Coming of age

[CSACANNONEER]

To those who think 8 is too young:

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=139390&page=2

[motorhead]

i got my bb gun at 6. at 8 i got a .22.

[eijjie33]

you're one cool dad.
when i was 7 my dad got me a crossman pellet gun

[rg_1111@yahoo.com]

I think at 8 yrs old a BB gun is Appropriate with firearm safety and supervision.

[rkt88edmo]

I don't remember my father's aunt, but I do remember how excited I was every time we would visit her because they would turn me loose in the back yard with the BBgun rifle and some empty mil cartons.

I don't think I ever got that excited about visiting my other relatives when I was 6 years old.

I just bought a used Winchester 62A (pump .22lr) and can't wait for my kids ot be old enough to enjoy it with me.

[Linus]

Great choices, I got my first BB gun when I was 9 and its a perfect age to teach them to proper firearm safety, and most importantly they will learn some respect for firearms and their capabilities.

[Blue]

Sweet! I bought my 8 year old a Red Ryder for his 8th birthday last September. It hangs on his bedroom wall on a gun rack with my Red Ryder that I had as a kid. He's got a small "tin can range" in our back yard, and is back there almost every day shooting. Brings me back to when I was a kid.

[markw]

Buy him a 10/22 and take him shooting, I started taking my son with me to the range when he was 9. He loves to go shooting and when one of the guys brings out their M2 he likes to shoot it.

I don't think he's ready to shoot my AR-50 yet but when we're at the range I can't load the 10/22 mags fast enough. I think I'm going to have to break out some of the 30 rounders that I've had buried.

I make my 11yo load his own mags on the 10/22. They have jr shooting programs at most local ranges. At south bay rod and gun club (sd area) they provide the rifles and everything. He's shot the AR, but prefers the 10/22 with the scope. The jr comps they have to shoot aperture sights and bolt action.

He started on bb guns in scouts and we also have a little daisy 880 or similar pump bb/pellet gun.

[toolman9000]

At 8 my Dad bought me a Stainless Ruger Single-Six... we went to B&B guns together to pick it out, that 15 day wait sucked!

[Desert_Rat]

Super cool....My kids have had an air soft range in our yard on and off for a few years now.
For 8th grade graduation my son got a WASR 10

[anyracoon]

The tradition that I started is on my Grandchilds first Christmass they get a Daisy Ryder. Each Christmass I take a picture of them with their Daisy. So far have gifted 3 of them.

[wash]

I had parents that were not in to firearms at all, my first exposure was when I was 13 or 14, shooting a pistol that belonged to a friend's parents. One other time I got to shoot a couple .22's with my Grandfather. I really started shooting later in highschool with an old Remington Rand 1911A1 that a classmate had borrowed from his boss.

I had asked for bb guns since I was quite young. I was not the type of kid that bounces off walls or does really stupid things without thinking. I think by the time I was 7 or 8 I would have been mature enough for a bb gun or pellet rifle. I wouldn't have gone around shooting birds or squirrels or anything. By the time I was 10, I'm sure I was mature enough to use a .22 at a range with supervision but it didn't happen.

It would have happened sooner if I had some guidance. Since I have started shooting I have only had a couple minor issues with range masters, mostly procedural and in my mind I did nothing unsafe (for instance adjusting a scope with a screwdriver while the rifle was loaded was "against the rules" even though I had the stock shouldered, it was pointed at the target down range and the safety was on). In my opinion that's not too bad for someone who is mostly self taught.

When I have kids I hope they will have a similar temperment. If they do I intend to start them young and encourage them to not accept the limits that other people would place on them.