New Shooter

BadJackO

BadJackO

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Mar 27, 2008
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Looking for some advice here! First I have been a police officer for 20 years, so I obviously know nothing about guns. I am looking to get my 12 year old nephew into shooting. I have his parents blessing and want to buy a handgun that he can use, under HEAVY supervision, at the range with me. I am pretty sure that a .22 would be the way to go, but after that I am lost, Semi v. Revolver; any specific models designed for the novice small framed shooter; OR should I scrap the whole thing and grab a starter rifle... which means I am even more lost... if that could be possible. Thanks in advance and I will take any advice I can get.
 
Welcome to the forum!

I'd start with an inexpensive .22LR rifle; the Ruger 10/22 is very popular...

The Ruger Mark II or Mark III semiautomatic handguns are also a good way to go for handguns.

... I'm also confident that someone who lives in your area will offer to meet you at a range and let you try something (providing the ammo is always appreciated!).

Welcome aboard!
 
First I have been a police officer for 20 years, so I obviously know nothing about guns
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[laugh2][laugh2] OK that was funny. [laugh]

I'm sure you're going to get tons of advice from members who are WAY more knowledgeable than I am. But I will tell you that I am female and I have very small hands; child size hands actually. Probably the size of your 12 year old nephew's hands.

I have a Walther P22 that fits perfectly and the slide would be really easy to work for a little guy like your nephew.

Also, I recently bought a Ruger 10/22 rifle and that would be small enough for your nephew to handle as well. Both the pistol and the rifle shoot .22lr so very little recoil in the P22 and none at all in the 10/22 rifle.

I think it's great that you're introducing your nephew to shooting. Hope it works out well for both of you.


.
 
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RichM said:
Welcome to the forum!

I'd start with an inexpensive .22LR rifle; the Ruger 10/22 is very popular...
Click to expand...


My first rifle was a Ruger 10/22. I was a bit older than 12 though.[smile]

Perhaps start with that and then move on to handguns later.
 
Welcome.

Check with any gun club in your/his area. Most should have a Juniors program that teach marksmanship skills to kids (typically) 12 to 18. Family does NOT have to be a member of said club in order for the child to participate. You could go and help out or just to be there with him. Most programs appreciate family members who will stay and help out coaching the kids.

Good luck.
 
LenS said:
Welcome.

Check with any gun club in your/his area. Most should have a Juniors program that teach marksmanship skills to kids (typically) 12 to 18. Family does NOT have to be a member of said club in order for the child to participate. You could go and help out or just to be there with him. Most programs appreciate family members who will stay and help out coaching the kids.

Good luck.
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Yup. Here is a link to the Juniors shooting program at the club I belong to in Braintree.

http://www.brp.org/Activities/JuniorsProgram/tabid/1149/Default.aspx




.
 
BadJackO said:
Looking for some advice here! First I have been a police officer for 20 years, so I obviously know nothing about guns.
Click to expand...
Very funny... [laugh]

My $0.0199 is that I've great success with my daughters with a 10/22 rifle with a bi-pod.

They are much too small to deal with handgun with any recoil of note - they can safely "fire" a P22 sitting on my lap with my hands near by, but beyond keeping it on the paper, its not terribly gratifying for them...

The 10/22 on the other hand with a bi-pod, bag and scope (so basically the gun stands on its own and just needs to be moved around for aim) has been great. They are able to make 2-3inch groups at 25 yards all on their own now. Recoil is not an issue...

They only thing I don't like about 22LR is the bare lead ammo - so, I get to do all the loading (yea me[thinking])...
 
I was thinking that he could find a Juniors program closer to Somerville. There is no shortage of good clubs North of Boston.

Cekim, try Rem Golden Bullets, they are copper coated and run flawlessly in our 10/22.
 
LenS said:
I was thinking that he could find a Juniors program closer to Somerville. There is no shortage of good clubs North of Boston.

Cekim, try Rem Golden Bullets, they are copper coated and run flawlessly in our 10/22.
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Mine eats anything, so I figured I'd feed it cheaply[wink]

The girls can eat through 200 rounds in a sitting each (they love breaking up clays and shooting bottles...)

I have mini-mags (though they seem to be caked in wax and foul up my AR 22LR conversion, they run fine in the 10/22 as well)...
 
Rem Golden Bullets are ~$17/550 if WM ever has them in stock.

Fed Bulk at WM are also copper coated and run ~$13.50/500, again if you can ever find them in stock.

Pretty cheap stuff, doesn't lead up your hands or the barrel.
 
LenS said:
Rem Golden Bullets are ~$17/550 if WM ever has them in stock.

Fed Bulk at WM are also copper coated and run ~$13.50/500, again if you can ever find them in stock.
Click to expand...
That "in stock" thing has been a notable barrier lately[thinking]

I told the girls they can load the copper ones when we get them - they don't know any better yet, so they are looking forward to it[laugh]

Judging by the way my thumb feels after keeping after them for an afternoon, I suspect, I will be back loading them up shortly... [wink]

I will definitely keep an eye out for those (was already looking for the Federal, but if I see the Rem Goldens, I'll be sure to give them a shot). So far I've only seen CCI at WM...
 
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BadJackO said:
Looking for some advice here! First I have been a police officer for 20 years, so I obviously know nothing about guns. I am looking to get my 12 year old nephew into shooting. I have his parents blessing and want to buy a handgun that he can use, under HEAVY supervision, at the range with me. I am pretty sure that a .22 would be the way to go, but after that I am lost, Semi v. Revolver; any specific models designed for the novice small framed shooter; OR should I scrap the whole thing and grab a starter rifle... which means I am even more lost... if that could be possible. Thanks in advance and I will take any advice I can get.
Click to expand...

