.22 or Pellet, to start my 11yr old with?

Either one would work just fine, IMHO. I started my 9-y.o. with a BB gun for several reasons: (1) I was able to borrow a BB gun from my dad, and he gave me some 6K BBs to go with it; (2) I had allowed her to shoot a 20 ga, and the recoil had left her a bit gun-shy (big mistake on my part, to be honest); and (3) it's a whole lot easier for me to find a place to shoot a BB gun than a .22. I have to admit, though, that she did have trouble cocking the BB gun.

After ~6 months with the BB gun, she was ready (even eager) to move up to a .22. In fact, we spent the Fourth of July shooting at a buddy's house, and she went through about 250-300 rounds of .22. :D Now I just have to figure out how to replenish my supply. :(
 
.22 rimfire handguns and rifles are equally suited for training young shooters as are airguns.

Both will not only help to understand the basics of markmanship but also to apply them. Follow through, sight picture, consistent grip, and stance are of the same importance.

About a decade ago I walked out of a public gun range with my teenage kids and disgustedly remarked how poor the people at the South Eastern Florida indoor range were shooting handguns. My son gave it some thought and retorted, that none of them was shooting rimfire guns to learn or concentrate on the basics. My eyesight is slowly getting worse and I am proud that my sons are now better shots than I am.

We shot plenty of air rifle and put over 100,000 rounds through our S&W 22A before they were 18 years old. They grew up with guns, they learnt shooting with airguns and rimfires and learnt to handle and respect guns with the rimfires and centerfires that they shot from an early age on.
 
I started my 9-year old daughter with a .22 cal semi-auto handgun. A BB/pellet gun or a .22cal rimfire were other obvious options, but I went with a Ruger SR-22 for a few reasons.

BB gun/pellet isn't a bad choice -IF- you have a place at home to set up. I could have prepared a place, perhaps, but it would have been a task and there were potential pitfalls. It was actually easier to set up comfortably on a proper shooting range, but it was a private range where one-on-one instruction with no outside shooting noise or people milling about, which is key.

BB/pellet also has another pitfall for a youngster in that depending on the platform, you may only have a gun that requires some manner of a physical "job" that is extremely difficult to accomplish, if even possible. Cocking a single stroke piston or multi-pumping pneumatic can be very difficult for some youngsters. My (now 10) year old daughter couldn't manipulate such a device. Obviously, a CO2 gun is a viable alternative.

Another short bit is that BB guns (as opposed to pellet guns) are absolutely notorious for wild ricochets. That I shot for years as a kid without shooting glasses still amazes me. :eek:

I didn't care to go with a rimfire rifle because I don't typically shoot rifles all too often and I wanted to share MY shooting with my daughter, and I didn't have a decent rifle for the job (though I could have bought one, sure) but I didn't have a place with a bench set up and I wanted to focus more on the fundamentals rather than having a small child trying to exercise those fundamentals WHILE holding a rifle as well. I'll readily admit that a rifle is -FAR- easier to keep watch and direct muzzle direction than any handgun ever will be, but I happen to have a phenomenal student. :D And I am 100% on my toes with any new shooter when it comes to muzzle direction. It's one of the most common errors I see with any new handgun shooter.

In any case, I went with =MANY= very short hands-on sessions at home long before we discharged live rounds on a shooting range. As a 10 year old, she handles her handgun dang near as safely as I do, and I'm robotic about it. Her trigger finger is "straight as an arrow" and she does this automatically and it warms my heart to watch it every single time she picks up or is handed any handgun. Straight as an arrow alongside the trigger guard, it almost looks as though it's been specifically programmed to go directly toward the target and it's simply not allowed to enter the trigger guard and she does it every.single.time. Her finger looks like a bird dog on full point.

So for me, it was as much what kind of gun we started with, it was much more that we did many (short!) serious sessions at home. Many - for the power of repetition. And short to keep it interesting and fresh and enjoyable. I wanted to avoid the pitfall of her getting bored going over the basics.
 
I learned on BB and pellet, then .22, then center fire. Worked for me, and taught me how to use sights and trigger for minimal money.
 
I did as well. An almost irrational amount of BB and pellet gun shooting. Holy cow, if only I would have some idea of the volume of BB and pellet fodder I went through. It would be a staggering number.
 
Wow, thank you guys for the overwhelming response. I am definitely going to take in all the considerations and also do my best to include my daughter in the purchase so she can get a feel for whatever we go with and go from there.
 
I think either would be fine. I just think she'd likely get much more trigger time with a bb or pellet gun. Price, availability, places to shoot and such all favor bb or pellet gun. I'd hate to guess how many bb's and pellets litter my grandparents old place. Literally millions I bet. All of my little green Army men were dented ;) Well except the ones that got burned so I could see the dripping fireballs or "napalm" lol great days. Have fun!
 
