What gun to start a junior shoot with?

[Maxximuss]

I have a 5 year old daughter interested in shooting. I would like to get her started early. I want her experienced before going to the MGM Jr. Camps. Safety has been extensively addressed and will continue to be. My wife and I shoot a lot of USPSA and 3 Gun. We have a private range to ourselves 99% of the time. She has shot my .22 rifle with a red dot optic and bipod. She isn't quite strong enough to support it off hand yet. I would like to start her on .22 handgun soon. What advised do you have in this aspect? Is it better to start iron sights and move to optics or vice versa.? What guns to consider? So far I have thought about the Ruger SR22 and 22/45 Lite.

[Jasonatlaw]

I'm new to the forum and very new to competition shooting, but not new to shooting or to kids. So for whatever this is worth here are my thoughts. I would say keep it simple. I think if you learn on iron sights it will easier to later learn to shoot optics than the other way around. Any quality 22 that is appropriately sized would be just fine. For that matter nothing wrong with learning on a revolver.

Keep it simple. And good ear protection to avoid fear of the shot.

Good luck.

[GOF]

I totally agree with starting with iron sights and learning the fundimentals. Once those are learned, shifting to optics is easy.

As to what gun? At her age she does not have adult-sized hands. I love my M&P .22, but the grip would be too large for a 'little person'. The grip size on the Ruger MK III (or MK II... which you might find used at a good price if you scout the internet) would IMHO, be more comfortable for her. The 22/45 could be a bit large, but if it fits her hand it's good to go.

A .22 revolver, if fired DA, might present a problem with the lengthy trigger pull and longer trigger reach.

You might let her"grip test' several guns and let her tell you what fits her hand. If you give a new shooter a handgun that they have to struggle with you have not done something positive, and you are not accelerating their learning curve. I think, maybe, the Ruger MKIII/MKII (with flat panel grips) might be worth looking at for a person that age/size.

[frankie]

I agree 100% with starting out with iron sights, as for the gun; keep it simple and as soon as possible get her using the type of gun that she might use competition, 1911, da,dao, striker fired etc.

[Maxximuss]

Those are some good ideas. Thank you for the advise. I think I will take her to the gun store and have her handle some. This might be still a little tough at this age because of her hand size. We might just have to work on trigger control shooting a rifle prone for a couple more years.

[Red Ryder]

http://www.crickett.com/crickett_22_LR.php or http://henryrepeating.com/rifle-minibolt.cfm with a red dot site. She is 5. Keep it really simple. Make it fun. Chances are she will lose interest anyway but may come back to shooting later on. That's when you up the learning curve. I deal with kids every day. At age 5, most kids do not have the hand eye coordination or motivation to learn to shoot iron sights well even with positive feedback ( hitting the bullseye). Girls tend to do better than boys till about age 12, then it evens out. Make it fun!

Edited October 5, 2013 by Red Ryder

[SoCalNoMore]

I just wanted to chime in about the Ruger 22/45 Lite. I just bought one last week for my wife. I love this gun as it is fun and cheap to shoot. I added a Volquartsen Trigger, Muzzle Break and a Sissy Bar for the slide.

The only thing I see as a potential issue with this gun for your 5yo is racking the slide. If you are going to prep the pistol for her, then the Lite is a great gun.

[kneelingatlas]

Ruger makes a .22 caliber SP101, grip should be just right and with a full set of Wolff springs the trigger is sweet.

Edited October 8, 2013 by kneelingatlas

[Mark R]

I started my son out with a Glock model 22 and put a .22 LR conversion kit on it. He started shooting USPSA matches at 7 years young. Later on, when he was ready, I put the original .40 cal barrel/slide back on it and loaded ammo to minor power factor for production. Now he can handle major power in limited with no issues.

Same platform going from .22 LR, to 40 minor, and 40 major made it easy. The Glock was great because there wasn't any manual safety to fumble with. He was able to concentrate on shooting and safety and not so much on how to manipulate a pistol with a manual safety.

[Maxximuss]

My wife and I run Glocks and that would be a logical answer for our daughter. That makes me wish I didn't sell my .22 conversion.

[EkuJustice]

I will disagree with irons for new shooters especially with kids. You are putting soo much stuff out there at once get a good grip pull the trigger smooth. Make sure you have your sights lined up but watch the front sight and not the target etc. With a red dot it allows them to have less to deal with and concentrate more on the shooting. It also allows for more success early on which is more fun which means they are more likely to stick with it. Reactive targets are also a good way to work with them such as balloons as it's nice to see it break and know ya hit it over just looking for holes on a piece of paper.

Edited October 9, 2013 by EkuJustice

[kneelingatlas]

I will disagree with irons for new shooters especially with kids. You are putting soo much stuff out there at once get a good grip pull the trigger smooth. Make sure you have your sights lined up but watch the front sight and not the target etc. With a red dot it allows them to have less to deal with and concentrate more on the shooting. It also allows for more success early on which is more fun which means they are more likely to stick with it. Reactive targets are also a good way to work with them such as balloons as it's nice to see it break and know ya hit it over just looking for holes on a piece of paper.

