What age to start a young shooter?

[usmcski]

I have 2 sons...One is 3....I know he eyeballs me every time I get ready to go to the range and is curious as to what I do with my guns. What is a good age to get a youngster started in shooting?

 

[sansone]

I have 2 sons. 7yrs seems to be the youngest both my boys became comfortable shooting .22's / single six + cricket type youth rifle / before 7 they were kinda scared

 

[TexasRifleman]

My son started shooting the Chipmunk .22 single shot when he was 6.

No handguns til he was 10.

 

[Winter Borne]

I think it really depends on your kids temperment. I have two sons and they are very different from each other. I waited until my oldest was in his teens, but have started my yougest (7) on airsoft. Not becouse of the mechanics mind you, but for the "understanding" and "respect" needed for the responcibility of shooting. That being said, nerve miss out on the opportinity to preach gun safety at any age. The NRA has tons of stuff from Eddie Eagle that's great.

You might be the safest gun owner ever, but you never know what they may find left un-attended at a friends house. They need to know not to point it at others or to pull the trigger.

Best of luck.

mk

 

[sansone]

yeah, definitely depends on temperment.. everyone's different. just don't force the child to shoot anything uncomfortable. my dad put a 30-06 rifle in my hands before I was ready and it shook me up quite a bit. I wasn't mad, but really shook-up by the recoil. all he said was hold on real tight it's gonna kick harder than your .22

 

[American_Pit_Bull]

I started on various pump and bolt action .22's when I was six years old and I turned out ok.

 

[rocinante]

My son is ten and he begs to go the range to shoot my 9mm pistols. Absolutely no fear or apprehension from the first shoot. The wife on the other hand is absolutely terrified and only with a fear conquering determination and a tears in her eyes forced herself to squeeze off one shot.

Just preach safety and respect. Then preach safety some more. I feel good he knows about firearms.

 

[Stickjockey]

My boy turned six in January.He already knows most of the Rules, and knows that he just has to ask and we'll go down to the basement and get into the gunsafe. we'll sit and handle the guns as long as he wants. He may actually have more trigger time on my Ruger M-77 than I do!

That said, he still has a little trouble listening and following directions closely, and that has kept me from going out with him and a true lead slinger. He's getting better, and I may soon come home with the much-vaunted Daisy Red Ryder, but not quite yet.

 

[Art Eatman]

I agree with Winter Born about the temperament thing. I started out at around age seven. I had my own .22 rifle that stayed in the closet in my room at age 11.

So, I started my son out way early. "It's too big for you, isn't it?" Then, "When you think you're big enough, just holler and we'll go shoot."

That took all the mystique out of it. No more lure of forbidden fruit. My notion was to take all the "big deal" out of guns in general.

It worked...

Art

 

[scurtis_34471]

I started my girl out a couple months ago a few weeks shy of her 9th birthday with a Ruger 10/22. She is a thoughtful, respectful and obedient child. Today, she pointed out that my rifle was pointed toward the kitchen while I field stripped it. I didn't have any good direction to point it (I can't get the cover off the receiver with the gun pointed up), so I made damned sure the thing was not loaded and kept it pointed at the refridgerator until I got the receiver taken apart. The point is that she remembered and asked me why it was not pointed in a safe direction. She wanted an explanation of my bad safety behavior. She's a good kid.

 

[jamz]

My boy started handling them at age 4, looking through the sites and memorizing (and following) the 4 rules, as well as eddie eagle's rules.

At 5, he was shooting at the range with my assistence (Ruger 77/22 was too big for him to hold).

At age 6, he was shooting alongside me, and shot his first handgun. I still don't have a gun that fits him, I have to get him a cricket one of these days.

But he's an interested, reasonably grounded kid.

My girl, now age 4, is a big ball of silly right now and can't concentrate on mych so she'll have to wait a bit longer it seems.

 

[tylor reimer]

i think a good age would be....

i think a good age would be about 5 i started at 5 with 22 bb guns and 12 gage

 

[Molon Labe]

I taught our oldest daughter to shoot a .22 when she was 7.

She's now 9. She's more responsible & trustworthy than many adult gun owners I've known...

 

[pax]

http://www.corneredcat.com/Kids/firstlesson.aspx

and

http://www.corneredcat.com/Kids/rangeready.aspx

pax

 

[Lambo119]

Winter Borne is on target. Some kids just seem to be ready at different ages. I have noticed that girls seem to be able to take instruction (seriously) at a younger age. Is this just me or has anyone else noticed this?

