16 years old

I have taught a 12 year old girl to manage a 30/30 and a 20 guage..... she's 14 now and wants to use my .270 this year...... and I am doing it again this year with her younger sister.


They need to understand that recoil is mostly subjective- if they think it will kick them, and they are scared of it, it will kick them- they won't hold onto it and it will smack them.

I start my girls with light trap loads for the shotgun and light (100 grain bullets @ 2300 f/sec) loads for the .30/30, allowing them to just "hip shoot" a couple rounds to demonstrate that the gun is not going to just fly out of their hands when they pull the trigger. Then show them that the more contact they have with the gun, the less it moves ..... secure hold on the gun, in the pocket of their shoulder (not on the arm or joint!)..... fundamentals.

They need to master the fundamentals, and it sounds like your son has (shoots clays) .... after that it is just practice. There is a danger that he'll put his eye too close to the scope.... but danger is the spice of life, and fleeing from/avoiding dangerous situations is not going to teach him anything.
 
I shot 30-06 when I was 12 years old. Must have been 5'6 100 lbs back then. Bought my first 12 gauge when I was 11.

Teach him proper technique and he'll do fine.
 
Quote:

Hi Rangefinder,
[Quote:
Most problems with scopes hitting the forhead are due to the scope being mounted too far to the rear. ]

[Nope--it comes from the instinct of putting the optics against your eye--as in binoculars. For those who don't shoot, it doesn't feel right to have eye relief--they always get too close, and then find out the hard way why that's not a good idea.]

The reason I disagree with you is that there is a natural spot for the cheek to weld to the stock. It varies of course with each person. But the usual mounting position is for the full field of view from the standing position. One's head is pretty well straight then.
However, when shooting from a bench, sitting, or prone the natural position for the head is closer to the scope. That is even more pronounced if shooting at a target uphill. I have seen a fair number of "half moon" cuts and scars as a result.
I have never seen anyone get cut when the scope is mounted as I recommended. I crawl the stock, and have never gotten banged. You cannot put the optics against your eye if you mount the scope so that the rear of the scope is even or close to the rear of the bolt.

But to each his own.

Regards,
Jerry
 
I bought my 15 year old son, 5-6 130 lb, an 06 last year. I let him shoot my light pump 12 ga with bird shot then 00 buck he held on to it well. That rascal kicks like a mule, I told him he could handle the recoil because it wasnt near as bad as the scatter gun. Showed him how to use the scope and backed out of the way. He had no trouble at all, and was all smiles because he knew the gun was his and he really wanted his own gun to hunt with. He killed his first deer a week or so later.
 
If he' shooting a 12 ga the 30-06 shouldn't be an issue. If he's shot any scoped gun before it won't be an issue. If he's only shot irons then he should be told about proper relief and watch him hold the gun up to see if he has it (I find it hard to describe proper relief...I just do it). I am (was?) a slighter build and had no issues handling a 12 ga at 12 years old (my hunting rifle at the time was a .270).
 
just have him keep the butt real tight in his shoulder and hang on. i accidentally made the mistake of not doing this with my buddy's 300 mag and i swear i almost broke my collar bone lol:eek:
 
.30-06 has fairly minimal recoil for someone who's 6'0. Unless one has some sort of physical ailment, .30-06 should be easily manageable.
 
When my daughter was 14, she was shooting my 300WM. Teach them how to properly fire the rifle and make sure that they understand. If you do your job well, they will do theirs.
 
If he his taught correct there should be no problem. I new a guy who had a 30-06, and a 270. Seen him at work one day with a ring half way around his eye. Asked him what happened, he said that the scope from his new rifle hit him when he was aiming at a deer accross his hood. Asked him what caliber it was. It was a .243. Something on how you can forget what to do if you think there is a lot less recoil, and dont pay attention.
 
My Son is alot smaller than yours, and he has been using a Bolt Action 30 06 since he was 12 years old. To date he has killed two 8 point bucks, one doe, and two hogs with it. He will turn 15 next week.
I put a longer eye relief scope on it and it works fine for him
Your son should be able to handle a 30 06 just fine, but get him a scope with no less than 4" of eye relief.
Good luck.
 
