What age to get them into more power?

W

wildfan

New member
Reading another poster talking about giving his son a rifle for his 21st birthday, I wanted to ask...what is the right age to start getting your son (or daughter) into more powerful rifles? My son is almost 7, and has a bb gun already (and surprisingly accurate with it. He can hit a soda can from 15-20 yards consistently 7-8 out of 10 shots). He got it from my dad for his 6th birthday. We keep it at grandma and grandpas house because I don't have room in the safe for it, and we live in the city anyway with nowhere local to shoot. Dad's house in the country is the closest place to shoot outside.

So anyway, what age? MY dad is going to give my son a .410 (yes, I know this is the rifle page :D), but I am thinking his first .22lr. I am pounding responsible gun handling and ownership into his head already, and he does pretty good, and will never be allowed to shoot unattended until after he goes through gun safety training at 12. But do you guys wait until after that for his first rifle, or is 7 - 9 ok since he will always be closely supervised?
 
FWIW, I started all three of my children (1 boy, 2 girls), & later a Grandson, on .22's when they were about 7 years old - I had to use the smallest/shortest (often self-made) so they could somewhat handle the size/weight.

My Grandson was the luckiest - by the time he came, the diminutive Chipmunk .22 was also extant.

IMO, while not too bad on the shoulder for an adult & inexpensive, a .410 can be a mistake for a youngster for a couple of reasons - They are inordinately loud for beginners to accustom themselves to; and are hard for anyone but very experienced shooters to be effective with.

BTW - No disrespect, but if you want the best relationship with your son, get a bigger or an additional, gun safe.
The family that plays together, stays together.
Kids are naturally curious, and it's always best if a parent can immediately satisfy their curiosity, especially about guns - something hard to do if they're not at hand.

.
 
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I already have a safe, and a .22 here that he can shoot. But we do all our shooting either at the local range, or at my dad's house. I'm not paying $30 at the range for him to shoot a bb gun when he can do it for free at my dad's place. :D .22 I will so he can learn more gun control and shooting for accuracy. BB gun is more for basics and fun. I agree on the .410, that will be more like 10-12 years old. Just thinking that it might be getting time to get him his own .22. Thanks for the feedback.

I agree, the family that plays together stays together. We do a lot of bb gun shooting, taking turns with his. Now just want to continue to grow his hobby. He already shows a lot of interest in my handguns.

Now...bolt action or SA .22??? :D
 
FWIW, I started my oldest (son, now 46) with my Ruger 10/22 because at the time I simply couldn't afford another gun for him.

Sooooo, being the "Dad" here, I simply never let him see me (nor did I ever) remove the 10/22 magazine from the rifle - and led him to believe it was an auto-ejecting single-shot (just like the Winchester Model 55 rimfire).
At 7 years old, what was he to know ?

By the time he was old enough for a Jr hunting license @ 11 Y.O., I had long showed him the mag/repeating feature.

His initial reaction was : "Hey - You tricked me" (with a big grin on his puss).

I simply had gifted the 10/22 to him (he still has it), and VOILA ! the single-shot turned into a repeater !

.
 
Dad started me on a 410 around 7.

I hated that thing because everytime I shot, I had to wait a half hour for my hearing to come back.

I don't know what he was thinking.

Anyway, make sure he has proper fitting ear protection or he'll probably be scared of it and won't want to shoot it.

Sent from MIUI using Tapatalk 2.
 
My kids had their own 10/22s and Mini-14s by age 7.

Not my business, not tryin yo pry, but may I suggest making room in your safe for the kids gun? Do you realize how much of a thrill this will give him to have his guns stowed with dads, and not up the street at G-pas? This would be like getting a promotion to him or something. I have kids, I know these things.:)
 
I got my daughter (now 13) stated when she was 10 with a scoped pellet rifle than stepped it up to a scoped .22 rifle. Savage .223 is next for her.
 
Edward429451 said:
My kids had their own 10/22s and Mini-14s by age 7.

