What Age To Start Kids Shooting?

[chp5]

My son is 7. He currently shoots BB guns with me in the back yard.

At what age shoot I start him shooting a 22 rifle?

What about a 22 pistol?

Centerfire rifle or pistol?

I'm mostly interesting in responses from those of you that actually have kids and have actually gone through this process.

No offense to the rest of you.

[LongHair1957]

I have 4 daughters ages 23, 20, 18 and 2 3/4, Here is a shot of the youngest

Casey

the 18 year old Amy

and the 20 year old Tara

As you can see from the pic of Casey...I start them young...Casey is shooting a .22 chipmunk. She is not real good yet of course but the important thing is the exposure!

I started all my girls young and they have all stuck with it in one form or another. Expose them to all sorts of shooting.

Amy is a very good shotgunner, loves sporting clays the most. (thats her chipmunk that Casey is now shooting).

Tara loves handguns has her own glock 19 and hunts deer with me.

When my oldest daughter Miranda (not pictured) got married I gave her and her husband matching ruger .22 target model pistols (one 5.5" and one government model) along with hard cases, head phones and ammo etc.

I also started them (the older ones) around 5 with a little .22 beretta flip top. loaded one at a time...the small size and single action fits small hands good.

They all progressed up to center fires early on and are not afraid to try the big ones (.44 mag ) etc.

So I say....get started on the boy....the sooner they learn all the basics the better off they will be ...and it takes away the mysterious asspect of guns......They become accustomed to seeing them and if the are at a friends and come across one they will be better prepared with what to do....LESS ACCIDENTS FROM TRAINED AND ACCUSTOMED KIDS then by those that have been left in the dark

[kurtm]

CHP5:

I have already had my kids shooting at 3. I hold the rifle and they try to do the aiming. We shoot steel at 25yds or so so they get instant feed back. Rifle is a .22LR with a holosight on it so they can see the dot! I fully plan to have them be able to have thier own rifle by the time they are 7 ( 22LR) and if truth be known they have already shot a 22 pistol also. The great up side to this is ther is NO "forbiden fruit" syndrom with them when it comes to guns. They know real from play, and can tell the difference between rifle, shotgun, pistol, and revolver. They even remember to keep thier finger straight most of the time and we work on that alot! I let them see any of my firearms any time they ask and at that time we also go over safety again to make it a learning experience. By the way they love to shoot the BB gun and they always come to me with their safety glasses as a hint they want to shoot!! KURT

[DBChaffin]

Hey Cy,

I don't have any kids (at 27, I'm just a big kid myself) but I wanted to answer anyway. I took no offense and hope you take none from my reply. It may not be worth anything to you, but I just wanted to share it and hope it helps some.

In my opinion, 7 is great to start with the .22 rifle. A lot of it will be affected by the individual child. His interest and how seriously he chooses to take it will alter his progression. I personally think it is great that you take time to shoot BB guns with him in the backyard. Two thumbs up. I'm sure that's something you wouldn't have any other way and probably do without thinking. Probably many of us here were lucky enough to have fathers that did such a thing for us, but some don't. Teaching a child the basics early, I think, is important just as the post above stated. In my opinion, you can start the .22 rifle now, with emphasis on the basics of safety and as much accuracy based training as you can. If he sees the pistols and wants to shoot one, and seems like he is ready to you, move him to the .22 pistol. As far as centerfires, my only caution is not to let him jump to something too quickly and become frightened of recoil. I have a few practical examples from friends and family below:

My nephew is now 10. He began shooting .22 rifles at around the age of your son. My brother is into Black Powder Cartridge rifles and shoots a single shot Remington Rolling Block. My nephew started with a Stevens but for Christmas when he was 9, he got his own customized Remington Rolling Block .22, complete with engraving, fancy Walnut stocks, and Lyman peep sights. He treasures it, and even gave it a name, "Betsy." He began shooting a Ruger SA .22 revolver when he was 8 or 9, only with very close supervision. His grandfather is a big hunter, and had him shoot a 20 gauge a little too early. For a while he was afraid of anything but his .22's. He now shoots and hunts with a .410. He got his first deer (a 10 point) with a .410 slug this year and killed his first turkey (nice 20 lb bird) with it as well, but he won't try anything bigger. No need to rush. He's safe and happy for the time being.

