Youth Shooting Sports advice

[flymuch]

For those of you with kiddos in shooting sports, i am trying to introduce my 5 1/2 yr old son to shooting in a more responsible way than vidoe games and cop shows. I thought it would be a great sport for us both to develop in as I have been a "casual" shooter myself. I grew up around guns hunting birds and shooting rifles, but i had a place to do that. Being in the city narrows my choices to ranges only thus my interest in competition shooting for both of us.

In your expeience, is 5 1/2 too young to start? If so, when would you start? If not, which clubs/ranges in the Metroplex are kid friendly? What caliber and style of shooting is good to start? I have thought air pistols would be good, but is the cost of that equipment similar to say .22 rimfire equipment? What are advantages/disadvantages of both?

Thank you in advance to those who answer.

 

[Wolfwood]

interesting first post for sure!
welcome aboard first off,

secondly kudos for wanting to shoot with your son.

lastly, i dont have any kids, but jsut happened to see your post about 2 minutes after you psoted it, and i love being first in line
what i can say is, i think the age to start your kids out shooting, is whenever you feel it is the right time. personally, my dad wanted too get me shooting when i was younger than that,
and every year for christmas a new BB gun would be on my list, however this dream didnt come to fruition until i was 10-11 i think. and at that point iw as out in the pastures and fields almost every day. by this time my dad wasnt around very much to help me learn the basics, and i ended up kindof learning on my own. which wasnt all bad, but i would trade almsot anyhtign to be able to share that with him in my earlier years.


demystifying guns at an early age, and training safety procedures and rules will keep you kid from alot of trouble. IE, getting into your guns when you arent around. (there wont be any msytery about it, becasue he will know exactly what it does)

.22 LR .... mmmm what a cartridge. I ended up buying mine, when i was 21 and out living on my own. all my cousins got them when they where young, hell most of them got their first deer before they where 8.


well as far as pricing goes, go to wally world. i recomend a daisy powerline 880 as a starter rifle. (that was my first!) these are inexpensive and great fro backyard shooting, and firearms handling lessons.

a bolt action .22 would be a logical next step, and after all has been masteres, a 10-22 or a remington 597. these are both excellent rifles, i opted for the 597, because i loved the big game style synthetic stock, and nice thick barrel.

hope that helped!

 

[chubbyzook]

i was about 3 or 4 when i got my first .22 and like 8 before i saved up and bought my first shotgun. your son will be great with a .22 aslong as you teach him safety and precausions and ofcourse always keep the gun locked up. there's plenty of .22s that can be had for around 100 bucks or so also. hopefully you and your son will have lots of fun learning and shooting.

 

[Moss_Berg5150]

I myself have often asked myself this same question... I alway here the "I been shooting since I was 2" or my father has been taking me to shoot since I could walk"... I chose to wait until my son was a little older (8) before I let him shoot only because I wanted to make sure that he could full comprehend everything I was telling him. I did try to introduce him to it around four or five but like any other child of that age, he listened but he didn't fully understand and would ocassinally forget some of the things I had covered with him. We shoot at least twice a month now and he fully gets it! Infact, I am more comfortable shooting with him now then some of the other yahoo's out there on the range!

 

[jake75]

I have two little girls, 9, and 11. I just started taking them to the range this year. Before that we started in the back yard with Red Rider BB guns shooting at cans. I taught them range safety, finger control, etc. When they were proficient with that I moved them to .22's. The younger is still on the bolt action Cricket .22. The older has moved on to semi auto starting on the next range visit. Next are pistols, but that may be a few months.

 

[matefrio]

May home they are allowed to fire BB guns at 5 yrs, rimfires at 8 yrs and centerfires at 12yrs. 12 yrs old I purchase a rimfire they can call their own if they want one. BB gun is a great way to see how they react to firearms. Daisy single pump can be had for under $20.

 

[eliska]

flymuch - I was in the same position/asking these same questions not long ago. We started my son at 5/almost 6 with a BB gun. Lots of repetition on the 4 basic rules of gun safety and a very strict rule that a lack of safety would result in the rifle going away for a long stretch. We had zero problems. At 7, he started on a 22 pistol. Lots of people say a rifle is better because it is easier to be awre of the muzzle direction, but the pistol worked out fine for us. The biggest thing I woudl stress is teaching him that the gun must stay pointed straight down range. B/c 22s FTF so often, kids may turn their whole body around (thus muzzling any bystanders) to tell you about the problem or ask for help. I stood behind my son with my hands near his elbows, ready to keep him from turning around. Again, no problems. Also, if you go to a commercial range, be very aware of high the bench is. Some kids are not tall enough to shoot over them. He could end up shooting into the edge of the bench! Our range has removable benches, but I hang a piece of yellow rope across the opening to remind him not to move forward/downrange. We are now into 22 rifles (single shot and lever). So long as he shows good safety and awareness, I will keep letting him try new things. But we recite the rules often and I am ever vigilant. Take it as slow as your child needs. Use reactive targets if you can and keep them close. Confidence will keep him interested. Good luck. Have fun. Stay safe.