I started my kids with a pellet gun. Just a lot more convenient for as me as I don't need to travel to a formal range. It's legal to shoot a pellet gun in one own's yard in this state, but not always so with a real gun.
 
She's 11 y/o. Perfectly old enough, mature enough, physically able enough to handle a 22 or anything else for that matter. If it were a 7 y/o that might be a different story.

It is not legal to shoot a BB or pellet gun in the city limits where I live. So to shoot at all, someone in Arizona (my state) would have to go to the desert or the range anyway.

I see a LOT of kids shooting BB guns at birds, lizards, MY HORSES and other totally non acceptable targets. BBs and lead pellets likely aren't retrieved when fired around the house. That means you end up with a bunch of copper and lead junk in your garden, pool, the grass that your dogs eat etc. Air guns don't make a sound so it's easy for a less-than-responsible kid to take one out and shoot at things around the yard when mom and dad are gone.

Get her a real gun. Indoctrinate her into the concepts of real gun safety at a genuinely safe place to shoot.


Sgt Lumpy
 
Like Sgt. Lumpy said, I live in a city where I can't legally shoot a pellet gun. Fortunately, the private range i belong to is about 15-20 minutes from my place.

I first taught my son to shoot when he was 9 y.o. on a .22 rifle at my range. There was plenty of home instruction on the 4 Rules prior to going to the range. That first experience was fairly brief and he did quite well keeping his attention focused and in how well he shot. Dad was pretty darn proud.

He is going to be 17 in a couple of days and now shoots everything I own up to including the .44 mag M29.

So, in conclusion, your daughter is certainly old enough to handle a .22 lr firearm both physically and age-wise. That would be my choice. Just my .02...
 
When I was that age, I started with the Marksman 1010C air pistol that looks like a 1911.

Not sure if active links are permitted for products, so moderators, please delete if inappropriate:
http://www.marksman.com/1010c_apistol.php

Those Marksman 1010C pistols could shoot BB's, pellets or darts - albeit very slowly.
But, that side 'safety' lever unlocked the slide and with a simple pull & push of the slide with the pistol pointed up, a new BB would be loaded and the pistol was ready to go.
To verify if the 'chamber' had a BB or to load a pellet or dart, the front section of the barrel (~2") tips up (sort of like those small Beretta pistols).

Definitely a great starter air pistol and I actually still have it even today...

Cheers,
Mike
 
How I would teach: airsoft, B*B, then onto 22. Regards.



ETA: The first two you can do inside w/ appropriate backstops--even during the winter.
 
I would recommend a BB/pellet gun over a .22, for the simple reason that it requires effort to reload after each shot. I think this is important because it ingrains a certain respect in the user for each shot fired, similar to a muzzle-loader experience. A 10/22 is more fun, but is also far easier to abuse.
In my opinion, if someone isn't interested enough to reload a BB gun for each shot, then they may not be ready for shooting sports yet.

Check out the Daisy Model 880, it has a long pump handle and is easier to pump than most airguns.

Just my opinion based on my experience as a kid.

Ivan
 
I'd go with a pellet or BB gun; and a rifle at that...They're easy to find ammunition for, make no noise whatsoever, but are easy to train with, especially gun safety. Accuracy with a Daisy is more than enough to hit empty shotgun shells set on a fence rail and with no noise, you can do it in your backyard. Too, most BB guns are correctly sized for a youngster...and cheaper too.

If you go the .22 route, unless you live on a farm as I do, then you'll have to to to a range and put up with other shooters and the distractions that are present. Early familiarization, especially with youngsters, needs to be short, fun and safe...all of which are compromised if you go to a range with a .22. Plus, the gun and it's, now very hard to find ammunition, are a lot more expensive.

Think of it like your child's first attempts to ride a two-wheeler...you probably didn't buy her a $1000 Mountain Bike, you didn't go out in traffic with her, didn't have a crowd of other bikers around offering suggestions, or intimidating her. Most likely, you did it alone or at most with your spouse there to help. Privacy...that way you'll have her undivided attention...and if you make it FUN as hell, you'll both have fun and coincidentally, you'll have a shooting companion for the rest of your life!!!! Best Regards, Rod
 
A good single shot .22 bolt action rifle would get my vote! I recently gave my BF's 12 yr. old son an old Remington model 514 and he couldn't be happier!
 
A single shot .22 is my recommended choice for a intro forearm. Granted they're mature enough and only the parent knows that. Uncle Mike started me off with an old lever action single shot .22. I already had a pellet gun at the time and I cannot explain the excitement of my first "gun"! A gun my grandpa had bought him when he was young, which was passed onto me. You can bet your sweet behind it'll be handed to my first son or daughter when they're ready and I'm sure they'll feel the same excitement I did.
 
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