My son is 8 years old and I want to take him to the range. he has never shot a gun before and want to start him off on my 10/22.

At what age did you bring your kids to a formal range. Did you have any problems with the following the rules??

I have been shooting since I was 3 years old. My Son got to take his first shot when he was 4 years old. If there was any advice that I could give you it would be to not take him to a busy range with gunshots and such all around you while teaching him the rules of gun safety. Go to a place where it is you and him. Take only the gun that he is to fire. Have control of the ammunition at all times. When it is time to retieve the target both of you should do it. That way he is not left sitting with the gun with you downrange. This is stuff you might already know, but it doesn't hurt to hear it again. BTW..........Have a safe and fun time with your Son.

Another thing....I noticed that you are taking a 10/22. Only put one round in the magazine at first, so he has to learn to work the action several times. After he has mastered that put a few more in a little at a time.

My kids have never been to a range but first shot at 5 or 6

4 and 5.

They and their mom love shooting.

My wife hits the silouettes at 200 yards using her with iron sights.

Age 8.  Before they could go to the range, they had to memorize and recite the Four Rules, and they had to write them out.  Lots of praise when they got it right.

At the range, my goal was to make it a positive experience.  I have seen morons try to "scare" their children into "respecting" guns, by handing them a .357 Magnum and no ear protection, or by shooting something and blowing it up, to dramatize how powerful and dangerous guns are.  IMO, all they did was teach their children to hate and fear guns (and their moron parents, who would abuse their children that way).

They got eye protection and ear protection.  I used targets with huge 10-rings, and put them at 5 yards.  Then, with no time pressure, the kids got to shoot at the targets, off a bench.  Not surprisingly, they got 5 bullseyes.  I praised them for their spectacular marksmanship.  They got to save their targets, and put them up on display in their bedrooms.

Same drill as they progressed through more powerful or more complex weapons (like handguns).  I always set up the first experience so they could not fail.  They were both shooting .45 autopistols by age 12.  They did not shoot at humanoid (e.g. IPSC) targets until age 13, after we had a discussion about there being very few, but some, really bad people in the world, and how, sadly, sometimes it was necessary to shoot another person to stop their evil.

No scolding, all smiles, all positive reinforcement.

I don't have any kids....so I'm no help there.  

My parents are highly anti-gun, so they never took me to the range.  Sadly, to this day, they are disgusted by the fact that I own firearms.  

My good friend and I just took his 6 year old son shooting for the first time. He was shooting my AR with a .22 conversion and an Eotech. He loved it and the following day his dad took him to buy a Marlin .22 of his own.

My 6 y/o daughter goes with me. She can shoot my 12 ga, just not that much.

She was 5 and he was 7.

First rifle at 10 for each of them..

First handgun at 16.

Only rule:  I keep in my possesion until they are 21 and have a permanent resdience...

~Dan

Range - 8 or 9. Too many rules and cranky bastards for much younger than that (with my boys anyway, not the most disciplined kids in the world)

Shooting - 6. A few thousand acres of national forest, a 10/22, and some pop cans or clay pigeons.

I want to teach them my rules first. I don't want them to worry about 10 other people on either side of us right at first.

My dad never took me to the range...I don't have any kids.  But I do have to take my best friends dad to the range...does that count?  If so, he's like 56..

We started with pellet guns at 5 to 8 years old.

The 3 boys I took when they each were about 8 yrs old.

The girls know "The Rules" and have handled them, but when it comes to actualy going to the range, they always change there mind at the last minute


The first time I took my oldest son I hand him my Colt 1911 w/ one rnd . I remind him how to line up the sights, squeeze the trigger etc.
The target was at the 7 yard line. I put about 2 mags thru it first and was grouping like a shotgun

Me: "Now line up the sights on the bullseye and squeeze."
Him: "okay"
BANG
Him:<with a huge smile on his face> "Like that?"

With his first shot ever, he missed dead center by less than 1/4"

3

AS soon as they can buy thier own damn ammo.  

My stepsons were 8 and 6 when I took them shooting the first time.  I let them shoot the .22 pistols and had BB rifles for them to practice with as well.

I was probably about the same age when my Dad first took me.

Mine still has 3 months before he even turns 3.  Its going to be a wait and see thing for me.  When i feel like he's ready I'll do it.  Maybe I'll start with an airsoft pellet gun sometime between 3 and 4 and see if he listens.  If yes, we'll go to 10/22 out in the boonies somewhere.

I guess I was in my late 20s or early 30s.

Get'em out there, just watch him real close

4 or 5...(?) been a long time now (she's 14)



eta: quite a few years ago:



yep, it's got the happy switch

5 & 6 - That was 16 years ago.

my dad never took me when i was a kid. i took my son last year when he was 13 when i gave him his garand.

My kids grew up on my farm and I wasn't really into "shooting" that much, just hunting.

So if they didn't want to hunt they didn't shoot.

Twenty years later...

A really nice range has been built.
I own all sorts of guns.
And all the grand kids started shooting at about age three.


GM

3

and btw, I have been getting them out to the dove field since they were still in diapers.

I just took my daughter shooting for the 1st time. She is 9. She shot her single shot .22. She loved it and it was, for her, the right age to take her.

I started taking my son on short, low stress hunts (prairie dog shooting, coyote, antelope...) at age three.  He started going to the range with me at four.  My next son (due next month) will probably start the same regimen.

13, handguns, mom's rule (I learned which battle is worth fighting)
On her first outing after several rounds I challenge her to a "dinger" at 50 yards. Iron sites, Glock 17L. She goes first and nails dead center. . I cracked under pressure and I blow the first one., to this date she proclaims she is the better shot, she forgets:  "Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill"
She's 16 and is asking for her own handguns. Funny kid, instead of hanging posters on her bedroom's wall  she hangs "holey" targets.

Both m,y sons started shooting at 5, now at 7 and 10 they go to the range when ever I do.

I have my own Range behind the house.

My sons have been shooting since they were 5 or so.





My daughter started at 3 and fired her first rifle at 4.

I have twin boys who are now six years old.  I took them shooting for the first time last year (but I didn't take them both at the same time so I could give each boy my undivided attention).
We shoot a 10/22 as well.  They really like it when I blow up baloons and tape them to the backstop.  They can immediately tell when they make a hit.
They also enjoy shooting at plastic bottles because they move when they hit them.  Of course, I make sure everything gets cleaned up before we leave.
Going shooting is now one of their favorite activites.