Starting them young...

[Rembrandt]

Starting youngsters out with a handgun has always been hit and miss, some seem to physically handle the firearm better than others. For some the weight and complexity can be a challenge. This may be the best starter gun I've found so far. Ruger Charger with/bipod allows the youngster to concentrate on sight alignment without needing to lift the gun....just move the grip side to side.

Did I mention right hand shooter left eye dominate?.....

 

[JSH1]

As someone who is right handed but left eye dominate, I would suggest you teach him to shoot left handed. I shot right handed for years with OK results but my shooting has improved dramatically since switching to shooting left handed about 1 1/2 years ago.


PS. Good to see kids having fun shooting!

 

[Scooter22]

Ditto above. My son is right handed and shot up to around 12 right. He did fine. But one day he said he felt like trying left. OK with me. Incredible improvement. So he shoots long guns left but still handguns right and is dead on. Don't force a shooting position. Let them try what they want and figure it out. Good luck. PS. The big R, L dominate eye is important with a shotgun. With a rifle with sights or a scope it doesn't mater. Your alining the sights or looking through a scope on the gun. Not looking down the top of a barrel.

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

Shooting is fine but actually teaching them to think and live as individuals is just as important at a young age so they are prepared for the mental battles that will take place as soon as they are enrolled in the public school system.

 

[bannockburn]

One of the first things I check on with new shooters is to find out what their dominant eye is. So far everyone has been right eye/right hand dominant. Be interesting to see (no pun intended), how someone would do shooting left handed if they're left eye dominant.

 

[cat_IT_guy]

Good work, OP, for starting them young. Seems like a great choice with the charger, too, though it probably wouldnt have been my first choice prior to reading your post - no sight alignment to deal with, no length of pull issues and not too heavy. Too bad, guess I need a Charger now for starting my 11 month old in a few years .

 

[old lady new shooter]

Be interesting to see (no pun intended), how someone would do shooting left handed if they're left eye dominant.

I heard somewhere that (assuming you are right-handed and right-eye dominant) if you have to shoot with your left hand for some reason, the trick is to use your left eye to sight with. Is this true or just something somebody made up?

 

[patmccoy]

No, it's very easy to shoot left handed while using your right eye (and something you should practice if you have a handgun for self defense). You may have a slight cant, but that affects nothing at the close range used for personal defense.

 

[old lady new shooter]

Yes, it's clear to me that being able to shoot with only one hand is really important for real life self-defense.

When I go for my lesson I'm hoping the instructor will let me try that at the end -- I know it's way down the road for me at this point, but I just want to see what it feels like. I'm thinking if there's only one round in it and the instructor is right there it should be safe? In the gun store I did try just holding it out straight and happily there was no wobble or anything, the salesman seemed surprised and said usually women can't do this. (?!)

 

[1911 guy]

When teaching kids to shoot, step one is determine eye dominance. With rifles, have them shoot with the rifle behind the dominant eye. If left eye dominant, shoot rifles left handed. It's much easier to learn this now when they're young than to struggle for decades until someone else teaches them as an adult.

With handguns, a simple, slight, nod of the head toward the non-dominant eye side puts the dominant eye behind the sights while shooting with the dominant hand controlling the handgun.