30-06 kick

Do what my old man did......Shoot it correctly in front of the young man several times. Show him the power as demonstrated by blowing a pumpkin up. Then hand him the rifle with the next round in the chamber being a dud. He will anticipate the recoil and bang and actually flinch while the rifle simply goes "click."

After that allow him to visualize the eye relief and fire a live round. Occasionally slip in a dud just to show him his flinch. If he holds correctly and the scope is mounted correctly this will make him a better shooter and show him how to take the recoil rather than flinching and messing up shot trajectory.

Vermonter
 
My oldest boy has been shootin the 06, since he was 12 or so, he is heavy set, he weighed probably 175 or so then, but he handled it fine.:)
 
I started shooting a 30-06 when I was 12 (I think I weighed around 130 pounds). There is nothing to worry about, as long as you show him how to do it.
 
I was shooting a recoil operated Browning A5 12 gauge when I was 10 years old and pulling both barrels on an old 12 gauge double to see what it would kick like. He won't have any trouble.
 
My 11 yr old has been shooting anything I hand him (at his request) since he was just 10 yrs old! He has several of his own milsurps.....a Yugo M48 8mm, Nagant 91/30 and he sold his Nagnt M38 to raise some funds for another purchase. He shoots my Garands with no problem at all. He seems to have a very natural hold and doesn't get bruised or beat up at all. He's normal height and only weighs about 72 lbs even now. He has shot my Stevens 110e 30-06 scoped and will empty the mag if I give him the ammo. He even uses my 1100 12 g for TRAP. Recoil is fine, jus the weight of the shotgun with a 30" barrel on it. Last year he asked if he could try my T/C Encore with the 12 g slug barrle on it. I was reluctant since it really hammers me. He shot it and never complained. I usully shoot either Hornady SST's or the Remington ACCU-Tips. The biggest factor we have is the gun weight. If your sons is that size and holds the gun fine....let him go!
 
Can he handle it??? Let me get this straight...he is 16 and over 6' tall? You are wondering if he can handle it? You said he shoots shotguns but the question is has he shot any rifles? I understand he has not shot a rifle with a scope on it. Do you have a 22 with a scope on it? Let him shoot something like a 22 with a scope on it to get accustomed to shooting a rifle with a scope so he experiences it. Then do not scare him about getting hit by the scope just prepare him and make sure the scope is fitted onto the rifle correctly so he has the proper eye relief and let him shoot it.

He definately has the size.
 
The issue has mostly been covered by now, but I thought I'd chime in with some pointers from seeing people who've been there. A good pair of high coverage shooting glasses will do A LOT to take the impact from an errant scope. I have watched a friend with very bad form (before I could stop him) shoot a .300 WM with a horrible shoulder hold and got the scope straight in the face. The glasses took a majority of the impact and his forehead was only slightly scraped, no cut or bleeding. I also had a .300 WM scope bounce off my glasses once when I forgot to apply the fundamentals. Also, I find the recoil is more severe when shooting from benchrest or prone. I would recommend the first shots be standing, it seems to allow the body to absorb more of the motion and the relative recoil is less.
 
I'm not going to do the research... but depending on his weight...

he is probably larger and heavier than 80% of the men who had to carry and shoot an M1 or springfield in the 1940's.... and some of them had to fire hundreds of rounds....
 
he should not have a problem with the recoil. My 13 year old daughter and 11 year old son shoot my 45-70 and 300 win mag. My older boys who are grown and gone started off the same way as my younger ones.
 
I finally took him to the range, with a .30-06, and 12 ga. 180 gr ammo, and 12 ga slugs. Both were full strength ammo, not the reduced recoil loads. He ran through at least $80 worth of ammo, no problem. fired 25 rounds from the .30-06, no problem. and then a few boxes of 12 guage slugs.

He loved every second of it. So I let him sight in my 7mm-08. Not 1 complaint at all. Today I asked him how his shoulder is, and he says fine.

and if I sit him down with a sand bag, and make him take his time... he can put 4 bullets in 1/2" group.
To be young again...............................
 
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