how do i teach my 11 year old??

[jeep]

So i have an 11 year old daughter who is interested in shooting. I have gone over gun saftey with her such as never ever pint the firearm at anything you do not want to kill or destroy keep the finger off the trigger until ready. How to load the mag how to load the chamber and such alot of dry fireing . Two weekends ago i let her fire off 1 round and of course she missed the target but i told her she did a great job !!!!!!!! So my question is how do i teach her how to aim im letting her use my glock 9mm im pretty sure the ruger 45 would be a little much i tried to explain how to aim but maybe someone has some better advise on how to go about doing this. I tell ya what there is not much better in this world then seeing the smile of a 11 year old fireing off her first round

[K.C.]

You can start by showing her this: http://files.abovetopsecret.com/imag...c72579fd35.jpg

After that do a Google search and see what you can find. My youngest grasped the concept pretty quickly when she was 11. On a side note I found that telling my children that they can handle my firearm any time they wanted as long as they asked wasn't a problem and it worked out really well. I feel safer when my kids handle firearrms than some people I know.

[Emptymag]

I'd use a .22 rifle, but that's me.

For children, "sucking" at what you are shooting at is a good way to lose interest real quick.
Balloons or other "reactionary" targets make for a more enjoyable shooting experience all around.

I couldn't begin to offer any advice on how to teach a small child to properly sight a handgun.


I shot my dad's .357 magnum once when I was a kid. I had little interest in doing so again. (until he loaded some wax bullets to shoot in it)

[mpan72]

I started my 8 yr old daughter on an air rifle a few weeks ago and she picked it up pretty quickly. I think emptymag is right a rifle would be a little easier because of the longer sight picture.
Concgats on getting another female into the fold. In my oppinion that is the key to getting some of the stupid gun laws taken off the books.
Also congrats for getting your daughter into something you can enjoy together.

[jeep]

i had her shoot at a 32 inch lcd tv from maybe 15 yards as far as using a rifle goes i dont have one of them yet just the 9mm and 45 ill be picking up a AR 15 next week but i dont think she will be able to handel that just yet. My daughter knows she can handle my gun anytime she wants as long as i am there with her and have cleared it and then she must also check to make sure it is clear. I know there are classes to teach adults but are there any child based classes ?

[C.J.]

I actually started with airguns with my 9 year old, both a pistol and a rifle so he could get used to the mechanics without worrying about recoil. I also started off by drawing him a picture of the sight picture he should see, then had him draw it a few times. Worked really well.

[dwalk]

I am going to agree that a rifle is a little easier to learn to shoot with initially. Also make sure you work on teaching what proper sight alIgnment and picture should look like. And shoot reactive targets. One of my favorite when I was little was juice boxes, or those little plastic juice containers.

[CenterTree]

I'd use a .22 rifle, but that's me.

For children, "sucking" at what you are shooting at is a good way to lose interest real quick.
Balloons or other "reactionary" targets make for a more enjoyable shooting experience all around.

I couldn't begin to offer any advice on how to teach a small child to properly sight a handgun.


I shot my dad's .357 magnum once when I was a kid. I had little interest in doing so again. (until he loaded some wax bullets to shoot in it)

I am going to agree that a rifle is a little easier to learn to shoot with initially. Also make sure you work on teaching what proper sight alIgnment and picture should look like. And shoot reactive targets. One of my favorite when I was little was juice boxes, or those little plastic juice containers.

Kids (and adults) love to see the results of their fired shot. My kids love things like shakin soda cans and eggs.

Great to know you are teaching a youngster. A little suggestion though, I think a 9mm handgun is too much for an 11year old girl as a first experience. Just my opinion though.

She may let on that it was enjoyable, but she may feel differently. Then you are defeating the whole purpose.

How about a .22 pistol. Maybe Walther p22 or Ruger Mark III.http://www.best22cal.com/handgun-reviews/walther-p22

If she feels confident, she will desire to shoot more and THAT is the goal.

Safety first!!

Good job!

[elementfreak431]

A .22 is the way to go, be it pistol or rifle. That what mostly everyone learns to shoot on (I know I did). You can't go wrong with a ruger 10/22. Explain to her how the leaf sights work and set up some easy targets like milk jugs full of colored water, or a gong. I remember shooting as a little kid that there was nothing more satisfying than hearing that "GOOOOONNNNNNNGGGG" sound from 50 yards with my dads ruger. Once she can hear/see the results of her shots, she will be hooked. Even after shooting for 8 years, it still gets boring just shooting paper

[Jam]

A .22 is the way to go, be it pistol or rifle. That what mostly everyone learns to shoot on (I know I did). You can't go wrong with a ruger 10/22. Explain to her how the leaf sights work and set up some easy targets like milk jugs full of colored water, or a gong. I remember shooting as a little kid that there was nothing more satisfying than hearing that "GOOOOONNNNNNNGGGG" sound from 50 yards with my dads ruger. Once she can hear/see the results of her shots, she will be hooked. Even after shooting for 8 years, it still gets boring just shooting paper

I fully agree with this, start with a smaller caliber. so that the noise and recoil doesn't cause your daughter to get scared and develop a flinch, those are extremely hard to break yourself of even if you continue to shoot for a few years. start small then the larger calibers will come naturally.