Not my business, not tryin yo pry, but may I suggest making room in your safe for the kids gun? Do you realize how much of a thrill this will give him to have his guns stowed with dads, and not up the street at G-pas? This would be like getting a promotion to him or something. I have kids, I know these things.:)
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Pry away, lol.

All his other guns will be here. Just not the bb gun. :D

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2
 
It's totally dependent on the child. I've seen 7 year old girls handle a .243 with ease and 15 year old boys terrified of a .20ga. When you and your child feel like he is ready that's when he's ready.
 
Each child progresses at their own pace. The next step is definately the 22lr. As for the 410, he may or may not be cofortable using it. Only way to know for sure is for him to fire it. Felt recoil on the 410 is about the same as the 243.
 
I'd say 7 seems to be about right. I picked up a Marlin 15YN this year for my oldest boy but am waiting until his summer break to give it to him (as long as his grades are good), he's 7 by the way. He's been shooting the BB gun for about a year now and does pretty well with it so this summer we'll spend some quality time at the gun club.

Stu
 
CountryUgly said:
It's totally dependent on the child. I've seen 7 year old girls handle a .243 with ease and 15 year old boys terrified of a .20ga. When you and your child feel like he is ready that's when he's ready.
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+1
Each child well be different I was intimidated by 12ga and .30 cal center fires until I was 12-13 years old, but my cousin was shooting these at 10 years of age.
 
I too started my sons with BB guns and a 20 gauge shotgun because that what I had and could afford. Later I was able to afford a 30-06 they begged to shot it 12 and 14 years old. I let them but only after I Had them watch me and they saw the recoil. Both my sons started their daughters on BB guns and 22 lr. the older girls will be given the change and choice to shoot my m1 carbine and ar 15 this summer. Last summer I took them to the range and let them shoot some of my hand guns, 22, 9mm, 38 cal, 45 acp and 357.mag I let pick which one they wanted to shoot, they picked the one they could hold the best, the 22 and the 9 mm. I think having a child shot a gun to heavy or to load or a heavy recoil can create bad shoot habits.
 
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all my grandkids have been shooting since they were 5. All started at that age with 22s. the youngest is now 8 and does fairly respectable at a 100 yards with a 243. the 12 and 14 year old hunt with 06s. these three boys are BOYS though and the word fear isnt in there vocabulary. All race motocross and are about nuts.
 
A 22 is the perfect choice for a young shooter, but I don't like a 410. They are an experts gun. A 20 or even a 12 does not really have any more recoil if ammo is chosen properly and either make actually hitting a moving target much easier.

As a squirrel gun shooting stationary targets a 410 is a good enough choice, but if you are going to shoot clays or birds a 20, 28, or 12 is a much better choice.

My kids started pretty early with 22's. My son started with shotguns at age 9. I started searching for a 20, but ran across a used Mossberg 9200 semi 12 that I got very cheap because of a busted stock. Bought the gun, called Mossberg who advised me to return the stock and they replaced it at no cost.

I had a gunsmith shorten the stock to fit my son and only used the very lightest loads. With an IC tube he was getting good patterns and was hitting clays and dove with it pretty quickly. If you do a little research most light loads in a 12 actually recoil less than comparable loads through a 20 because the guns are a bit heavier. Shoot them through a gas operated auto and they are no worse than a 5 lb single shot 410.
 
We give our kids a BB gun at age 6, a Rim-fire at age 10 and there first center fire at age 12 (the youngest you can get a hunting licence here)

For there first center fire I try to stay with some thing like a 223 or a pistol caliber carbine. I don't want them to get a bad flinch from shooting that 338 magnum rifle at age 12... if they show interest in shot guns I will get that as soon as I feel they are able to handle one.

After that it is more up to there taste.

p.s. I think most kids have more of a problem with sound than recoil. No proof here just my experience speaking. My oldest kid was more afraid of his 223 than he was my wifes 44 magnum carbine.
 
I agree with other posters that a .22LR should be the next step. IMO, age should not be THE factor but rather their maturity, attitude and level of trust you have of them. There are some 8yr olds I would not have a problem shooting a firearm under supervision and some adults I would not allow to hold an unloaded firearm.
 
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