kids shooting?

[countryboy1365]

At what age do you think is a good age for a child to start shooting. I got my daughter a pink daisy for her 5th birthday she only shoots it with adult supervision. And that got me thinking i remember shooting my first 22 short pistol at about 8 or 9. What age did you shoot your first real firearm.

[internet troll]

At what age do you think is a good age for a child to start shooting. I got my daughter a pink daisy for her 5th birthday she only shoots it with adult supervision. And that got me thinking i remember shooting my first 22 short pistol at about 8 or 9. What age did you shoot your first real firearm.

I think it depends upon the maturity of the kid. I got my 6 year old son a bb gun a while ago. He does well with that and has given me a chance to drive in a lot of basics about gun handling. I will be taking him to my club in the next couple of weeks to shoot my .22. Then we will go from there.

[rmagill]

I think it depends upon the maturity of the kid.

Bingo. There is a thread that was started recently about a 5 y/o boy who schooled an older man on firearm safety. On the other hand, there are 30 year old friends of mine that I wouldn't trust in the same house as a firearm. I have seen how these people recklessly handle firearms and they are not mature enough to be around them.

[NuclearSociety]

My parents never were into firearms, My brothers got to shoot 22's and shotguns in scouts but I never got to. I shot my first ever firearm at the age of 21 when I bought my first handgun and went to the range.

[AMC58]

+1 for post #3

My son turned 7 last month and the wife and I felt he was ready physically and maturity-wise. After drilling the three major rules of firearm safety (and adding a forth- never touch a gun unless given permission), we went out to the range. I had him shoot my S&W M&P 15-22 while resting on a sandbag and the stock all the way in. In no time at all he was ringing a 10" plate at 50 yards with regularity.

As far as safety goes, not once did I see him do anything unsafe. I took him again the following week with no problems whatsoever. I ask him at least once a day about the rules of firearms safety and he remembers (and can explain them) every time.

It's made shooting even better now that I can share the experience with my son. He loves it!

[csmith]

I've been putting a lot of thought into this lately trying to remember back to exactly when my first shooting experience was. I figure I was 8 the first time my dad let me shoot one of his .22s, and 10 when he bought me one of my own.

My oldest will be 4 in October and he is just itching to go with me. He's already been out to the club and been around gunfire, no problems there. I've been drilling as much safety as he can understand into his head for the last year, but (when I'm honest with myself) I can clearly see that he is not ready yet. When I take him to cabelas and pump tokens into that shooting game they have upstairs he grabs the rifle and just starts pulling the trigger uncontrollably with whatever finger(s) he can get on it the fastest.

Yesterday I picked up one of the Wii games they sell there along with the rifle/controller thingy so I can start working on him with that.

[countryboy1365]

as far as the age question goes that was what i was figuring i would get, which i know she isnt ready for just yet. Im kind of surprised that more of you out there dont remember the first time you shot... I figured that would be one of those moments you never forget kind of experiences. I know mine was.

[Metz]

I grew up behind the iron curtain, so I shot for the first time in the high school, during our 2 year paramilitary training (.22 rifles and full auto AKs). As of the kids now and here, I think depending on their maturity 5 years is the reasonable age for the first pink .22 cal rifle.

7-8 years is reasonable age for first .22 handgun shots for a kid, with prior rifle experience and steady compliance with firearms safety rules. The most important part in that the whole ordeal is mainly about muzzle discipline, that is much more likely to put others (and the kid) in jeopardy with pistols, since it's relatively hard to mess with long rifle barrels.

Everything above is not an advice, yet merely suggestion, based on several years-long observation as an RSO, that includes providing range safety for many boyscout troops (usually 2-3 per year).

[17nut]

My youngest turns 4 December 13th and a Cricket 22 is being planned for Xmas this year. We will see if he is mature enough to shoot it right at Xmas or if he will wait till spring to even see it.

[Grizz2720]

I was at a celebration yesterday and we had the 7 yr old shooting a 22 off the bench. One of the guys at muzzle loading gun club I belong to started his kid shooting a muzzle loader of a bench when he was 5. 15 grains of 2 F in a 45 cal rifle this was off a bench with Dad loading.
My policy with my kids was, when the kid can hold the rifle safely and aim and shoot it off hand then they started shooting. After see the success parents that started their kids shooting off the bench I would now start them a little younger off a bench.