Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters First gun for a kid

Every child is different: I would trust my 7-year-old daughter with nuclear launch codes but not my son. When he shoots, I am in physical contact with both him and the gun at all times-- I want to whet his appetite but I'm not comfortable walking away. My middle daughter has no real interest in it so I don't push.

I received a Win single shot 22 "boy's rifle" for my 7th birthday - parents wouldn't let me have a BB gun. Too dangerous.
After impressing me with the power of the 22, when ~ 8, we had moved to a small farm, and Dad let me go bring in the milk cow - carrying my little rifle.
"Don't shoot toward the road, or the house, or the animals."
Many jack rabbits were killed.

Well my first firearm was a Sears .410 bore bolt action single shot. My dad purchased it for me with the thinking that a .22 with its much greater range was more of a danger if the "know what is downrange rule" was not followed. Not arguing whether that thinking is sound but I sure had a lot of fun with that old shotgun. Killed a lot of squirrels, rabbits and quail with it. Now there were .22rf in the house to use but the .410 was mine.

I think one advantage of the .410 is that it is easier to hit with so a kid can make shots on squirrels, rabbits, etc. and that makes using it so much more fun. If you are only interested in teaching marksmanship and not also having hunting part of the experience then of course the .22rf makes sense.

Yep. Gotta learn to know your backstop with a rifle.

Got my son one of those Cricket bolt-action .22s when he was about 5 or 6. that is what he learned to shoot with. Great little guns for beginners. When we go to the mountains and I take my 22 rifle, my wife gets the cricket out and she loves shooting it. So you are never to old I guess.

I started my boys out shooting a kids size .22lr single shot when they were 4 years old. They learned the rules of safely handling a gun quickly and moved into a mini-14. The strict structure of safety first isn't a habit until you make it that way. But it sticks. They were killing coyotes by seven.


P.S. Wish I could add pictures!

14 in my family that pre dates Daniel Boone is the minimum age on centerfires, or Rim fires.

Children have no concept of the damage that a gun can do.

Age 7 is for BB guns and pellet rifles. Teach them safe gun handling.

Note: at 13 my cousin shot the top of his brothers head off with a 20ga Stephens Single shot while quail hunting on Thanksgiving day in 1963, he survived....barely.

When Children make mistakes with a gun, you do not get a re-do.

I started my boy with a red rider BB gun to learn open sights, safety on/off, trigger finger.
I take him out hunting and he carries his red rider to learn to carry his rifle and once again muzzle control.
He’ll be 9 on Monday and he likes to shoot the RAR with open sights from the bench as it’s still little big for him.
I also let him go to town with the 10/22 sometimes

Not a gun writer but my 8-year old and 12-year old have been shooting a Savage Rascal for years, and they still love it even though I have a Ruger Charger and other rimfires for them to use. We started shooting Colibri rounds in the Rascal and now shoot CB Longs. It's quiet, accurate, and a ton of fun. In fact, it's one of my favorite firearms that I have owned. I will never sell that Rascal. My 2-year old daughter will learn to shoot with it.

I originally bought a Cricket in 2011, but quickly found out that it sucked. Sold it, and bought a Rascal, probably in 2011/2012. After 8 or 9 years, we've shot a lot of Colibris and CB in that Rascal. We don't shoot many standard or high velocity 22 LR rounds through it though.

Jason

The older boy had a 10/22 with a scope at 8. I think the temptation of rapid fire retarded his proper handling of a firearm. Likewise, the scope handicapped his ability to shoot iron sights.

The younger boy had a Red Rider at 5. At 6, I got him a CZ 452 bolt-action. Its akin to a Cricket, but the Cricket has that case rupture vent hole that can blow out brass and carbon into your face. The CZ also had a magazine box blank that made it a single shooter. Slowed him down and kept the focus on each individual shot. Kept it iron sights. Picked up a MkIII at 8. He’s now 10 and has a RAR 6.5CM and 870. Still shoots the CZ for fun (indoors) and he loves shooting bug holes unbenched. Wouldn’t do it any other way.

I started my three sons with a small bolt action 22, what a disaster, they took forever to line up to shoot and then trying to cycle the action. It was a process of much frustration and little hands have trouble with heavy, breaks-like-an-old-pine-limb triggers, not to forget inexpensive "starter" rifles typically lack the finish of moving parts that make things work smoothly. I bought a Ruger 10-22 and installed a Timney trigger and our troubles were solved. Children do not typically have the strength, coordination or dexterity of adults so their needs are quite different. Frustration takes the fun away from shooting. Also, targets that react, steel plates, targets that spin or balloons make it more fun for them. Shooting holes in paper gets boring fast. This was my experience, yours I'm sure will be different. BTW, their next rifle was a Winchester 70 in 250-3000.

Fantastic!

I have seen several kids with 10-22s that scared me badly enough I refuse to rabbit hunt with them with their 10-22s. With a loaded magazine a kid kills a rabbit and starts running to it. They fail to recognize the gun has reloaded itself. They do not get enough trigger time to realize what they are doing. A Rascal cures the issue while they are learning. At less than $150 they are nearly disposable, or can be resold easily.

My son got his first centerfire at 6 when I stocked a 700 in 243 for him. He only got to handle it when closely supervised. My 3 year old granddaughter got an 870 youth 20 gauge. Again, she does not get to handle it until she has a lot more trigger time. She is 4 now and gets her trigger time with her Rascal.