When are they old enough to start shooting?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - When are they old enough to start shooting?

Posted: 9/30/2005 6:17:01 PM EDT

My son just turned 5 years old and I got to thinking when will he be old enough to start shooting? I'v also been thinking of what I should start him off with. I was thinking something like an air soft so I can teach him indoors and outdoor.

I don't even know where to go with this because this is my first child and I know a lot of you guys out there have gone through this and could give me the advice I need. Thanks

Posted: 9/30/2005 6:18:35 PM EDT

[#1]

teach him safty with a cap gun or unloaded bb gun. Then get him a BB gun, move up to a cricket .22 in a few years.

Posted: 9/30/2005 6:18:38 PM EDT

[#2]

When they can voluntary pull the trigger, duh.

Edit: Fox, I like my answer better.

Posted: 9/30/2005 6:18:43 PM EDT

[#3]

I started about then. BB gun (man I miss Yellow Front) and then a bolt action .22.

Just make sure you take him out whenever he wants to go, and have him clean the guns.

Posted: 9/30/2005 6:20:47 PM EDT

[#4]

When they can demonstrate the proper responsibility.

Posted: 9/30/2005 6:28:28 PM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
When they can demonstrate the proper responsibility.

+1

Posted: 9/30/2005 6:29:27 PM EDT

[#6]

My nephew is 2 years old. He is shooting his Red Rider BB Gun (From Bench Rest) and learning to Cast his fishing pole (snoopy). Does pretty good Casting the fishing pole. Has to use both hands to pull the trigger on the BB Gun. Saw him helping Grandma hauling in 3 pounds of Hamburger meat. Yep he's gonna be a HOS.

I was trying to teach him to say, "BE Advised , I'm mean nasty and tired, I eat Concentina wire and piss napalm, and I can put a round through a flee's ass at 200 meters!"

God how I love that Kid.

Posted: 9/30/2005 6:32:32 PM EDT

[#7]

I was between 5-10 years old when I started busting .22 lr caps YMMV.

Never shot anything bigger until I was like 16 or so.

My dad despised airguns/bb guns, thought they denigrated and dimished the killing power of firearms. I uderstand and agree with what he meant.

He's not anti-gun himself.

Posted: 9/30/2005 6:33:10 PM EDT

[#8]

I owned a 22 bearcat(handgun) when I was 5 and had a marlin semiauto 22 rifle at 6, my father had me start on a pelit(sp?) rifle when I was 3.

Posted: 9/30/2005 6:35:39 PM EDT

[#9]

All of mine dropped a hammer by age 2. They are all addicted.

Posted: 9/30/2005 6:37:54 PM EDT

[#10]

When they can hold a rifle in a safe direction and know why.

Posted: 9/30/2005 6:50:56 PM EDT

[#11]

It's never too early....

Posted: 9/30/2005 6:54:04 PM EDT

[#12]

When I first saw the title of this thread I thought it said "looting."

Posted: 9/30/2005 7:54:36 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
When they can demonstrate the proper responsibility.

I disagree…

Start them young and TEACH them responsibility.

My grandfather had me sitting on his knee shooting my fathers .22 single shot bolt action rifle at age 3.

IMO the younger you start a kid and TEACH him the sooner you take the fascination out of guns and they become tools to be respected.

Posted: 9/30/2005 7:58:06 PM EDT

[#14]

I taught my daughter how to shoot when she was 8. and my wife when she was 25

Posted: 9/30/2005 8:05:46 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
When they can demonstrate the proper responsibility.

+1

And decision making skills.

Posted: 9/30/2005 8:06:19 PM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
It's never too early....

photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/Attachments/DownloadAttach.asp?iImageUnq=40292

Posted: 9/30/2005 8:09:33 PM EDT

[#17]

My father started teaching me to shoot and be responsible with a firearm at that age.

I'd been around them since long before that, and already knew the respect of firearms. Guns were no secret mystery in our household, waiting to be stumbled on. We all knew very young what a gun was, what it could do, and not to mess with them unless given permission.

Posted: 9/30/2005 8:43:26 PM EDT

[#18]

We were started by age five with a BB gun. Allowed to shoot .22s and .38 specials with close supervision, even at that age. Graduated to a Sheridan pellet rifle, then a .410, then a 12 ga, all before we were presented with our own .22s. Dad reasoned the .22 had more potential for hazard versus a shotgun primarily because of how far the .22 bullet can travel.

So, we grew each hunting season. Dad had a goal. By the time we were 16 and had access to cars, he wanted to be sure we were good to go regarding our education on firearms. By that age, we would go hunting with our buddies after school without adult supervision, and since we'd already had a lifetime of safety training from dad, it was no big thing. Long before I got to 16 my little brother and I would hunt all day without an adult within miles of us. We knew what was expected of us, and we followed the rules.

