My nephew's taste in guns…

[MacTech]

My nephew is 10 years old, and has been shooting for the last couple years, got his first gun at 8, a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun, and has been very responsible with it

He knows that any time he wants to go shooting, he has but to ask, and I'll drop whatever I'm doing and go out to my backyard plinking range with him, it's fun for both of us

I have never seen a more responsible young man, he takes safety to heart, knows the Four Rules, and adheres to them unerringly

He's had quite the opportunity to shoot my guns, so far, just the .22's, and he's had trigger time on semi autos, bolts, levers, break actions, the only action he hasn't tried is a pump action, mainly because I don't have one

Out of My current stable of .22's, consisting of;
Ithaca 49**
Savage 414 Armory .22 Short**
Marlin 39A
Marlin XT-22M
CZ 452 Ultra Lux
Norinco ATD .22
Savage Model 89***

He likes the Ithaca and the Savage 414 the best, he loves the challenge of the single shot, making that one round count, and he's amazingly deadly with the 414, with CB Shorts, and factory peep sight, at 25ish yards, he was putting all his shots through the same hole , from the kneeling position, he actually did worse off a sandbag rest than he did from the kneeling position

I could be right next to him, with any one of my repeaters, and he'll be happily shooting one of the single shots.... No desire to shoot semiauto at all, he's an "old soul" I guess....

** these two guns are still Dad's, he doesn't shoot anymore, sadly, so I have free reign of the gun cabinet, that said, Dad gave Logan the Ithaca a few days ago, needless to say, he's in heaven, never seen him that happy

*** dad kinda' stole my thunder by giving Logan the Ithaca, I had planned to give him the Savage 89 as a birthday gift next month, and was playing up the rarity of the 49/89 guns, oh well, it'll be his second gun then

 

[ObsidianOne]

Pretty cool. Always refreshing to hear that people still try and instill something as productive and responsibility inspiring into younger children and keeping this great hobby alive, by teaching them the right way. Sounds like in the near future, perhaps you may need to purchase a Ruger Single Six in .22LR to teach him a whole new world of fun

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[FROGO207]

Someone that knows what he wants/likes at this early time is great. There are a lot of shooters that will spend their shooting life looking for that "one" platform or caliber that fits them. I am willing to wager this is the not the last the shooting community has heard from this focused shooter.

 

[gp911]

Great story! I hope to teach my son the same way in a few years. Time to get more .22s, great idea to have them in all sorts of actions to determine his preferences. I like single shots too, nice to see a youngster appreciating simplicity for once.

 

[MacTech]

I already have a Single Six, Dad handed it down to me at the same time he gave Logan the Ithaca

I've let Logan inspect both the Six and my Sig 1911 (both unloaded, of course), and he just plain prefers the revolver, we stopped at KTP last night, because he wanted to look at the single action and double action revolvers, and he still preferred the single action platform

That said, he's still more of a rifle guy, he can see how handguns can be fun, and convenient to carry, but his current obsession is accuracy at all costs, he was able to naturally intuit that a handgun has less potential accuracy than a rifle of the same caliber, if you take the human factor out of the equation, given a choice of two firearms of equal caliber and price, a rifle or a handgun, his choice?

"that's easy, the rifle, it's going to be more accurate"

So, over the long weekend, I'm going to put him to a kind of enjoyable test, I know he's deadly with the Savage 414, but I also want him to try to shoot my other .22's for one-hole accuracy as well, he's clearly looking forward to this opportunity to put lots of lead down range

 

[Thinker]

I was taught to shoot with a single shot Stevens model 15, and I believe in starting every kid out with a single shot .22. If one is available of course. As you said, make that one shot count. I was asked by a very close friend of mine to teach her son to shoot. Started him one round at a time. Needless to say he got hooked. Next thing I know my friend wants to buy him a gun for his birthday, with no idea what to get him. I suggested several single shot models, or a Henry lever, and even found a used Marlin single shot at a local place for under $100.

In the end my friends ex husband bought the boy a semi-auto .22. First let me say it is always disappointing when a youngster asks for advice and then goes then goes the opposite direction. Second, I will say, it is even worse to see him go from concentrating on hitting one inch targets (which he was doing quite impressively) to loading up ten shot clips and spraying in the general direction of said target.

Sounds like your nephew is a great kid, and you are guiding him properly. you should be proud

 

[bannockburn]

My son also is a rifle kind of guy. Started with a Daisy air rifle then quickly moved to a semi-auto .22 when he was ready. Mounted a scope on it and he's been a total marksman with it ever since.

 

[Blackhawk30]

Now you need to go buy a pistol and teach him how to shoot handguns.I would suggest a Ruger Bearcat or a Ruger 22/45LITE.Have fun!!!