Jack, your alright![laugh] Welcome to NES. Here is a cheap starter: http://northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=64221 Recomend single action use.
 
Welcome BadJackO,

I love .22LR handguns. They're my favorite thing to shoot.

Personally, I'd go revolver, if you can find one. Much harder to accidentally double tap.

A good used S&W model 34 if he's smaller framed or 617 if he's larger would be my suggestion. There are Taurus clones available such as the 94.

I've shot 4" barrelled S&W 34 and a Taurus 94 side by side. They're about equal in accuracy, though the S&W has much better fit and finish. Taurus is 9 shot and S&W six.

Good luck.
 
I agree with MassBites. The p22 and 1022 are great choices. I have both but I also have several S&W revolvers and autos in .22. A 17, a 617, a 34, a 22A and a 41. They'll all do the job. You should try to shoot several before you decide but whichever one you decide to use, hand it to your nephew with 1 round in the magazine until you're sure of where the muzzle is going to go after the round goes off.
 
Welcome to the forum BadJackO !

I'll second the Ruger Mk III, both with the standard angled grip and the Mk III 22/45.
The latter may be more suitable for shooters with smaller hands as it is very thin.
IIRC there's one in the classifieds here for less then $250.

I also second the thought of a bolt action rifle, better for learning the fundamentals.
 
No idea how big the 12 yo is, but take a look at the "Cricket", a single-shot rifle built for children. Depending on his size, it could be too small for him or it might fit just right.

If the Cricket is too small, the 10/22 (semi-auto) or a bolt action the same size would be best. Talk with Carl at Four Seasons, I'm sure he can come up with some good ideas.
 
You folks are great

I want to thank everyone who has responded so far. The ideas are fantastic. I am amazed at how many great ideas are out there. Posting this here was a great idea... one of the few I have had. Thanks again so much!
 
A lot of the junior programs have equipment for the kids to use so no up front expense other than a nominal fee.

Best of luck

B
 
Hi there, I see that you are a police and a very funny guy, so I will suppose that you have some good friends and that some of them probably have a P22 and/or a 1022 that they can lend you for a day. As well as to probably you having a training place where you go to practice. I will try the options above before buying anything, you will never know if your nephew likes to shot or not until he actually does it.

A friend of mine wanted to buy a P22 for his 13 years old son, but he couldn’t afford a new one ($449) and he is the type of guy who doesn’t like used guns. We spoke about different options. One of the options was to rent a P22 at the range for a while if his son likes to shot after his 1st try. The renting thing is a good idea but expensive, so he bough a 22 conversion kit for around $170 and since them both of them go to the range and practice with the same gun in 9mm and .22.

Welcome to the forum,

Ish.
 
I've taken my nephews, a little younger than yours, out shooting my Ruger Mark III .22 semi auto handgun and they did great, and enjoyed it a lot. They like the semi auto. Once my older nephew gained some confidence, he was dumping 10 rounds fairly quick, having a blast. My sister heard it from inside (we were out in a large field behind their house) and I laughed and told her who it was.
 
I'm another old timer who recommends a new shooter begin with a .22 Caliber, single shot, bolt action rifle. Once he learns "sight picture", and demonstrates some respect for where his muzzle is pointed, then you can step him up to a good .22 revolver.

The main thing I like about the single shot is that kids learn some discipline. They learn to make that one shot count, because they have to reload before they can take another shot.

While the 10/22 is a great gun, kids have a tendency to blow through the whole mag without really concentrating, and they don't develop the skills of breathing, trigger pull and follow through that a Bolt action gun will force them to learn.

I like blowing through a whole mag now and again myself, but I learned on a single shot when I was 6, and kept shooting that gun until I was 15. It's a great gun to build a foundation on.

There are many great single shot .22s available. Look at Savage, Remington, CZ and maybe even Ruger.

Good luck. If you want to bring your nephew to my club to shoot (Mansfield) let me know.
 
My vote would be for a bolt action 22 and a revolver of some type be it a single action or double action. Your not that far from me if you pm me ahead of time your welcome to go to my range in Gloucester and I can bring a semi auto and a revolver to try out. I have 2 22 rf rifles one 10/22 the other an AR with a 22 upper. If the weather is good we can use the outdoor range.
 
One more comment that was something I had not really thought about or expected prior to introducing my daughters...

I assumed we'd start with a hand gun and rifle with "iron sights" and move on to glass later as an added complexity...

As I mentioned, the hand gun didn't provide much "instant gratification" where the stabilized rifle w/scope did. I'd put the rifle on a bag/pod and aim it for them and let them take the shot. Eventually, they worked up to firing off their own shoulder and a pod on the front aiming entirely for themselves.

The rifle/scope really got them working on the basics of aim/control/trigger squeeze right away where the pistol was a bit frustrating (and frankly more of a risk of breaking muzzle discipline since the rifle is resting on the table, there's no "waving it around").

I am sure this depends on age and size - as I mentioned, their small so control was hard... YMMV, but I had to change my approach mid-stream...

As for bolt vs semi-auto - I agree you need to start with one in the mag, but once you've gotten over basic safety/discipline, there's no reason they can't deal with semi-auto... Like every other aspect of firearm safety/discipline, you start with limits and supervision to prevent them from hurting anyone if they make a mistake and gradually work up to them being responsible for themselves as they demonstrate competency and discipline...

Firing semi-auto under control is just another part of this... One in the mag until they are ready.

I can say I have witnessed first hand that bolts don't decide discipline - I've watched other people's kids behave VERY poorly with bolt action 10/22's... Treating them like BB guns, not aiming, firing at other people's targets, etc...
 

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