What age were your kids when you started bringing them to the range?

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I have an almost four year old daughter who has fired my Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle (Thank you Christmas Story - still need the leg lamp in my window though) under close supervision. She loved it and I'm sure would really love to go to the range with my .22 rifle. How young is too young? When did you bring your kids?
 
I think I was 10 when my dad brought me to the range for the first time, started off with a Walther P99 air pistol and a 22 pistol. Been hooked ever since [smile]
 
In my most humble opinion, it's really not a matter of age, and it has more to do with the parent than the child. YOU have to be mature, educated, and safe enough to control the firearm and ensure the experience is fun and safe.

I was about your daughters age when my father first started shooting with me. At almost any age, you can hold the firearm and absorb the recoil, allowing the child to sight and pull. A .22 is a great learning tool. It familiarizes them with the workings of a firearm, safety, and how to shoot it with little recoil.
 
I was six when Dad got me my first .22. He taught me how to shoot it and clean and care for it. I'm so glad I had all those years shooting with him. A WWII Marine, Dad knew the value of learning to shoot.
 
The range i belong to also has a min. age of 12. and my son is turning 12 in a Couple of weeks. he is getting so excited. he will be starting off with a 10/22 and hopefully I am going to get a mk III. soon.
 
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Thanks for everyone's responses- first thing is to look into my club's rules and regs and then see how interested she is in learning properly. But it sounds like if I started her soon she wouldn't be the youngest since the invention of smokeless powder....
 
5. It is a shame that a lot of local ranges will not let young kids on the firing line anymore. Just another sign of the great decline in America!
 
With help from Dad both kids fired air rifles at around 3 yo. The will now make ocasional visits to the the trap range with my Wife while I shoot....usually to ask for money[crying]
 
I'm a shooter and we had our own outdoor range. My kids were exposed to shooting by the time they were 5. They didn't all like shooting but they all learned what a firearm was capable of doing. One is still a shooter and a hunter. If your club has an age limit, I suggest you buy a good quality ait rifle and shoot at home as soon as your child expresses an interest. If that's not possible, find a new club.
 
I'm a shooter and we had our own outdoor range. My kids were exposed to shooting by the time they were 5. They didn't all like shooting but they all learned what a firearm was capable of doing. One is still a shooter and a hunter. If your club has an age limit, I suggest you buy a good quality ait rifle and shoot at home as soon as your child expresses an interest. If that's not possible, find a new club.

Couldn't agree more. It is about safety and security first, then about form and hitting the target. I bought my son his first rifle at 6 months old (caught a little flak for that) and he has been shooting since he was 3.

He is now safer than most adults on the range. [grin]
 
i started my kids shooting when they were 5 yrs old and i started with my grandson when he was 9 yrs old. my son in law was strictly anti gun for a long time....but he has come around over the last 6 yrs or so. i have actually gotten him to my club to watch his son shoot....who knows maybe i will get him to shoot in the near future.
 
Yeah, if you have young ones, and your club prohibits them, you should quit that club and find another one--quick. There STILL are some non-yuppie controlled clubs out there. Those that remember what America WAS like just a little while ago.
 
I think I was 8 when dad first let me shoot.. went shooting with grandpa around that age too. Actually, I had never been to an actual range until I was in my 20's.. didn't really need them where I grew up; you could shoot anywhere outside of city limits.
 
I take my son all the time, he's 9. Started him with the .22 at like 7. He's just starting the 9mm now, shoots the 20 guage with clays all the time. He shot the .243 the other day, but he's kinda scared of getting hit by the scope , so I'm leaving that one alone til he's a little older.
 
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