Is it time? Sons first target practice

[Bill97]

Hello The High Road Forum,

I just want to start off by saying it's great to be here and I am really looking forward to speaking with you all and finding out some honest answers.

As you can see from the title I am needing a little advice on my son and target practice, he's not the target... Just recently he has been coming over to me with more and more interest in firearms and how they work in general. The other day he came over to me as I was cleaning my pistol and asked if he could "have a go", I had to say no. In all honesty, I really wanted to give him the pistol and let him try it out with the right safety equipment goggles, earmuffs etc, and my help, but I wasn't so sure.

I understand that you guys might roast me here and find what I have just said completely inappropriate but I have to try and find out instead of just jumping in. What age would you guys say it would be ok to teach your little one how to shoot? or what age did you guys start at? I was pretty old when I first shot a firearm soIi can't really comment. Also what kind of firearm would you start them off with? I was thinking, a Cheap Pistol would be a good start?

Really looking forward to getting some answers and seeing where I am stood in this situation!

Thanks everyone

 

[Mn Fats]

Cool pic! I don't believe you'll be roasted here. These guys are great. If you use the search part of the forum, you'll find topics on this. That said, my son quickly outgrew his Daisy and was 6 years old when he first shot his .22 lr rifle. He is smart, supervised, and a fast learner. Handguns I will wait till around the 9 or 10 year mark. Just my opinion on this. Keep up the good work! One thing I found out on the kid was paper punching became frustrating fast but reactive targets (pop cans) became addictive for him.

 

[ontarget]

You will get many different opinions on this subject. In my opinion it is very dependent on the individual child. Some are ready sooner than others. I started my kids and they started their kids by age 3. That was with a crickett .22 and sitting down at our home range. Yes the tiny crickett rifles were too big for them but it gave them exposure to firearms. These youngsters knows the safety rules by heart and know that they are NOT allowed to touch the guns without adult supervision. My 2 grandkids, boy and girl, are both 5 years old now and I would not hesitate to take them out shooting and I do as often as I can.

 

[stringnut]

Depends on the child. Not only is their maturity a concern ,but, also their level of interest. I started at 5 with a bb gun. My brother , dad and uncle Dale all started at about the same age. By seven was using a 22. All of this was under close supervision of course. We are a big time hunting family and we're farmers just a generation ago. As such firearms were for fun and tools.

Unfortunately we have no kids. However, my friend has 3 boys that we hunt with and he allows me to use as cheap labor. The 2 older boys both started about 7. That is when they started showing a lot of interest and the ability to be responsible and take direction.
The youngest shot a bit starting at the same age, but, had no real interest. Once in awhile he would shoot ,but, had other things he wanted to do. We made sure he had basic gun safety skills and left it at that. Once in a while he would sit with one of us in a deer blind ,but, it was a sometime thing. Never put any pressure on him to do more. Last fall at age 12,he became suddenly enthusiastic. He started shooting shotgun. He tried my pcp air rifle and liked so much he bought his own. Last week he hunted for the first time and got a pheasant. He is hooked now.

Only you can decide if it is the right time. At first keep lessons short. TMI is as bad as not enough. Focus on safety and fun. Shooting well comes later as interest grows. I even start adults with huge targets. Something reactive like a balloon is lots of fun. Done right you get a lifelong shooting buddy. Do like my cousin did and he pushed his daughter right out of it.

 

[hq]

What age would you guys say it would be ok to teach your little one how to shoot? or what age did you guys start at?

Congratulations, you've just taken the first step towards the generations eventually changing hands.

I think I was about five when I started and my kids have been between four and six when I've taken them to the range. IMO it's all a matter of maturity; as soon as the child has a basic understanding of actions and consequences and that some rules (mainly the four of shooting) are never, ever under any circumstances to be broken, he/she is ready. Common sense goes a long way assessing this.

 

[bannockburn]

Bill97

All of my kids expressed an interest in guns early on. Started them out with the Four Safety Rules before they even looked at any gun. A BB gun was first followed by a .22 semi-auto pistol. I know conventional wisdom usually says go with a single shot .22 rifle but my kids liked the size and weight of a .22 pistol over that of a rifle. Once they mastered the basics with the .22 it was fairly soon (somewhere around 10 or 12 years old), where they were shooting a centerfire pistol (9mm.), and doing well with that. After that I let them pick out their first guns, letting them decide what worked best for them, not what I thought they should get. Having their own guns and taking care of them I think is still a big deal for kids in terms of being responsible gun owners when they get older and passing that along to their kids.

 

[badkarmamib]

My oldest started shooting a Crickett .22 when he was 5. Was quickly adept at hitting 12ga hulls at 20 yards. My middle is now 6, has tried brother's .22 a couple of times, but I am still getting him to learn sight picture with an old pump-up air rifle in the back yard. My youngest, at 4, is tiny, to small to hold even a youth .22 rifle or pistol up (but she's is itchin' to!), so she will have to wait, or use a bench rest for complete support. All of this to say, it depends on the child, and you, as the parent, are in the best position to determine that.