 

[Hemicuda]

I was 4 years, 8 monthes and a few days old when my father bought a .22 single shot rifle for me to shoot... BUT, he claims I was a VERY responsible almost 5 year old... (I wonder what happened there? LOL)

 

[GCW5]

I started my 2 older sons off with a BB gun @ 5 & 6 (one couldn't with out the other), and they were good with .22 rifles by 7 & 8. my youngest had no interest in shooting till he was 10, and he was shooting .22s about the same time as the BBs.

 

[RustyShackelford]

I'd say 12-14 yrs old..

Some kids are more mature than others. In general I would allow my kids to start shooting live rounds/real firearms at age 12 or so.

I would also state that even small children should have a basic understanding of gun safety and know why they should not be near with or play around any kind of firearm.

Massad F Ayoob wrote a useful guide for this subject. I think it's called Gun Proof Your Children. Check www.ayoob.com www.deltapress.com or www.bookfinder.com for details.

Also note; the NRA, www.nra.org has programs andinformation about children/firearms that could be useful.

Rusty S

 

[Doggy Daddy]

Well, lessee...

I didn't start till age 50. So I took my kid to the range for the first time when he was 21. (wait a sec... he's still 21!)

Anyways, he seems to be taking to it real good. He shows a healthy respect for the firearm... and his safety procedures are excellent.

He seems to have a little trouble counting to five, though. Watching him shoot the .357 is like:

BANG flinch
BANG flinch
BANG flinch
BANG flinch
BANG flinch
click flinch

 

[Essex County]

Grandson turned seven in Feb............

He'll start out as soon as the snow goes with a Winchester 02 single shot that I picked up for this purpose a couple of years ago. Why not? He already has a new Honda dirt bike and can operate a snowmobile. Essex

 

[mp510]

I learned how to shoot an air gun on my 8th birthday and .22 several months later.

 

[rangerruck]

I think 7 or 8 is about the time, they begin to understand about death, pain, what a gun does, and how to be resposible for it. They are no longer abstact vageries...

 

[10-Ring]

My son was 3 when I noticed he was eyeing my guns. It was then I taught him about safety & that all he had to do was ask to handle them. When he was 5, I taught him how to shoot the 22's.

 

[bensdad]

Everyone's gonna jump on me, but my son has been shooting with me for some time now and he'll turn 5 in May. He mostly just watches, but when he wants to pull the trigger I let him. I'm in complete control of the gun the whole time - he just likes to be the one to make it go bang. He follows instructions quite well foy a youngster.

He also loves to load the Mod. 60 tube mag. Often-times right before he shoots he yells, "The range is live!" Cracks me up.

I never want my kids to think of guns as "secret" or "scary" or something to hide. If they want to see them, they can. If they want to handle them, they can do that too. We are SUPER safe when we handle guns.

 

[TCB in TN]

All three of my kids (2 boys and 1) girl started shooting before 5. I bought a small marlin .22 cal semi with a 16 in barrell and cut the stock down to fit them (bout the same size as a cricket rifle). Would load 1 round at a time for them initially with my hands on the gun. (Live out in the country and had a small target range set up behind the dam of our pond. Put on their ear protection, eye protection, and then had them repeat our little safety montra before every shot. By the time they were 6 or 7 they were all shooting their single shot H&R 20's. Gave them the same lesson my grand pa gave me. They had to shoot and kill a squirrel and watch it die, gave them the speach about pointing it at me and pulling the trigger would kill me and they would have to watch me die. Guns can kill and they learned that early. My oldest was ready then to begin shooting his Grandpa's Rem 7400 30-06. Would beg to shoot it, just loved it. Never was worried about the recoil. He is slight built but athletic. He took his first deer with it at 11, took his second this year (13) with his uncles 7mm Mag (only weighs 95 pounds now). Just loves it. Daughter (12 now) can shoot rifles just about as well as he does. She loves pistols and can shoot a shotty better than either of the boys. My youngest took his first deer this year (he's 10) with the old 7400 30-06 as well (he only weighs (85 pounds). They are all comfortable with guns, they are safe, and as much as they love them, they respect them even more. I believe that starting them off so early had a big impact on helping them to become safe as well as accurate shooters.

I know that not all kids are ready to start at that age, but some are and if they are serious and willing to listen then the down sides of starting them young are much less than the up sides.