A ? for dad's out there.

[Lost Californian]

I purchased a Savage Cub-T for the granddaughters, 9 and 6, to learn on. It is a bolt action single shot, thumbhole stock. I let them shoot Aguila Super Colibri, primer only .22lr rounds, nice and quiet.

 

[lilop]

This is my first real post, but I can't think of a better topic for it. My children started on a s&w 617. It's a 10 rd revolver in 22lr...big gun + little rounds = no recoil. They were 6 and 7yrs old respectively when they were introduced to firearms. At that age, I introduced them to revolvers since that tended to be my carry gun at the time. I also let them know that if they EVER wanted to see my gun, all they had to do was ask. I then followed up with it, and EVERY time they asked to see it (which they initially did often, just to test me), I IMMEDIATELY dropped what I was doing and let them see it, with me in attendance, of course. This took away the big mystery of it all and also let them see that they didn't have to sneak behind my back to look my firearms. Now, they are 8 and 10yrs old (20 months apart), and they are regulars at the range with me. They have also gone up in caliber to my 9mm Glock and Ruger GP100 in 38 +p.

 

[cce1302]

"What do you ever shoot that doesn't have a scope in it?"

Skeet.

I have thought about introducing my kids to shooting with a scoped 22, then teaching them with iron sights. The purpose of using a scope to introduce them would be to give them an idea of what a rifle can do. Of course, a kid can get an idea of what a rifle can do with an unscoped .22 at ten yards, so I may not start with a scope, but it's something to think about.

 

[GetA2J]

<<snip>>
What IS the best firearm, and what IS the best presentation and age for introduction?

Eric the answer you seek for these questions is not a black and white answer.
It is true that the best caliber to start with is unanimously the .22lr.
I have a great little .22 that I have been squirrel hunting with. I plan to take my kids hunting and shooting as they mature.
THe answer to the age and method of presentation is as siverse as the people replying in this thread.
I personally feel that presentation is with education (like classroom studies) first they simply must know and follow the fantastic four!
The age of introduction however is entirely up to you. I would lik to take my kids out shooting as early/young as possible to egrain into them the wonderful gun culture and memories of good times with "dad". The caveat as I see it is they ABSOLUTELY must mind dad before they go to the range together. If for some reason they do not listen or respect or mind my commands while at the range the results could be detrimental. I always have electronic earmuffs so they can hear me and still have hearing protection. My 13yr old is getting more rebellious as he grows and the 9 yr old has good days and bad days as far as minding his dad, or mom for that matter.

 

[antsi]

My reasoning for such a smaller caliber rifle is, well, I am wanting to someday introduce both of my children to the wonderful gun culture.

Man, don't make excuses for buying a .22! A .22 LR rifle is the best rifle for practice and training at ANY AGE and ANY LEVEL OF SKILL.

Not to mention utility for small game, varmints, etc. If the balloon goes up, you probably will not be wanting to hunt rabbits and squirrels with your .308

There are a lot of shooters out there who think they are too big or too tough to learn anything shooting a .22 - I know because I used to be one. I am a much better shooter since I abandoned this foolishness, put a .22 handgun and a .22 rifle in my regular range rotation. Due to the low cost, .22 lets you shoot 10-50x as many round for the same $. The sheer volume of practice is immensely helpful. Plus, the low recoil of .22 is super helpful at breaking or avoiding the most common and problematic bad shooter habits.

But more importantly if you do not already have a .22 rifle you need to buy one anyway.

Ding, ding, ding, BINGO!

Sorry for the rant. Maybe I should move the discussion of the merits of .22 LR to another thread.

Back to your original question.
It is hard to beat a bolt action .22 LR rifle for any shooter of any age, and that's what I'm going to be starting my son on.
Many of the ones on the market these days come with cheap sights. The thinking is that most folks will put optics on them anyway.
I don't think that's necessarily a good thing - shooting with iron sights is learning the basics and will help build skills. Also, they're so much more durable and foolproof.
Something like this:
"WGRS" RECEIVER SIGHTS at Brownells=
can be easily installed on most .22's and will really improve the utility and accuracy of the gun. I am a big believer in the accuracy of peep sights and I think they're more "natural" for a learner.

I also have one of these
Benjamin Air Rifle 392 pellet gun at Cobra Airguns.com
that may see some "kid duty."
This is also highly useful for varmint control if you live in a neighborhood where discharging firearms is frowned upon (not that my wife or anyone else I would know would ever slaughter cute little bunnies just because they were getting into the garden, or anything )
These things shoot plenty well enough to group nicely, and a new shooter (or an old one for that matter) can certainly learn a lot by practicing with one.
Great for new shooters because there is ZERO noise or recoil. Also, depending on your circumnstances, you could set up a range in your garage, basement, or backyard when that might not be possible with firearms.

 

[TheGhostRider]

Recently my dad called me to come over to his house for a visit. Nothing unusual here.
My dad has been confined to a wheel chair for many years due to having had polio. When I was young my dad taught me to shoot a Marlin model 60. At the time he wasn't in a wheel chair but still had great difficulty walking but ALWAYS managed to take me fishing and shooting. Anyway, I digress. I go over for the visit and we talk about the "Good ol' days" and then he points me to a cabinet on the wall and tells me to please pull the long box out of there and bring it to him....

I do as requested... And with tears in his eyes he hands the box back to me and say's this is yours now. When I opened the box.. much to my surprise is the old Marlin 60. Just the way I remember it. I'm in my 40s now and I haven't seen that gun for over 20 years. I had no idea that pop's still had the damn thing. Yep.... I broke down a shed a few tears not out of sadness but for the wonderful memories that came flooding back into my mind of a hard but fun youth sharing what few moments me and dad had together.

It's now the center piece of my gun collection... A plain old Marlin 60.


