger or beginning shooters I REALLY try to start them out with a single-shot .22 rifle, even if only for a few shots. Lots easier to encourage/practice muzzle control... then if they are willing, a 77/22 and/or Henry lever. If they want to skip that, well OK. Had a lady a few weeks back that had bought a PT22 because she liked the way it felt at the gun counter, she insisted THIS is the (only) gun she wants to shoot so, so be it. After 20-30 shots I offered a 1911 with the Kimber .22 conversion and I think I could have sold it to her for a heck of a profit after only a few shots! Recoil and noise down, accuracy up, wa-a-a-ay better trigger. She's the classic only-shot-once-in-her-life, husband gave her his 44 mag without any description or warning, almost-ate-the-hammer result. This woman is 65+ yrs old.

Didn't mean to derail, but that case is fresh in my mind. She was actually almost afraid of her gun to begin with, we probably spent a couple of hours after which she is a lot more comfortable handling it, still very safety conscious to the extent of putting the safety on between shots from the magazine. I encouraged her to shoot 2 or 3 rapid but she wasn't ready for that yet.

Love the pics of the li'l gal with the 629!!! My kids liked (and were surprised by) the 1911 shooting .45's. Viva new shooters!!!

 

[Fred in Wisc]

Balloons are great new shooter targets too. Very obvious when you hit, and you can make them smaller as they get more accurate. Plus you can fit 100 reactive targets in your pocket and they are pretty easy to clean up afterwards.

Congratulations on your new shooting enthusiast.