A Child's First Gun

D

Darthmaum

New member
My daughter's 7th birthday is coming up, and she has asked for her first gun (now where's my box of Kleenex?). We are unsure as to what would be the best one to start her out on: a .22 revolver, or a .22 single-shot, junior-sized rifle (or an air gun, possibly)?

I am leaning toward the rifle myself, but my husband likes the idea of the revolver (I think mostly because we'd still be able to shoot it if she decided she didn't like shooting after all!) :)

What have those of you with children bought your kids for those first shots? Thanks in advance fer yer help!



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"Liberty or death, What we so proudly hail... Once you provoke Her, rattling of Her tail- Never begins it, NEVER- But once engaged never surrenders, showing the fangs of rage. DON'T TREAD ON ME!!
 
May I suggest a "Chipmunk rifle". http://www.chipmunkrifle.com/
You can find the standard model for about $120.00 or so. It will be a great starter bun. I think 7 is a little too young for the pistol. My daughter has a "Chipmunk". I bought it for her when she was 6 years old. She really loves it, and knows that it is HER rifle. She likes my AR15 more though!
 
I have always thought that an air rifle was the best to start out with. One reason is that you don't have to take them to the range all the time to give them instruction, just set up a nice backstop in your backyard. Then once the child is more understanding of the basics, and if she is still interested in guns, then get a .22 rifle. The chipmunk is a good idea, although I would suggest a Marlin M60 or a 10/22. The reason for this is that most of us still use our first guns later on in life and the autoloaders will be more fun down the line. Whatever you decide, congrats on having taught your child so well.

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chadintex@hotmail.com
 
When my son was 12 I bought him a Marlin .22
semi auto rifle.It was a package deal that came with a scope. He likes it but likes my stuff better,He's 15 now. We spend alot of time at the range together.

Happy Shooting :)

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Help Stamp Out Gun Ignorance.
 
Hats Off to you Darth! Sounds like your child really has her priorities straight. I'm getting misty just thinkin about it.

Yes, definitely go with the rifle. It will be far less likely that she could accidently shoot herself in a vital area as the end of the muzzle and trigger are further apart in a rifle. Accuracy is better and that will make shooting more enjoyable to her. She will be less likely to want to quit shooting because of the hardships involved with becoming good w/ a pistol.

The first mechanism should be simple. What you want to teach her first and foremost is firearm safety. The one shot bolt action .22 or .410 shotgun is always a good choice. the .410 may be the best of the two as the max. range of danger is so much less in the case of an accidental discharge. They happen to adults so it can happen to children as well.

As for your husband, what was he planning on getting her next year? a recliner or a new pickup truck? Ha Ha.

Are you sure that giving such a young child a handgun when she is only 1/3 the legal age to own one is a good idea? I definitely wouldn't let social services find out if you did give her a pistol as I think they might take a very dim view on such behavior.

More Power to ya Darth- GOOD LUCK!
 
my son has been shooting a Colt Frontier Scout .22 pistol since he was 5 1/2 years old under VERY VERY strick supervision. he is now at age 7 a very good pistol shot and is shooting a J C Higgins single shot .22 rifle with a 4X scope 32 mm in preperation for starting to shoot reduced loads in his deer rifle a Model 7 Remington 6.5 X 284. he will probably start with that rifle at around 10 years of age. i started shooting a .22 pistol at age 6 with my uncle and by 10 i was shooting his .45 1911 with mil- surp ammo. i shot .22 rifles from 6 on from bench type rests and by 10 i was shooting .22's in boys matches and shooting a 20 gauge shot gun at clay targets and small game. we hunted every weekend in season and fished the other weekends taking out time only to swim and attend the occasional Saturday wedding or funeral. i think it was Thomas Jefferson that said "I feel sorry for the boy that has never fired a gun. He has lost a valuable part of his education."

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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what is for lunch.
Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the outcome of the vote.
Let he that hath no sword sell his garment and buy one.--And they said. Lord here are two swords. And he said unto them. That is not enough. Luke 22-36,38
They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. Song of Solomon 3-8
 
Chipmunk is a good choice. I started on a 20 gauge single-shot shotgun, myself. My parents always thought I'd be more likely to try to shoot without supervision if I started on an air rifle, so I didn't get a BB gun till I was 12 or 13.
 