The good old day's........ never more true.

 

[indykid]

You can't go wrong with a Marlin 60. They require almost no maintenance, last forever, are very accurate, low recoil, and very inexpensive.

So what is the right age to get your child involved? My late wife and I used to shoot trap off our back porch. Our 3 year old daughter one day decided that we were having too much fun and she wanted to try shooting the clays. I showed her proper firearm safety and loaded one light handload into my Remington 1100 20GA LT,then handed her the shottie. She held it at her side, since it was longer than she was, and my wife set the thrower. What my daughter didn't see was me sneak around behind her and hold the stock to keep it from jumping too bad.

In the greatest three-year-old squeeky voice she immitated mom and dad and yelled "PULL". She then put her finger on the trigger and BOOM! Didn't hit squat, but she didn't care. "AGAIN AGAIN" she yelled. So we loaded another round and we had one hooked kid.

 

[dice dealer]

I have to vote for the single shot 22 bolt action ..
you said you were worried about flash and noise ?
with the 22 single shot bolt action you can shoot 22 short , long and longrifle ..
with the short to start out its almost like having a suppressed rifle almost no noise or flash ...
then move to the long rifle and work your way up ....

 

[Chefcook]

My father started me out at 5 with a bb gun at 7 a .22 and 10 a 20ga. shotgun.

 

[haldir]

My Dad got me a 20 gauge pump for my first gun. You hit what you shoot at, and if you miss the bullet isn't travelling another mile away.

 

[Rookie]

My first gun was a Browning BPS 12 gauge. It's up to your kids. I saw that my dad enjoyed shooting guns, and I honestly didn't care if it kicked or not.

I can remember asking my dad what a British .303 felt like. I'll never forget when he turned around and punched me in the shoulder. I looked at him with tears in my eyes, and he said, "guess you can't handle the .303." I immediately stopped pouting and he let me shoot it...

 

[Jack Ryan]

I have been trying to accumulate firearms to keep forever. I found myself last month looking at and wanting to buy Marlin 60, but never did. My reasoning for such a smaller caliber rifle is, well, I am wanting to someday introduce both of my children to the wonderful gun culture.

But I am wondering what caliber to start with? For my girl, I was thinking something that does not kick, and it not loud. (marlin 60/1022)

I actually also bought a good little Pumpmaster BB gun. The front sight cants in whatever direction it is bumped, but I can still hit stuff with it.

What IS the best firearm, and what IS the best presentation and age for introduction?

This topic has been covered somewhere before I am sure, feel free to direct me or reference if so.

Eric

Single stroke, 177 cal, pellet rifle and or pellet pistol.

Get good ones you'd want to hunt squirrels with your self and they will stay in use by some one off and on from now on.

Next a stainless steel bolt action 22LR with a removable magazine. Get extra magazines and paint the portion of the magazine that goes inside the gun with blaze orange paint. Especially if you don't get stainless and have dark magazines.

When you decide it's hand gun time, get a stainless steel single action revolver in 22 long rifle. I highly recomend a Ruger Single Six.

For more power I recomend a black powder old army revolver as their first introduction to "something bigger dad". My choice would be a stainless steel Ruger Old Army, 7.5 inch barrel, adjustable target sight.

A kid can earn enough money to shoot themselves silly with these weapons and they'll never be able to shoot you in to the poor house if you let them out the door to bang away all day long. I have a shooting range, a water hole, a flowing creek, and a bridge, all in my front yard and Hoosier National Forrest in the back yard, I know.

When they are ready to start hunting, if they want to, the only thing else you really need to hunt every thing on the north american continent is a 12 gauge shot gun. Buy a Remington 870 and you will be prepared to hunt every thing that breathes and participate in every shooting sport that exists.

Don't waste your money buying kid size shotguns or 20 guage and other baloney under powered half job guns. Buy a 12 guage Remington 870 and use the money other people waste on that other crap to buy a Lee LoadAll in 12 guage and double your shotgun fun and parent/child project participation for half the money. On top of all that the kids really start learning and really know how a gun works by then.

The more they know about how it works, what it will do, what it takes to make it do it, the less you have to fear of them doing something stupid with it.

Stainless steel keeps everything nice a lot longer and easier so a kid can be held responsible for taking care of them, cleaning them, with our actually hurting any thing too much letting them learn from a few mistakes here and there. You still have a nice heirloom they will remember for ever and be using to teach their kids with the same gun someday.

 

[hotbarrel]

i picked up a rossi 22-410 this is a single shot with 2 barrels and is a youth model my thinking is that they will have more respect than they would for a bb-gun and being a hunter not just a shooter knowing they have only one shot promotes good shooting and a clean kill

 

[paulgl26]

my 5 year old has a 10/22 with an adjustable stock (ar-15 stile)
he has a blast every time we go to the range

 

[nova512]

i was taught on a marlin 99 same as the 60 they are great guns. 10/22 is better because you can make them lighter weight will effect what age you want to teach them if shooting away from a bench.my 5 y/o shoot my 17vs marlin on the bench and does a great job with it

 

[roughthumbs]

I am getting ready to get my 8 year old involved in shooting sports and all of the reply's have helped.

thanks.

 

[mettle]

It has been good reading. I have since went out and picked a lever .22lr Henry. It is a shorter carbine so it will be a good started after the pellet gun.

 

[paulgl26]

i was at the range with a p22 and my 5 year old
this is his first time with a handgun
he made me proud

YouTube - nicu at range

 

[redneckmedic]

daisy BB > single shot bolt .22 > .410 > 25 auto >20g pump >.243 bolt all before the age of 10, first deer at 11 with 243

 

[dbd870]

Started mine out on a 22lr. Agree that the 60 or the 10/22 would be fine.