If the child is mature enough to understand the responsibility, has the attention span to listen to you and the rules, and is physically capable of manipulating the firearm, I say go for it. If not, start with the 4 rules. Since 3, all of my kids have seen firearms. If they EVER want to handle one, all they have ever had to do is ask. Firearms have never been a secret to hunt for in my house, we observe safe, open handling. I clear it, have them double check it while it is in my hands (I have purposely left a mag in before to test them), THEN they get to see it. They have impressed gun shop workers before by citing the 4 rules when they want to see what I am looking at

 

[fpgt72]

Personally I do not think age has much to do with it....it is maturity level....I know some kids at 4 that can do it....I know some at 64 that should not be on the same planet with a firearm.

My kid started shooting at about 7.....was into it pretty heavy till he got to high school and his brain fell out of his head.....or I guess I should say he started thinking with the little head and not the big one....he is 20 now and still knows everything, but for some reason I do seem to be getting smarter with each passing day....odd how that works.

 

[DAP90]

I started my son out last year when he was 8 on my 10/22 with an appropriately sized stock. He’s been shooting that for a year. We started together at home going over safety and shooting mechanics before we actually went out shooting.

I’d bought him a pellet gun for his 7th birthday, but he actually had more interest in archery, so I took it back and got him a nice recurve instead. We shot bows in our backyard for a year before he wanted to try out firearms.

It’s been all .22 rifles and iron sights so far. He’s asked about handguns but when he handles them at home they’re still too big and heavy for him, so he hasn’t shot any yet.

 

[J-Bar]

Physical strength is a factor, in addition to mental maturity and responsibility which have been discussed. We do a child no favor by handing them a rifle or handgun that their small hands and arms cannot hold and manipulate safely. Make sure the child can control the muzzle direction at all times before that first range trip.

 

[DeepSouth]

It varies a lot from kid to kid, my oldest son (now 18) likely can't remember the first time he shot a "real" gun. He would have been very young, by the time he was 10-11ish I was confrontable letting him hunt on his on, on our land of course.

My youngest (14) well, I wouldn't let him shoot unsupervised (by me!) today.

No matter the age training is the first step, while I felt comfortable instructing my kids, I understand everyone doesn't. And theirs certainly nothing to be lost in a basic safety course.

And as stated earlier, the right equipment is also needed. Nearly everyone starts their kids out with a .22 for good reason.

 

[jr_watkins]

In my opinion, younger than 10 is too young. And at 10, I would stick with 22 LR or smaller. Why develop bad habits, jerk and flinch, from the start? Once the child has demonstrated competence with 22 LR, and physical strength and size is there, move up to higher calibers. It isn't a race and it does kids good to have to wait for things.
I have daughters and started them all at age 12 on Ruger 10/22's. One had no real interest and just went through the motions for my benefit I think. The other two had both interest and aptitude, embarrassing many a young man over the years who thought they had to be better than a girl at shooting!!

 

[Berger.Fan222]

When dad thinks a son is ready. He is ready.

 

[Milt1]

Bill, if that picture is of you and your son that's the best thing you can do. What a great forging bond between son and father!

 

[entropy]

It varies a lot from kid to kid, my oldest son (now 18) likely can't remember the first time he shot a "real" gun. He would have been very young, by the time he was 10-11ish I was confrontable letting him hunt on his on, on our land of course.

My youngest (14) well, I wouldn't let him shoot unsupervised (by me!) today.

No matter the age training is the first step, while I felt comfortable instructing my kids, I understand everyone doesn't. And theirs certainly nothing to be lost in a basic safety course.

And as stated earlier, the right equipment is also needed. Nearly everyone starts their kids out with a .22 for good reason.

Sounds like my boys. The older one (23 now) started shooting .22 at 5, shot his first 'game' (a woodchuck) at 7, with a .410, and was shooting a Mosin at 9, 12 ga. at 10, He lives to hunt and shoot. (And fish) The younger one (18), while not unsafe, (I was their 4-H Shooting sports leader) I keep him close by when hunting, had to stop him from trying to shoot a flying turkey with a scoped slug gun on a deer hunt once...

 

[Shaq]

When my nephew was 12, he wanted to shoot. I started him with a 38 Special revolver, which I think is safer for a beginner than an auto. It has nothing to do with how smart a kid is; it's just a wiser choice for a beginner. When he wanted to try an auto, I had him do several dry fires to get used to the lighter trigger & loaded one round in my Glock a few times so I could determine his level of recoil sensitivity & trigger finger discipline & a mistake wouldn't be costly.

 

[danez71]

I don't want to just echo what has already been said so I'll add some different but related stuff.

After about 3 or 4, nothing is out of reach for them. NOTHING. Store your guns accordingly.

Since he's showing interest, it's your duty as a parent to teach him what ever he is capable of learning. Take the taboo out of it. His life depends on it. (Swimming, too)

Get an old bed sheet, get down to his level (literallly), sit down on the floor and start cleaning the guns with him. He'll learn the tone of behavior, respect, 4 rules, the intricacies etc of guns and you'll be able to evaluate all that in a safe atmosphere. And it's good bonding time in general.