At the first IPSC match I shot (August 2000), a ten year old girl was about to shoot her first complete match. She had shot a few stages before with a Glock 35 .40 shooting minor loads. She has continued pretty regularly and is now 13 and solidly in C class. I realize she is not the norm, but I can say that she is one of the safest IPSC competitors I have ever shot with. She is very deliberate and calm when she shoots, and handles herself far above her years. I don't know when her parents started her on or anything, but they did a fantastic job. I have seen a basepad come off of her mag, dumping all of the rounds on the ground. She had the presence of mind to press the mag release and pull out the mag tube with her left hand while keeping the muzzle downrange, insert a new mag, and continue the course. Her times are not fast, but she shoots a lot of points. It is unusual for her to have a D, let alone a Mike. I have heard her dad say that her younger brother is far behind her in maturity and skill and probably won't be competiting as early as she was.

I just share these stories to bolster my opinion that a lot of the progress will be based on the individual child. Good luck to you. I'm sure it will be a rewarding experience that you will enjoy immensely. I hope that someday I have the opportunity to teach my kids to shoot and spend time with them as you are.

Bryant

[EricW]

My $.02 -

Don't let your kids read a bunch of junk about how to shoot. I did that when I was very young and it totally screwed me up for years. Most of it is total crapola. Let them read Brian's book when they're ready.

#2 - Invest in a high quality spring-piston air rifle for your child/children to shoot. Think Beeman or RWS. And no, they're not cheap. Drop the dime on decent pellets while you're at it. Kids really need that accuracy so they can learn to call their shots. BB Guns are heap big fun and great tools to learn firearms handling, but they do little to build true marksmanship skills.

For fun targets as a kid, I stole a bunch of small, scrap 1/8" thick steel plates from one of my Dad's projects and propped them up with nails pounded into a 2x4. Don't waste your money on the pot aluminum "silhouette" targets. They aren't worth a damn. They'll be broken into smithereens in no time. If you have a welder, you can certainly come up with dozens of cheap, fun targets in no time.

[jhgtyre]

I have two daughters ages 14 and 11. They started shooting my .22's when they 8 and 5 respectively. Two years ago they joined the local smallbore rifle club. Now the oldest shoots competively in smallbore, high power (with an AR), and air rifle. Next week she wants to shoot her first USPSA match and will probably use my 1911, with minor loads. I think 3 gun is on the horizon for her. She already has an 1100 youth model all ready to go.

Find out if there is a smallbore club in your area. Our club provides everything but the kid and the ammo for $30 a season. I think I have more club guns in my safe than my own some days!

You can probably find a club by checking with the NRA or CMP if you don't already know where one is. The NRA smallbore program is cool. The kids get certificates for making progress and there is some structure to help keep them moving in the right direction.

As far as the high power shooting goes both of my daughters can fire an AR without any problem. The biggest hassle is that those matches can be all day affairs and the kids get tired. This is especially true when they have to spend time in the pits pulling targets.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

-ld

[vluc]

My son and daughter both started early. Now in college and high school, both still come to the range with me on a regular basis...my son has already informed me that the SIG 226 is his...and my daughter has been eyeballing my factory two tone SIG 225...

[old shooter]

chp5

I started my son at 5 with bb guns, 6 with 22. lr in rifle and pistol, and when he was 7, let him shoot my .45 loaded one at a time. As an interesting side-note, when he shot the 22 pistol (colt match target), an empty came back and went inside his shirt, and he dropped my gun in the dirt. I gave him a lecture about gun handling and safety without being too hard on him. Later that session, an empty came back again and went in his shirt and he danced around a bit, kept the gun pointed downrange, and pulled his shirt tail out with his free hand. Boy was I proud of him.

Mike

BTW he could hit 5 of 6 bianchi plates at 15 yards almost every time with the .45

[Loves2Shoot]

I started w/ bb guns at 5, a .22 at 7

[ToddS]

Both my kids started with .22's at age 5, same as me. My oldest is now 10 and comfortably shoots AR-15's and a Remington 1100 LT20. He still prefers .22 pistols to centerfires.

The six year old sticks with the Ruger Bearcat, MK II and Chipmonk.

I think the biggest mistake is making firearms a mystery to them. Everytime they ask to see or handle a firearm, let them. Supervise them at all times, make sure they master basic safety.

In rural 1960's Tennessee, I grew up with loaded guns in the house. We can't do that anymore of course, but I teach mine as I was taught. Guns are tools, they can feed you, protect you, and give you peace of mind. Never point them at anything you don't want to destroy.

No secrets, just responsibility.

[kimel]

Okay, I have no kids either but will give you my story because I think Dad did it right. Were I to have kids I would follow this same tried and true formula with some modifications where lead is concerned.

I started shooting at 5 using wax bullets out of his Model 1917 .45. He had tuned the trigger down so my 5 year old hands had not too much of a problem with it. Dad wanted me to learn how to shoot the big guns too so as to remove the curiosity factor and get me started right. Dad would tape balloons up on the wall in the basement (we didn't worry about lead in those days) and I would blaze away. To this day you can still find wax in the cracks and crevices of that wall.