I vote for the little Marlin semi-auto .22's, like the tube mag Model 60, or the box clip Model 70.
Both are right around $100 new.
In my opinion, rifles are safer than handguns as a child's first.
As the muzzle is farther away, and the gun is heavier, it's harder to sweep the gun in unsafe directions.

Some say that semi-autos promote wasting ammo and poor marksmanship ("cause hey, if you got 14 shots who cares if the first one counts?")
I don't buy it. It is the teacher, not the book, that has the greatest effect on the student.
Teach 'em well, they'll learn it right.

Also, the .22 semi-auto is a useful gun all thru adulthood, many of us still have our's.
The diminutive single-shot bolt guns are quickly outgrown, and can bore/frustrate the novice. And that ain't good.

The good inexpensive Marlins are accurate, reliable, and will last (and entertain) for a lifetime.

Just my $.02, -Kframe
 
Having raised up two shooters from pups (one boy, one girl) I strongly believe that a SINGLE SHOT .22 bolt action rifle is the way to go. When I was doing this in the early 80s there were very few good kids' rifles around and I had to look pretty hard. Today I would get a Marlin 15Y youth rifle and put on a simple but good set of aperture sights. This type of gun is simple and understandable to kids of any age, keeps their little minds and hands busy reloading, and will certainly deliver the goods through two or three generations. They will learn all kinds of good things about self-control and safety and have fun with you at the same time. Put them on paper some of the time to make sure they're hitting what they shoot at; then put up something reactive so they can see something happen and get instant feedback . I used swinging metal targets at, of course, safe distances. Be sure to outfit them with muffs, glasses, etc. If you do it right they will have a lot of fun with you and all of you will remember it forever. Pretty good return on a small investment.

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Thanks for the replies so far, guys. I did get misty eyed when she asked for a gun! LOL.

ddt4free, My husband is getting me the pickup truck next year ;). Seriously though, Social Svc's would have a collective heart attack (and my family as well) if they knew we'd bought her any kind of firearm.

Lucky for us, we just happen to be going to a gun show tomorrow...maybe we can find her something there. I like the Marlin's, we will probably go with one of those. Her having a loaded handgun makes me a little too nervous at this point. I really hope she grows to enjoy it as much as I do.

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"Liberty or death, What we so proudly hail... Once you provoke Her, rattling of Her tail- Never begins it, NEVER- But once engaged never surrenders, showing the fangs of rage. DON'T TREAD ON ME!!

"Many's the men who've battled foe
many the number slain,
many the lads have fallen though
Scotland shall rise again."
 
Having taught my own sons plus about a hundred Boys Scouts how to shot over the years I can strongly recommend a bolt action .22 rifle. The Marlin 15Y youth model is perfect.
My reasons:
Rifle is easier to hit with and that builds confidence.
Bolt actions are slow. This re-enforces the need for fundamentals like sight picture and trigger control. Make each shot count.
Start with iron sights. Too many kids start out with a scope and never learn proper sight alignment. Again fundamentals.
Forget semi-auto. No matter how much you stress individual shots the urge to empty the mag as fast as possible is just too great.
Fundamentals first! Every thing after that is just gravy. Once they get the basics down, then you can move on to "Fun" toys.
JMHO.
 
Greetings Darthmaum, I most definitely agree
with Mr. Robert Foote's comment's concerning
the SINGLE SHOT .22 caliber bolt action rifle. Mine was a Winchester Model 67A that
my dad paid $18.50 for at a hardware store,
many years ago. :)

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
good advice so far
here's mine:
1.save the handguns for later
difficult for small hands and harder for anyone to master than a rifle.
2. air gun for cheap, less lethal practice- still gives her the chance to learn all the good habits of safety, handling, etc.
3. chipmunk is a good starter .22- they re sell well if there are no younger bros or sis's.
another option- thompson contender carbine single shot. It can become a hangun, or a shotgun (but always a single shot).
in my experience- give a kid a semi-auto and they like to see how fast they can empty it (hollywood style). single shot and they tend to learn sight/trigger control.
whatever you decide- Congrats
lucky kid- lucky parents
 
Myfirst gun was a single shot .22. I got it for my birthday when I was 6 years old (I'm 16 now). It got me hooked on guns. My dad would take me shooting in the back yard every day after he got home from work (we live in the country). I soon grew out of the little .22, so it was time for me to move on. My second gun was a .410 gauge shotgun that was my father's first gun. After the .410, I got my mom's old 20 gauge pump. I took my first deer with the 20 gauge. After the 20 gauge, i moved on to big caliber rifles. And after a few years of rifles, I convinced my dad to get us into handgunning. He bought a Sig 229 in 357 sig and 40 s&w, and a Ruger 22/45. We shoot every day after he gets home from work.
Start your daughter early on whatever you can, she'll thank you for the rest of your life.
 
