how old for the first time ?

how old for the first time ? how old was your son or daughter when they went shooting at the range for the first time ? how old were you ?

[Bookman]

I sometimes see kids as young as 5 or 6 at the range. I don't like this. Kids that young are too young to appreciate firearms, IMHO. BB guns or softair guns would suit them better.

I wouldn't start a kid shooting until age 8. That's the age we recommend they start with .22's at the camps up here. Chipmunk rifles, subsonic ammo and light rifle targets.

[Shaun]

I started around 8 - I do plan on buying any kid of mine their first rifle by 6 or 7 though, I have a feeling around me they will have an appreciation plus I will take the mystery out of the whole gun issue so they do learn to respect them

[gunssb]

I think people will have a lot of different opinions on what the right age is. But I think wee little kids shouldn't be taken to the range - we had a guy come to the rifle range the other day with his daughter who was barely 4. I immediately stopped shooting & told others to do the same when I saw that the little girl didn't even have hearing protection on - the guy did put it on for her later. And how do you make sure that while you're shooting, she won't make a dash downrange ? At that age they can't appreciate the danger. It spoiled the morning for all of us since we were constantly watching out for the kid more than her dad was. The rangemaster was busy with other things otherwise he might have told him to go home.

I bought Logan a Marlin Model 60 Stainless Steel Deluxe a couple days before he was born..I will buy him a Savage like this in a year or two

http://www.savagearms.com/markily.htm

[rebel727]

My dad bought me a Browning 22 when I was 4. I couldn't shoot it til I was 6. Don't have any kids of my own but I taught my step-daughter to shoot when she was 12. She was 12 when I met her. Interesting thing about the Browning is I didn't like the way it looked. When I was 12 my dad came home with a Winchester auto. I promptly swapped my Browning for it. DUUUUH!
Kids, Sheesh! He sold it a couple of years before he died. What I wouldn't give to have it now. My dad sold several of his guns before he died but I'm fortunate to have most of the ones that I grew up shooting. Sure do miss that Browning tho....... The winchester lasted about 3 years and many thousands of rounds before it started falling apart.

[SPOCAHP ANAR]

Jacob shot my Mak 90 at age 7; I think. I held the gun and him at the same time and allowed him to pull the trigger. I threw a can out about 25 feet and let him unload the 30 rd clip while I moved the bbl so he could hit the can. Every one was looking.

Guess they thought I was a nutjob.

:assult:

[hounddawg]

I was 4 when I got my first air rifle. At the age of 6 my dad let me shoot his .38 revolver. By the time my 10th birthday rolled around I was proficient with his Argentine mauser.

My daughter expressed a wish to shoot at the age of 13. I did the gun safety training with her with an air rifle. A few days later she "graduated" to a .22 target pistol. The bug bit. She is now 15, and owns a .45 cal Kentucky rifle, a Schmidt-Rubin and a .22 Colt target pistol. These guns are hers except for the registration, and when she is old enough, they will be tranferred onto her name. I have no worries. She is a fine shot, and more responsible with a firearm than most people I know.

[Despoiler]

I personally don't remember the first time I shot a gun, so I must have been pretty young. I have taken my son out shooting, since he was 4. I help him hold the rifle, while he sites it and fires it. We do not go to the range, this is out in the woods. Now that he is 7 I plan on taking him to the range soon and letting him fire the rifle all by himself. Of course with me standing right there.

Every child is different, I teach BB gun and Archery to the cub scouts (6 to 10 year olds), I have handed a BB gun to a 6 years and I was confident that child had been listening and was not going to do anything stupid. Then I have 10 years olds who have had the training several times, and I have to watch their every move. So the age really does not matter it is the child's maturity.

[Troy]

had an air rifle by 8, shot my first 22 at around 12. my boy rick was shooting at 12 and my girl jen got the bug at 13. my other girl jess just aint interested. she gets that from her mother. LOL

[Troy]

Originally Posted by Shaun

I will take the mystery out of the whole gun issue so they do learn to respect them

i think that is the whole issue, when that movie star type of facination wears off you got a good chance of teaching someone something about guns.

[GUNRUNNER]

I was 8... black Nylon .22 rifle.

[rosierita]

how old for the first time ? how old was your son or daughter when they went shooting at the range for the first time ? how old were you ?

i'm not sure of my age, i believe i was around the age of 7 or so. my kids, on the other hand, were 13 (daughter) & 9 (son) when they got their own BB guns. last yr (they were 14 & 10), they got their own rossi 22/410 combos for christmas. we take them out to shoot pretty regularly (as soon as the weather FINALLY gets decent that will be more often!)

i believe in drilling them w/ gun safety. i have been hammering that home for my kids for as long as i can remember. they have always been around firearms, so that whole mystery thing is non existent in their lives & i think that is important.

[inuyasha]

i agree that its the maturity more than age to a certain extent. i myself started shooting around 7 or 8 -- my dad's single six... it was one of the main enjoyable things for living in nevada, wed go out of town in the hills, and apparently i was decent shot because i remember shooting empty .22 casings off a shotgun shell *also empty of course* without moving the shotgun shell.. wish i could still shoot like that i also sat on my aunts lap and got to steer the car when i was around the same age, but that was NOT in town, and she watched over what i did. but then again, everyone whos met me claims i was more mature than the other kids, and seeing the way some handled the empty guns at an auction made me decide some people SHOULDNT go untill theyre old enough to handle it maturely, if its even possible. they had people probably around 50 watching as their kids pulled the guns across the ground.. that poor 30 carbine :..(

but to recap, yes, i think its maturity more than age, case and point: i took my gf's marlin back to her house, and her older brother took it, checked that it was empty, and started dry firing it AT PEOPLE, but claimed it was ok because it was empty. one of the dumbest things ive ever seen happen -_- HE i would never trust with a gun, and hes over 19

[jerry]

Gunrunner 40 years ago

http://abum.com/?show_media=6470