I like this concept, the first time I shot Open, I thought "why didn't I start with Open?" The dot is easier to use than iron sights, the trigger is better, the mag well is huge and so are the mags. Yes, Open in the most expensive division, but ten round mags, iron sights, tiny mag wells, DA triggers and the like give new shooters a lot to think about.

Edited October 9, 2013 by kneelingatlas

[Mark R]

Red dot vs fundamentals? Which should you train a youngster on? I'd say fundamentals.

[GOF]

Red dot vs fundamentals? Which should you train a youngster on? I'd say fundamentals.

+1.The 'fundimentals' are called that for a reason. A new shooter WILL struggle initially with post & notch iron sights. But, they will learn SO MUCH. If the shooter is interested is continuing (and with a 5 year old that can be a coin toss) learning the basic fundimentals will be much to their advantage.

[kneelingatlas]

What are you considering the "fundamentals"? I think of safe gun handling, trigger control and breathing, but that's really just off the top of my head.

[Not-So-Mad Matt]

I started my son out with a Glock model 22 and put a .22 LR conversion kit on it. He started shooting USPSA matches at 7 years young. Later on, when he was ready, I put the original .40 cal barrel/slide back on it and loaded ammo to minor power factor for production. Now he can handle major power in limited with no issues.

Your seven-year-old had no trouble gripping a Glock 22? Big kid?

[Mark R]

What are you considering the "fundamentals"? I think of safe gun handling, trigger control and breathing, but that's really just off the top of my head.

Grip, sight picture, trigger control, and safety foremost.

I started my son out with a Glock model 22 and put a .22 LR conversion kit on it. He started shooting USPSA matches at 7 years young. Later on, when he was ready, I put the original .40 cal barrel/slide back on it and loaded ammo to minor power factor for production. Now he can handle major power in limited with no issues.

Your seven-year-old had no trouble gripping a Glock 22? Big kid?

Not big kid, but he has fairly long fingers...and he is a southpaw.

Edited October 9, 2013 by Mark R

[EkuJustice]

There is a sight picture with a red dot it's what you need to see to hit your target. The less you throw out there for them to do at once the better. Put the dot on the target and slow smooth trigger pull and don't let the dot move is easier than center the front in the rear notch And put the front on the target but look at the front sight not the target and pull slow and steady. What that will end up with is a confused kid at that age pulling the trigger for a bang. The dot definitely promoted better trigger control and for a kid especially it's just more fun which is the goal.

[BlueOvalBandit]

http://www.crickett.com/crickett_22_LR.php or http://henryrepeating.com/rifle-minibolt.cfm with a red dot site. She is 5. Keep it really simple. Make it fun. Chances are she will lose interest anyway but may come back to shooting later on. That's when you up the learning curve. I deal with kids every day. At age 5, most kids do not have the hand eye coordination or motivation to learn to shoot iron sights well even with positive feedback ( hitting the bullseye). Girls tend to do better than boys till about age 12, then it evens out. Make it fun!

I agree with Red, KISS with kids. If it becomes a chore you may turn her off to shooting for a while. I'd start with safety fundamentals rather than most shooting fundamentals at that age in my meaningless opinion.

[BoyGlock]

Maybe we should let the kid test several platforms and let him/her find out what works.

I have 4 kids, 3 sons 1 daughter. When I introduced them to pistol shooting I let them shoot different types of autos and revolvers. To my surprise my only daughter came to like the revolver over the autos. I never expected that.

Maybe we tend to see things thru our adults' eye vs the kids' perspective?

[Red Ryder]

http://www.crickett.com/crickett_22_LR.php or http://henryrepeating.com/rifle-minibolt.cfm with a red dot site. She is 5. Keep it really simple. Make it fun. Chances are she will lose interest anyway but may come back to shooting later on. That's when you up the learning curve. I deal with kids every day. At age 5, most kids do not have the hand eye coordination or motivation to learn to shoot iron sights well even with positive feedback ( hitting the bullseye). Girls tend to do better than boys till about age 12, then it evens out. Make it fun!

I agree with Red, KISS with kids. If it becomes a chore you may turn her off to shooting for a while. I'd start with safety fundamentals rather than most shooting fundamentals at that age in my meaningless opinion.

KISS = Keep it safely simple!

[Maxximuss]

Thank you for all of the input. I do want to keep it fun and simple, especially at this age. I think I will take her to the gun store and let her see what fits best for her. I am leaning towards a red dot at this point to keep it simple. All of your advise and experience has been very helpful.

[jeremy kemlo]

I have jr shooters and will have for a long time. Number 7 was just born. They liked the 22/45. The one w/o the removable grip pannels . It is way to thin for me but great for little hands. The other gun is the browning buckmark with the urx grips. Both guns were set up with lite barreles. I started my kids with iron sights. Later they tried the dot and had more fun. I have a friend that runs a jr shooter program and he starts them all on the dot.

[thayerp81]

while not as rugged as the ruger offerings, the walther p22 has a very small grip and is quite light weight. I would think it would be ideal for a young shooter.

[jeremy kemlo]

I think the Walther might fit well also....but...the only one that I saw had a lot of trouble with miss feeds. The reviews I have seen would also indicate that the Walther is pickier than the Ruger or the Buckmark when it comes to ammo.