I got a BB rifle for Christmas that next year and a pellet pistol when I was 9 or 10. I would go shooting the "big guns" with Dad any time I could. Somewhere there is a pic of me standing on his shooting box at the indoor range with his High Standard .22 match pistol on league night.

I joined the NRA smallbore rifle program at the club when I was 13 and shot that for a couple years until I got my driver's license and well, we know what happens to teenage boys that have a driver's license.

I was taught how to clean guns from the get go, especially how to make sure they were unloaded and other safety stuff. I started casting lead bullets at around 10 (under CLOSE supervision) and started helping with the reloading around that same time. Didn't get to play with the powder though until I was rather older.

All of this combined to teach me about guns, marksmanship and SAFETY.

I firmly believe that kids are curious and that if you don't help them satisfy that curiosity they will try and satisfy it themselves...all too often with disasterous results. My sister is an anti-gun type (how that is I will never understand...I have a picture of her firing a full-auto Thompson at around 12 years old with a grin from ear to ear) and she is forbidding guns and gun-like objects in her house. I fear for my nephew and niece...I really do.

Like the old saying goes...start 'em young and train 'em right. I think that was originally about something else but it applies to guns too.

[Dani]

The most important thing with kids is to have fun, as I did when I started shooting. I started with a Diana 5.5 air rifle of my grandfather at 4, then at 6 with a browning .22 and finally at 9 my father gaved me my first gun, a Bianchi 28 custom made shotgun that i still own and shoot.

I'm glad that i keeped it so i can give it to my son that is supposed to be here in 7 months (countdown running)

[chp5]

All - thanks for your great replies!

[Ironman]

I have three sons who are now 14, 17 and 23. They all started with a "Red Ryder" at about 5 years old. We started in the back yard on a picnic table shooting at some tin targets hanging from a chunk of wire. They were taught how to shoot around others with safety being the number one priority. One year after the BB gun I got each one of them a 22 bolt action for Christmas. They had to be able to tell me the 10 gun safety rules on the ride to the range each weekend on the ride to the range. My 23 year old has completed schooling to become a police officer. I just got my 17 year old a glock 35, just like mine, and we are shooting USPSA and 3 gun together. The youngest son can shoot any firearm that I own with confidence and accuracy. I am most proud of my boys when we go to the range and see that they are safer then some of the adults that are shooting around them.

Jim

[actionshooter]

Its hard to give an age without knowing the kid. My oldest daughter I started at 3 with a chipmunk,she is very level headed,now at 10 I feel comforatable to let her shoot without me right behind her. My youngest daughter is 6 and I am just starting her right now. She is a bit on the wild side and is a handfull. Its going to be quite a while before she can shoot by herself.

I stress saftey overall and I use targets that are easy to hit to build confidence. We are fortunate that the local High School still has a rifle team, I am not going to push them into, but they are going to be on it

Steve

[TBF]

I think action shooter hit on an important point, take into consideration the temprament of the

individual.

Physically speaking I'm thinking 5 or so sounds good.

Obviously with careful supervision.

On the temprament thing I've seen thirty year olds who shouldn't handle guns....And 10 year

olds who I feel really comfortable shooting next to on the range.

Travis F.

[EricW]

On the temprament thing I've seen thirty year olds who shouldn't handle guns....And 10 year

olds who I feel really comfortable shooting next to on the range.

Travis F.

I've got to get my Aunt Janet on this thing. She'll give you the lecture of the century on the critical role of graduated responsibility in child rearing. People have it totally ass-backwards these days. All I hear is "Don't let junior/juniorette do *that*!! Heavens to Betsy!" In reality, the major problem is that kids *aren't* allowed to take on responsible (i.e. fun) tasks under proper supervision. Most of the stuff I did when I was a kid is now considered child abuse. When I was little, we were taught to drive long before our feet could reach the pedals. If there were two kids in the truck, one of us would steer while the other ran the gearshift. All farm kids were *expected* to be fully competent drivers by the time they able to reach the pedals and see over the dash.

It was the same way with everything else too, and you know what, by the time kids hit 18, they were self-sufficient beings - not the worthless baskets cases that seem to be the prime product of urban America these days.

[B.J. Norris]

Eric,

I agree. My youngest started shooting at 10 and is now an A class Production shooter at 13. He has been driving trucks around the farm since he could see over the wheel and I feel comfortable with him operating the tractor loader/backhoe. If they are well trained, kids can do a lot more than some adults give them credit for. I think the urban environment has taken a whole lot away from our kids and family values. Just my $.02

OOPS! Posted under the wrong name. Should be TRNinVA, IPSC G34 is the 13 yr old