My 5 y/o son's first 10 rounds

[Armymutt]

We decided to buy our son a .22 for his 6th birthday coming this July. A buddy asked if he could bring his boys over to shoot this weekend. Not wanting mine to feel left out, we gave him his present early. Up to this point, he's only shot a Nerf gun. We rested the stock on a sandbag and got him as stable as we could - he's too short to sit properly at the bench. Need to get him out there more, but he did manage to get all 10 rounds on the paper at 25 meters.

 

[bannockburn]

Armymutt

Great start and all on paper too! Started my kids out on BB guns and then on to .22s. Usually they go with a rifle but I have a daughter who went straight to a .22 pistol as she didn't care for holding a rifle!

Kids...go figure!

 

[Dunross]

Well done!

Some coaching on trigger control and breathing discipline and he'll be fine.

 

[czhen]

Congrats take him regularly, and built memories for ever.

 

[Starter52]

Shoot-N-C targets are great for beginners of all ages.

 

[BullRunBear]

That's very impressive and will be a wonderful memory for the two of you.

Jeff

 

[stillquietvoice]

Sounds like a great afternoon.

 

[Armymutt]

He managed to shoot about 30 rounds before deciding he'd had enough. That's a pretty good amount of concentration time for him. He will play with Legos for hours, but not so much with anything else. His main complaint was that the range was too far from the house. He wants me to build one closer. I planned on putting in a pistol range about 50 yards away, so he might get his wish one of these days.

 

[George P]

Good job! I also started my kids at 6 with a Marlin single shot, the 15YN, aka Lil Buckaroo..................boy did they have fun!

 

[Barny]

That is fancy shooting for most folks, let alone a five year. Awesome

 

[troy fairweather]

Keep that target, will be a great momento when he is older.

 

[BullRunBear]

This reminded me. When my best friend's boys were about that age we took them to the range. They used the same gun my friend had used to start, a little pump gallery gun for 22 shorts his grandfather had bought around 1900. They still needed a front rest but learned safety and sight picture discipline. Also, standing on a chair, they 'helped' us load our muzzleloaders. We had to support the rifles front and back but they loved those very reduced loads and the smoke.

About thirty years later they still mention those first sessions. I suspect those memories are more precious to their dad and me.

Jeff

 

[Picher]

You didn't mention what rifle you bought him. When I bought a couple of rifles for the grandkids, I drilled 1/2" holes into the butts for dowels, then cut about 3" off each of them to better fit the kids and installed temporary butt pads on the cut-off stocks. Now that the kids are grown, the doweled ends were replaced and screwed-in. If they have kids eventually, the pieces can be easily removed.

 

[Armymutt]

You didn't mention what rifle you bought him. When I bought a couple of rifles for the grandkids, I drilled 1/2" holes into the butts for dowels, then cut about 3" off each of them to better fit the kids and installed temporary butt pads on the cut-off stocks. Now that the kids are grown, the doweled ends were replaced and screwed-in. If they have kids eventually, the pieces can be easily removed.

It's a Savage Rascal. Had to special order it from Academy - he wanted a blue stock.

 

[Picher]

Two grandkids with me at the club range. The closest one has just spent 6 years in the Army as a Sniper.

 

[sparkyv]

Wat to go, Dad!

 

[Picher]

It's a Savage Rascal. Had to special order it from Academy - he wanted a blue stock.

If it's a plastic stock, you may have to forget trying to cut it to make it shorter, unless you won't want to extend it later.

 

[Ks5shooter]

Get those kids to the range,way to go!!!

 

[nhcruffler]

One of the many joys of being a father is teaching your children to shoot. Lessons and memories that will last a life time!

 

[Picher]

My kids and grandkids can all shoot well. One of my daughters recently qualified in first place at the concealed weapons shooting test in Massachusetts. Her son is the one I spoke about in another post that is about to finish his Army enlistment as a Sniper, and going to Harvard in the fall. My wife won a turkey shoot the only time she ever shot my rifle...one shot, a perfect pinwheel at 100 yards, which won a bet I had with other shooters that I could teach her how to shoot my .22-250 and she'd clean their clocks. It was a hollow victory, since nobody showed up the next week and we never held another match. It didn't help that the other wives asked if she could show their husbands how to shoot straighter.

 

[J-Bar]

Terrific beginning!

May I suggest shortening the range to 5 to 8 yards? He will enjoy the instantaneous feedback when he can see the holes going into the target from the firing line and making small groups just like dad will give you more to brag about.

Plenty of time to learn about longer distances later on. It worked with my kids and grandkids.

 

[Armymutt]

At 25, he can see the holes just fine. I have a little more difficulty, but eagle eyes could probably read the target at 50m. With my range, 8 yards would require him to shoot at too steep of a down angle.