An airsoft gun might be a good purchase... or a BB gun depending on where you live.So what if in a month it sits in a closet when you can get something cheap for $35. You can teach a lot of important stuff with it. Heck, a $5 rubber dart gun can accomplish the same.

 

[old lady new shooter]

I was very impressed by something Jeff posted once, that at the beginning of teaching each kid to shoot he shot a cinderblock with a .22, to impress on them the destructive ability of even a single shot, i.e. while shooting is fun it's also very serious.

 

[hdwhit]

How old?

How mature?

What are you trying to teach him?

My grandfather (lead marksmanship instructor at the U.S. Army Infantry School from 1941 to 1944) taught me how to shoot. He believed in starting those unfamilar with guns out on rifles before moving on to handguns. He also belived in giving the student one cartridge at a time until they had learned the fundamentals and then working them up to strings of 3 and, later, 5 rounds.

 

[hso]

My daughter got her AR at 8 and I taught my grandson to shoot with it at 6. I've taught other children to shoot .22 single shot rifles at 6-8 depending upon the maturity of the child.

The key is whether the child is able to safely handle the firearm and if they're mature enough to follow the safety rules (my daughter got a quarter for every one she could quote or demonstrate).

 

[CoRoMo]

What age would you guys say it would be ok to teach your little one how to shoot? or what age did you guys start at?

I can't remember my first trigger pull, but it was as far back as memories go. I remember shooting sparrows with a BB gun when I was 4-ish years old.

My kids all began wanting to shoot a gun around age 3. Although I was eager for them to get involved, I didn't push them into it. They naturally just wanted to do what Daddy was doing. So once they began asking if they could shoot too, I taught them safety first. They had to remember the rules and wear their eye and ear pro. If they were not willing to wear their eye and ear pro or if they didn't follow the safety rules, they weren't allowed to shoot. Once they showed the maturity to obey my rules, they got a BB gun at their next birthday, which was at age 5 for each. Now that they've earned their freedom in this regard, they can grab their BB gun and eye wear and trot around the farm shooting responsibly.

 

[Bill97]

Loads of really good replies here! Just what I was looking for! I love the fact that everyone on here is taking safety into consideration and you all have the same kind of opinion, which tells me I'm speaking to the pros!
I like the comment, getting my son into a rifle first and starting him off with 1 shot, this sounds like a brilliant idea and makes sense when you think about it. I am going to sit down with my boy and see what he really want's to do after this i will start planning a day out down the local firing range and get him going, Saying that can you take children to local firing ranges?

Thanks again guys!! loads of help

 

[BrocLuno]

I think I recall being around all the uncles and Pop when they were shooting at the ranch and I was 7. They grew up on a fruit farm (Pear, Prunes, Apples) and it was one of there youthful jobs to keep the birds out of the fruit. Old pump 22 with shorts. So of course, by the time I came along, they were all shooters. As a small boy I got to watch, not touch.

I think I was 8 or 9 when I got my BB gun. And I had to demonstrate good safe handling for a year before I could "graduate" to one of their 22's under supervision. That went on a long time. Pop had a single shot Winchester bolt that I could "borrow" to go squirrel hunting in the woods (we lived in the country), but none of my own until I was a teenager. I think I had a drivers license before I had my own rifle ...

That system seemed to work fine. I had uncles and cousins that would lend me an old 30-30 or a 410 to hunt with if I wanted. I had to give it back better than they handed it to me. So I learned to field strip and clean, oil and polish a stock long before I had my mitts on one of my own.

Did not start playing with pistols until I was old enough to vote ...

 

[straightshooterjake]

There is some great advice in this thread. I want to emphasize two points that have already been mentioned because I think they are especially important.

• Start him off with only one cartridge at a time. Single shot firearms are really the best for beginners, but you can make any repeater into a single shot by only loading one cartridge. Then based on his progress, you can decide when he is ready for multiple cartridges. That might happen on the first day, or it might not happen for a while.
• Emphasize "ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot." This is a critical safety rule and it is important to practice it from the beginning. With beginners, I start by teaching them how to pick up a firearm without touching the trigger, and I start saying "finger off the trigger until the sights are on target" at the very beginning. No one gets yelled at over this, they just get reminded and reinforced until it becomes ingrained. With adults, it takes quite a while before knowing the rule translates to instinctively doing it. With children it will take patience and vigilance.

I have written a substantial article about bringing new shooters to the range. This article is about helping adults get started, but most of it also applies to working with children. The article is on my blog here:

Bringing New Shooters to the Range

 

[bersaguy]

I was about 11 when I found where my dad hid his guns. Luckily, I knew better than to touch them, but did ask my dad about them. Looking back on it now, I'm sure that scared the snot out of my dad, and I'm sure he got a talking to from my mother. A few weeks after that I was in a hunters safty course. A few weeks later I was on the range with my dad learning safety and how to fire my grandfather's old 22. My mother not being a fan of handguns never allowed them in the house when i was young, so the first time I handled one I was well into my 20's. The fundamentals and respect my father taught me concerning firearms carried through. My personal belief is to do as my father did, as soon as a youngster shows curiosity and interest in firearms, that was the time to start showing them how to use them safely and with respect. I feel that demystifies firearms and instills good habits around guns.