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At what age do you take your son to the range?

I have two boys 10 and 15 both have been shooting since 5-6 yrs old.
10 year old is on the jr rifle team at the club and the 15 year old is shooting uspsa with a 9mm and kicking but! He also brings home a trophy from our bi monthly plate shoots. Now we are starting the scholastic steel challenge.
 
Our oldest is 3 and we are thinking of starting her off with something when she turns 4 next May. We are big advocates of teaching the wee ones about guns early on. We've talked about getting a .22LR to keep in the family, something of the lever action type, mostly because we are just huge fans of the levers, but the Henry lever actions have some weight to them. I've seen a lot about this cricket .22, is it really worth the hype as a first gun for a little one? I was thinking something along the lines of a Ruger SR22 or the like that's light and has pretty much no kick to it. Thoughts?
 
**DRB** said:
My twins have started the learning process at age 3 ( they are now almost 5 ) It started 1st by showing them rifles I own and explaining them, along with "who" its ok to talk about daddys firearms and whos NOT ok to talk about them with. My C&R rifles have become a family event, as my boys will assist in cleaning and identification of parts as new C&R purchases are acquired.

In addition, my boys have been to the range but not while I was shooting. During the orientation when we joined HSC my wife and I brought the boys so the could see the range and see others shooting without going all in and having them there while I was shooting....

IMHO, for our family its been more than just "taking them to the range" but more bringing them up in a "gun" family where firearms are just a part of daily life. I believe my interest and collecting of firearms is for the long term and very much hope that someday the collection Im starting will be theirs, so whats more important to me than just getting them to the range is getting them to understand and respect the sport and the hobby

I will add, that I do have a few special considerations as one of my twins is autistic ( although very high functioning )
Click to expand...

Really like your family's POV on this. It's exactly the direction we want to go.
 
.22 rifle is the way to go. Low recoil and the rifles are easier for you to intervene with while also making it harder for them to point it at themselves. All three of ours have started with .22 rifles, a Savage Mark II FSS and a M&P15-22.
 
DNTTexan said:
You might want to have a serious talk about what not to talk about at school afterwards. Excited six year olds can say some things they really shouldn't in this place and time, and your school district has been known to overreact to kids being silly....
Click to expand...

You hit the nail on the head with this comment! I was deployed in 2003 and my wife had to go to my son's kindergarten to meet with the teacher and principal because my son had bitten his peanut butter sandwich in to the shape of a pistol and said "bang"! The teachers were "concerned" for his well being and asked my wife if anyone carries a gun and she told them "yes my husband does.....he's in Iraq and every picture he sees of his dad right now he is wearing a holster with a pistol in it"! The teachers of course did not apologize for wasting my wife's time. I, however, thought my son was quite creative and laughed when I heard it!
 
My son is 5 and I've taken him to the range. I will teach him to fire a .22 rifle when he is 10 (that's when I started). Then let him move up cals as he gets the hang of it and shows maturity while handling.
 
My boys received a BB gun at 5 years old. They are light and easy to teach proper muzzle control. Plus super cheap to shoot.

One is now 7 years old, and he received a ruger 10/22 when he turned 6. He shoots it well though he says it weighs too much to carry around when he is in the woods. So, I get to carry 2 guns when we go hunting.[hmmm]
 
I took my 7 year old to the range last year, when he was 6. He shot my 15-22 and my Ruger MkII.
 
Mrs. Zbomb said:
Our oldest is 3 and we are thinking of starting her off with something when she turns 4 next May. We are big advocates of teaching the wee ones about guns early on. We've talked about getting a .22LR to keep in the family, something of the lever action type, mostly because we are just huge fans of the levers, but the Henry lever actions have some weight to them. I've seen a lot about this cricket .22, is it really worth the hype as a first gun for a little one? I was thinking something along the lines of a Ruger SR22 or the like that's light and has pretty much no kick to it. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Caveat - Not a parent.

Hi again :) If you are joining to start the kids young (yay) I like the little Cricket-type guns because of the size - the little kids can actually mount these things properly and learn to shoot instead of just learning to pull the trigger. I am not entirely sure what I think of the single-shot nature and added safety procedures that come with a cricket class gun...I can see both sides of that. If you do go with this kind of gun, look at the Savage Rascal (was the cub) - same general idea but much better executed - peep sights, accutrigger, etc while still being what I would consider affordable.
 
Nicole said:
Caveat - Not a parent.

Hi again :) If you are joining to start the kids young (yay) I like the little Cricket-type guns because of the size - the little kids can actually mount these things properly and learn to shoot instead of just learning to pull the trigger. I am not entirely sure what I think of the single-shot nature and added safety procedures that come with a cricket class gun...I can see both sides of that. If you do go with this kind of gun, look at the Savage Rascal (was the cub) - same general idea but much better executed - peep sights, accutrigger, etc while still being what I would consider affordable.
Click to expand...

I took my (about to be) 7yo son to Kittery Trading Post while we were on vacation a few weeks back and fit him on a few different .22 rifles. The Rascal was the only one that actually fit, he is a bit of a peanut, and I thought it was very nicely put together. It had the feel of a real rifle that had been scaled down rather than a toy that had been scaled up. I haven't put hands on the Cricket yet so I can't compare.

and no, we didn't buy the Rascal....I'm still not having much luck convincing the wife that he's ready. Part of what she's worried about is what has already been mentioned - if he shows up at school and even says "gun" he'll probably be expelled [frown]
 
For those of you with wives who are against guns or are just generally stand-offish, please have them check out my new blog if they'd be willing:

http://lefemmeetpistolet.blogspot.com/2012/08/femmeetpistolet.html

Also maybe check out my "women and guns" thread for info on the purpose of the blog.

- - - Updated - - -

BostonBullit said:
I took my (about to be) 7yo son to Kittery Trading Post while we were on vacation a few weeks back and fit him on a few different .22 rifles. The Rascal was the only one that actually fit, he is a bit of a peanut, and I thought it was very nicely put together. It had the feel of a real rifle that had been scaled down rather than a toy that had been scaled up. I haven't put hands on the Cricket yet so I can't compare.

and no, we didn't buy the Rascal....I'm still not having much luck convincing the wife that he's ready. Part of what she's worried about is what has already been mentioned - if he shows up at school and even says "gun" he'll probably be expelled [frown]
Click to expand...

How did you feel the rascal compared to the cricket?
 
For those who want to get their kids into shooting, there is an event called the Big Moe being held on September 23 this year

http://fawnsexpo.com/


This is a great chance to get your children a quick safety course and a chance to shoot an air rifle, 22lr and shotgun. There are also a ton of other things for them to do. I took my 4 and 6 year old there last year and was very impressed with the supervision provided. After I saw them shoot I was able to comfortably take them to the range. Best part is this event is free
 
I took my daughter for the first time when she was 10. She is now 11 and has expressed interest in shooting in a league.
I bought her a rossi .22/410 combo and she has already "outgrown" it. She shot my S&W 15/22 recently and loved it.



Thank you for looking
Scott
 

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