First; check with your daughter...

My daughter started target shooting with her .22 short pistol a few months before she was two years old. She made the front page of the local paper as a result.

Interestingly I got a LOT of support from women in the community, even non-shooters. Men thought it was horrible to let a "girl" shoot a gun that young.

She was and still is, too small to hold a rifle; even the Chipmunk comfortably. She has traded her pistol in now for a Beretta .25 -- but it's still a little too much for her. BUT she will not hear of trading it back for a smaller .22 short. She loves that Beretta.

Yes, we started early as she was interested, curious, and around guns frequently. She learned safety first; all the major parts; how it works; saw me shoot it; then held it while I shot it; all tiny little gradient steps.

Then and now; I surround her like a jacket when she shoots, although she is safer than most adults and is now 9 years old.

She shoots her Marlin semi-auto M-1 style in .22 which has a scope on it -- but she far prefers her pistol. Even though I had the stock and the barell both shortened for her she is still not comfortable enough holding it up.

IF you decide to get your daughter started with a rifle and she is petite as my daughter is -- you might consider starting her with bench shooting and a scope. That is the only way my daughter enjoys her rifle.

She lives in Washington D.C. where she enjoys telling her school mates and expecially her teachers that she has a pistol and a rifle of her own (here in Delaware).

She is getting a sword, which she asked for, which she is calling Excaliber, for her birthday present in a few days. She knows about it as she asked for it. She can't wait to tell them at school -- since the teacher asked her to keep her tiny little Swiss Army Knife at home.

Of course she does NOT go to public school or we would both probably be in jail by now for these things. She has a copy of her picture from the newspaper when she was nearly two that she enjoys showing others!!!! ;)

Have Fun, stay safe, take care,
Jody

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Talk is cheap; Free Speech is NOT.
 
This is Darth's husband here. At the gun show today, we saw no Chipmunks (not even in the trees around the library next door :(). I had our daughter hold a Ruger .22 rifle (I didn't check the model though) as it looked about the right size for her. It turns out the she needs to grow a bit more, as she had trouble reaching the trigger guard, and besides that she said it was too heavy. When we got home and were eating dinner, I realized we had not asked her what she wanted. So I asked, "Do you want a firearm or an airgun?" then explained the difference. We have decided to go with an airgyn first, then graduate her to a .22 when she is more experienced. Thanks everyone for your input.

BTW, any recommendations on a good BB or pellet rifle? :)

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Only in America, we're slaves to be free/Only in America, we kill the unborn, to make ends meet/Only in America, sexuality is democracy/Only in America, we stamp our god "In God we trust"

What is right or wrong?
I don't know who to believe in
My soul sings a different song, in America

If it isna Scottish, it's CRAP! RKBA!
 
My daughter LOVES her Red Rider reproduction by Daisy. AND she really likes that there is a Christmas movie about HER BB rifle. It is fairly accurate; she can cock it easily by herself and it's light enough and short enough that she can handle it easily. She has NO more safety permission with it than she does with her firearms however.

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Talk is cheap; Free Speech is NOT.
 
I started shooting when I was 4. My Dad took me to the range with his friends. I usually fired a Ruger 22 Pistol, because at 4, it took two fingers to pull a trigger :) Of course, he always watched me carefully, and the gun was never left in my posession. I did simly spray the target, without much thought of aiming. It was not until I got an air gun (rifle, single shot) years later that I even really tried.
So... My recommendation would be a bolt action rifle, in 22. If you can find one that is not single shot, it will probably inprove the length of time the rifle is used, but I would still stick with something manually operated, not semiauto.
Hope it helps
:)
 
For an airgun it really depends on your price range. If you want to keep it under $300 I would recomend a Beeman(www.beeman.com). Also if you can find one, try to get a side cocking lever instead of a break barrel, they tend to be a little easier for the kids.

BTW, airguns are a great way to learn the fundamentals.

[This message has been edited by Stretch (edited February 22, 2000).]
 
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