how old is old enough to start shooting?

[G-Solutions]

Sorry for your loss. It seems that you will carry on where the boys father left off - all the best for everything that comes with that responsibility.

+1 in regards to the maturity of the kid. My oldest was almost 6 when he put the first .22's downrange with a Crickett. Before that we shot lots of airsoft pellets in the garage out of an Airsoft M4 (collapsible stock all the way forward is about the right LOP).

My younger son is now almost 7 is starting to develop an interest in shooting. When I started looking around for a rifle for him, I came across the Savage Rascal . Same size as the Crickett, but with a significantly better trigger. According to a Lady in their CS dept. the first ones are scheduled to ship early March.

My older son meanwhile has developed an interest in pistols. The Walther P22 fits his hand perfectly.

Edited to add: Reactive Targets rule! We used large plastic coffee cans, filled with water and frozen overnight - every hit sends a fountain of ice flying

[Dark Sky Solutions]

I started shooting when I was about 11. I have taught my son about respect for the gun and the 4 safety rules since he was old enuff to talk. He knows he can always come and ask me to see the guns in the safe. He can pull them out check if they are clear and laydown behind them to practice his cheek well. This last summer he wanted to start shooting so i started him off with the pellet gun. He did well but not to excited about it. I just built a dedicated AR in .22 and took him to the range last weekend. He practiced everything I have taught hi and he did very well at the range. Once he got behind the trigger of the .22 he went thru about 700 rounds in an afternoon.

I have a feeling he is hooked now. By the way my son is 7 years old, I don't think it is ever to early to start them on the basic principles and respect for the weapons.

My daughter who is 10 just strted shooting last week and did great. It wa funny to see my son "the old pro" giving my daughter directions on how to operate his AR22. She knows the 4 safety rules as obeys them. I am pretty sure she is hooked and I will need to build her her own gun but pink. Lol.

Much respect to the OP for stepping up and showing your godson the ropes. I am sorry fr your loss but it sounds like you will make him proud by teach his son the ropes of life. God Bless.

just my .02

[Seabass_Seeker]

Reminds me of when I took the hunter safety course. I believe I was 16 at the time and there were a range of other kids from about 8-12yo and a guy in his college years. Most of us "kids" did very well except for two, the 8yo and the college aged guy.

The 8yo just didn't have the attention span needed to focus and the critical aspects of hunter safety. The college aged guy? When we did the live fire drill he left his finger in the trigger guard as he brought the 20 gauge to his shoulder, exactly what the instructers said not to do. He ended up discharging a round which hit the trap box and was immediately failed.

Goes to show 'ready' depends solely on individual. Wow when I count the years this took place awhile ago, yet I still remember it clearly.

[Emdawg]

I have no children or even a wife, but I do have experience when you DON'T PAY ATTENTION.

Rule #1: The gun is ALWAYS loaded, even when it is not.
Rule #2: Keep the gun pointed down range and always away from self and others.

If someone (myself) had been a bit less overconfident when it came to the rules then I wouldn't have a bum right leg.

45 Long Colt does not so wonderful wonders to your health.

[GrinderCB]

I fired my first shots at age 7. One of those great memories of childhood. While visiting my grandparents in Indiana during the summer of '71 my grandpa took me over to my uncle's farm with its large open space and taught me how to load and shoot his Nylon '66. We shot cans off fence posts and at ones we tossed in the creek that ran across the property. I had a ball. He taught me to always keep it pointed in a safe direction when not shooting, preferably down at the ground, to always check if it was loaded regardless of how certain I was, and to keep my finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.

You have to know your own kid to know if he's capable of minding the simple rules of gun safety. If you think he's responsible enough to deal with a gun in a real way and not treat it as a toy then IMO that's how old a kid has to be.

[Bobby Hated]

ha this thread is still going. i ended up getting my godson a pellet gun for xmas. only to realize that he is far too small to shoot it properly. so for his birthday i've decided to buy him one of those lil chipmunk rilfes i learned to shoot with in boy scouts. maybe i should just saw a few inches off the stock of his pellet gun in the meantime.

[dave_cg]

Age is not the determining factor for me. Maturity is king. I taught my kids at 8 but there are kids in their teens that I wouldn't allow to shoot. It all depends on the child.

So true. When I was a kid, it seemed like 12 was a common age to start. My own daughter will turn 13 this spring -- I have yet to take her rifle shooting, but in the past year her ability to stay focused and make good choices has made huge leaps. So I'm going to start with her soon. We've done some archery for a couple of years, which has helped instill firing line discipline.

My nephew has a 10 year old son, and last fall the kid harvested a buck during Iowa's muzzle loader season -- for the fourth year in a row. My nephew has a reputation as a safety uber-fanatic, to the point that some of his friends refuse to hunt with him any more. Which recalls the point another poster in this thread made about watching the child and being 100% aware 100% of the time what is happening. Be like my nephew -- being safe nearly to the point of being a prick has something to be said for it, and it never has hurt my nephew's harvest.

Kind of on topic a kind of funny: One time visiting family back in Minnesota the topic of "guns in schools" came up. To quote my father-in-law: "We had pretty strict rules about guns in school, too. First off, you had to be at least in the 6th grade to bring a gun to school. You had to unload as soon as you got on school grounds. And there was no hunting during recess." Those were different times.

[frankDmole]

My 5yr old, with her new Savage 64, she started shooting around 3.5yrs old, I still drill her on safety checks before shooting.

[SOCAL INFIDEL]

I bought my son a Red Ryder last year and explain to him gun safety, how to handle and manipulate his weapon and he's actually gotten pretty good with it. I never told him I'd upgrade him, but I think it'd be a great surprise. I got an OLD Springfield (Stevens) single shot, bolt action .22. I plan on giving it to him for Christmas this year after I restore it. It's in pretty rough shape. I'll start a thread soon with pics

[felixthecat1]

sticky?

[mofojoe]

There was a guy who brought his newborn to the range and you should've read the post's on that one

[paul0660]

My number is nine, but it is a carrot years before.

[audiophil2]

My boy shot his first gun at 5.
I bought him a Cricket when he turned 7.
He is 7 1/2 and now mostly shoots an AR15.22 but still likes to start off and finish with the Cricket.
This fall he will be shooting full auto.

[thomashoward]

with my helping them hold my K22 so they wouldn't drop it in the mud,their first rounds were fired in the Eel river mud flats when they were 3 and 4

[Meety Peety]

If it's old enough to crawl, its in the right position (prone shooting)