I shot 3-position smallbore competitions from age 14 on, so by the age of 16 I'd literally fired thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Of course, although I'd rather not consider myself a fossil, times were different then. Lots of my friends and I would have guns and ammunition in our cars in the school parking lot. That way we could head straight from school out to the marsh or fields. We never, ever had an issue with guns at school.

Posted: 9/30/2005 8:47:13 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
Quoted:
When they can demonstrate the proper responsibility.

+1

And decision making skills.

You are crazy! That could take decades! We are talking when to start shooting, not become an emancipated adult!

Posted: 9/30/2005 9:54:23 PM EDT

[#20]

10 years old is about right in my opinion. If ya wanna go YOUNG then not under 7 years old. Legally under the age of 7 children dont understand consequences and therefore are responsible for their actions.

Posted: 9/30/2005 10:09:54 PM EDT

[#21]

I dunno, My Pa put the 12gauge in my hands when I was 6 and told me we were going to birng home dinner. That was all there was to it... (kinda funny how things are a little different these days)

Personaly I think that hunting is the best way to teach kids about shooting but,
I started mine out with cap guns as early as 3 just to work on muzzle & trigger control just for shits and giggles...

Looking forward to bringing my 7yo daughter deer hunting this year, I think I am more excited the she is. lol

Posted: 9/30/2005 10:13:54 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
teach him safty with a cap gun or unloaded bb gun. Then get him a BB gun, move up to a cricket .22 in a few years.

WTF, you're not even old enough yet.

Posted: 10/1/2005 3:05:11 AM EDT

[#23]

Thanks for all the help. I'm just thinking what would be a good bb gun or 22lr to start him off with?

Posted: 10/1/2005 9:59:03 AM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:
Quoted:
When they can demonstrate the proper responsibility.

I disagree…

Start them young and TEACH them responsibility.

My grandfather had me sitting on his knee shooting my fathers .22 single shot bolt action rifle at age 3.

IMO the younger you start a kid and TEACH him the sooner you take the fascination out of guns and they become tools to be respected.

That is when you start TEACHING them. But that is not when they start SHOOTING.

In the course of TEACHING them if they demonstrate they LACK the required level of responsibility you aren't gonna move them to shooting are you?

Posted: 10/1/2005 10:00:02 AM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
Thanks for all the help. I'm just thinking what would be a good bb gun or 22lr to start him off with?

Isn't a Daisy Red Ryder the traditional requirement?

Posted: 10/1/2005 10:06:35 AM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:
When they can demonstrate the proper responsibility.

Absolutely. And when they are physically able to handle a gun. Started my son with a BBGun at 7. By 9 he was shooting my 9mm, .45 and AR.

Posted: 10/1/2005 10:31:03 AM EDT

[#27]

I started my daughter out at age 6 with the ar15 with a 22 cal conversion kit with a 30 round mag. By the time she was 7 she asked to shoot the bullets that our soldiers shoot to kill the bad guys. Ever since then I have to make sure she has at least 300 rounds just for herself when we go to the range. She is now 9 and shoots everything I own. She prefers the ar with an aimpoint over everything else. Its simple for a kid to shoot because they can shoot with both eyes open. My son is about to turn 5 and he will be going to the range soon and will start out with the 22 conversion kit in the ar15 also. I get teary eyed everytime she hits the target at 100 yrds.

Posted: 10/1/2005 10:34:30 AM EDT

[#28]

I've started them as early as 2 1/2 ,on a bb gun (yes,it was a Red Ryder).A GREAT youth .22,it the CZ 452 youth model.Bolt action,and kid sized.Hell,you should see the looks I get when I take it to the range.By myself.

Posted: 10/1/2005 10:37:33 AM EDT

[#29]

I was 5, my son is 3 and he shoots with my help.

Posted: 10/1/2005 10:38:01 AM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:
When they can demonstrate the proper responsibility.

I am taking my 29yr. old OLDER brother shooting for the first time today due to this very statement. (Yeah it took 29years for him to grow the F*** up!)

Posted: 10/1/2005 1:23:05 PM EDT

[#31]

What is a good stater rifle?

Posted: 10/2/2005 6:03:42 AM EDT

[#32]

I was looking at a ruger 10/22 for my son or a lever action or maybe a bolt action. I'm not sure yet.

Posted: 10/2/2005 6:34:14 AM EDT

[#33]

I started at six. The first gun I ever shot was a Marlin Golden 39A lever action .22 rifle. It's still in my dad's safe and will eventually be handed down to me or one of my brothers.

Six is a good age. Whenever the child is ready to learn responsibility is the right age.

CJ

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - When are they old enough to start shooting?

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