What age to teach youngsters how to shoot?

I started when I was 6 years old. First gun i shot was a Marlin 22 lever action. At 8 I was allowed to shoot Dad's Colt Frontier Scout 22's.. with him right there of course.

My first "owned" gun was a 12 ga single shot at 15! From then on.... "It was on"! I bought by first Ruger Single Six 22 at age 16 and 100's of guns have come and gone since.

My dad planted the seed of "gun fever".... he never dreamed of owning as many as I have! ha ha
 
I started learning about safe firearms use at age 4, using a toy cap pistol. That was when my father started going over safe gun handling rules, and critiquing some of the silly stuff that happens in movies, while talking about the value of proper bullet placement. By age 9 I had moved up to BB-guns, and by age 12 I was regularly shooting firearms. It is easier to learn to safely use a firearm when you don't have to unlearn alot of dangerous garbage that has been fed to you by the entertainment industry.

n2s
 
I gave my son a CZ 452 Scout for his 7 birthday.
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I think he is 10 here:
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Then I then gave him my CZ 452 Varmint.

He is 12 now and wants one of my Coopers.

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8 is probably a good age to start with a firearm, particularly if you've already started your child with a BB/Pellet gun younger. 8 is around the age I must have been when I started little league sports as well.

I think alot of it depends on you and the maturity of your child. Girls are probably more responsible and mature at younger ages. My boss has two daughters, one 7 and the other 5. He's kind of waiting to see if they show any particular interest. He hunts and shoots so it's not like they are unfamiliar with the "culture."

Type of rifle I think also depends on the child, but I think the typical choices for boys should fit for girls too, a bolt action .22 IMO so that there must be a concious decision and action to load a new round. But again, the girls may be less impulsive than the boys.

Don't know much about raising girls to be honest, it's always been boys around my family until my two oldest Nephew's children. Each Nephew had a girl just 2 months apart a little over a year ago. I'm actually looking foreward to attending whatever activities they get involved in just as I did with all my nephews, even if those events are Ballet recitles or whatever they call those things.... :D

Anyway, be safe and, HAVE FUN! :)
 
I was 5 when my father, who was a competitive shooter, bought me my first 10/22. My parents were already divorced by then, so his motivation may have been to piss my mom off as much as to teach me how to shoot. Most of the Saturdays that he and I spent together over the next several years were with that rifle. I'm 35 now and really wish I still had that gun.

Now I'm a competitive shooter myself, and carry concealed constantly. My children have grown up seeing me with a gun and I never say 'no' if even the little ones want to examine them. My three year old hasn't been shooting with me yet, but he knows how to field-strip an AR and a Glock, even though he isn't strong enough to push the pins in the AR or pull the takedown on the glock yet. As soon as he's big enough to put behind a Cricket rifle, I'm taking him to the range (probably next year).

I've been shooting with my 12 year old step-son for about a year now, and he is doing pretty good. He's got a Savage bolt action 22 that is 'his', and he often shoots my rifles as well. His favorite is my suppressed M4 clone in 6.8 SPC. Despite his small hands, he also shoots very well with my Glock 23 and has declared that he wants one just like it. I'd likely have taken him shooting when he was 5 or so, but "real dad" was not comfortable with such and I wanted to respect his wishes. Now that "real dad" has become "deadbeat dad", I figure his opinion about my guns is as good as his child-support checks... :D

Jon
 
My 5 year old has been shooting with me many times. I have video's of him shooting my AR, 10-22, and Ruger Mark I.

I think the first time I took him shooting was 4 or so?

at almost 6, I still am right there. I don't let the gun go out of my grasp, and help him.

I am trying to work in his ability to use the sights.

Good times.
 
My son was around 4 to 5 when he started going out with me to shoot. At that time I would pretty much hold the gun, either 10/22 or MK II, while he learned to aim & pull the trigger. The main point at that time was to learn safe handling & the basics.

At 9 he did the jungle walk at Knob Creek with my MP5. They were really leery about a kid that young going through with a machine gun, but they left him as long as I was right there by him. After his first time through they had no trouble with him going through by himself. That first year at 9 he ranked around the 50% point of everyone who went through.

Now at 24 I know it's a rare occasion when I'll out shoot him.

So as others have said, if the kid has a good head on his shoulders it's never to early to get them started. On the other hand I have a nephew that at 21 he scares the hell out of me when we take him shooting.
 
I was 5 when my father started teaching me. He qualified expert in the Army so when I was seven and started outshooting him he always had this weird looking grin on his face. After many years I learned that grin was commonly refered to as a s*** eating grin:D
 
The fact that you are asking means you probably already know the answer - each kid is different, so go with your gut on this one - a single shot is a great starter
 
Thanks for all the input. Lots of great advice. I was getting my gear together to go shooting a couple of weeks ago and had my pistol out. She was afraid of it initially and told me guns kill people. I explained to her that guns don't kill people. I then made sure it was unloaded and had her come over to check it out. I then took the time to teach her about what to do if she ever found a gun i.e. don't touch and get an adult (which is basically what is taught by the NRA in the Eddie Eagle program). She had the concept down in about 15 minutes and I quiz her on it regularly. She turned 4 last week. I was really impressed and that is what got me thinking about when the time was right to start teaching her about guns. I had always planned on doing it but was thinking when she was closer to being a teenager. I got on early start in Cub Scouts with BB guns and transitioned to .22s in Boy Scouts and appreciated my early start and want to give her the same opportunities. Thanks to everyone that stated what age they started at or started their kids at as it helped me realize that 5 or 6 is not an to early of an age.

I've already stated looking into what to start her out with and have decided a Chipmunk/Cricket would be a great place to start. Single shot, so she learns the importance of making each shot count, and iron sights so she learns proper sight picture, alignment and front site focus. In fact she decided to crawl up into my lap while I was at the computer and told me very emphatically she wanted the pink stripped one (laminate stock). I guess I know what her birthday or Christmas present next year is going to be.

Thanks to AZTimT for confirming my opinion that maturity is more important than age. I wouldn't trust my 10 yr old step daughter but putting a gun in the hands of my daughter in a year or so doesn't bother me. I grew up the same way you did and with a few differences my daughter is growing up the same way

Also thanks to kdstrick and KWR for the ideas especially the ones about close ranges, clays and cb rounds. I have to agree shooting reactive targets is a whole lot more fun than paper even at my age. Also managing recoil is always best with new shooters.

M67 - working on the bow. Talked my kid sister (who would take issue with me calling her that now that she is over 21) out of her recurve just the other day. Next time she visits she is supposed to bring it and give me a refresher course on proper care, stringing, etc... My parents have an place with about an acre of property and the open field next to the house is perfect for setting up some butts.

Thanks for all the input so far. Feel free to keep them coming.
 
It's about maturity, and maturity is a self developed thing, there are thirty year olds that act just as bad as a three year old, and it's really about a childs maturity and responsibility.
 
My daughters started on a crossman bb-gun when they were 5-6 and moved up to a .22 when they were 8ish. I had them shooting from the bench with a ruger mark 3 and a cricket rifle. It was a bit of a challenge because I have one righty and one lefty
 
I started shooting at about 7 or 8 with a springer air-rifle (BSA Meteor) donated by my Grandfather.

At the time my Father was big into driven game shooting & had a nice English SBS 12g, so I'd been taught how to assemble & clean it since I was probably 5 - although I never actually got to shoot it.

I graduated through a sucessession of air-rifles, a bolt action "Garden Gun" (9mm shotgun) & poachers .410, until I obtained my own shotgun licence & bought my first 12g at 15 - a 1963 Charles Rosson (handmade in my home town, but 10 years older than I). A box lock non-ejector, so a nice but basic gun, which I still own & shoot regularly 20+ years later (despite blowing it up & having it rebuilt when I was about 17!).

Whilst it was my father who introduced me to shotguns & taught me the basics of gun safety & cleaning/assembly, most of my knowledge & interest of firearms has subsequently been self taught.
 
My kids were are all about 9 when they started out on 22's, just went shooting Sunday with my daughter , she's 26 now. Its always a good time, shootin and talkin.
 
Gun safety is something everyone should teach their kids at an early age. The earlier the better.

You never know what your kids will be exposed to at another's house.

They understand when it's time to leave if you teach them
 
It really depends. Teach her responsibility first (from birth) then gun safety (I got this around five years of age, you should start it with her sooner). You can start her on air guns and such very early-a Red Rider for her by the age of 5, if she is a good girl. Graduate her to a bolt-action .22 by seven-ish, and a semi (maybe a pistol too) at around 9-10.
YMMV
 
6 yrs, supervised with a bb gun or youth 22, iron sites, close, tin cans and build confidence.:thumbup:


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I spent a lot of time shooting BB/pellet in the back yard from a decent pump Crossman air rifle. At least 5 years before I used a real gun.

Unless you have dedication to go out to a range or have space to shoot, I think air rifles are great for building shooting skills. Cans, old playing cards, discarded fruit, plastic poker chips are fun targets. My dad also helped me build my own BB trap.

Just remember supervision. My older neighbor, aged 14 or so shot himself with his BB gun trying to do military rifle drills. The BB traveled 6 inches down his leg. Age doesn't equal maturity.
 
When they come to you wanting to shoot.

I got my two teenage boys in a Garand class last year to develop good shooting technique.

They loved it.
 
My parents wouldn't give me a BB gun when I was a kid. They actually thought I would shoot out my eye. No Joke! However, they gave me a Harrington & Richards breach barrel .410 when I was 7. I still have it & the .22 my dad used to slaughter all our beef with. They'll never leave my hands. But as for the Op, 7 is the age I'd start bringing up the issue.
 
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