Myself and my wife have been seriously considering buying either a semi-oauto or bolt action .22 LR for our daughter that will be 7 this April. She has great maturity and common sense at least beyond most of her peers. Obviously I do not compare her to an adult and ALL parent to child safety guidleines would be observed. I just figured with the amount of older citizens frequenting this forum I could get some advice. I am only looking at this from a target shooting hobby at this point and want my children to grow up as my two brothers and I did; shooting .22s with our father (USMC ret) out in the desert while we were all still in elementary school. Plus some good father/daughter time would be great. LMKWYT.
Ready to start my daughter on the range???
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I say go for it. Some members here have done the same with their kids and will give great advise. When my son turnes 7 I will be doing the same thing over the objection of his mom (ex-wife). I think it will be a great way to further bond with your child.
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Thats a great idea. I have an 11 yr old son that is a Boy Scout. He has done some shooting with 22 rifle and shotgun. He went through a gun safety program with the Boy Scouts which was very thorough. I can tell you that his safety course was better than the one I took in Corrections Academy. 
He has asked me if I would take him to the pistol range. I agreed on one condition. That he was to be able to do a full field strip of a .45 cal 1911 name and clean all the parts and put it back together. With minimal help from me, he did it.
He thanked me and I told him to thank his Grandfather. He said why. I said because your Grandfather did the same thing with me when I was about his age
We made plans to go to the range next week and shoot .22 cal pistol.
Shooting is definitely a sport the whole family can enjoy. Its going to be great to have my father shoot with his grandson like he did with me, when I was young.
He has asked me if I would take him to the pistol range. I agreed on one condition. That he was to be able to do a full field strip of a .45 cal 1911 name and clean all the parts and put it back together. With minimal help from me, he did it.
He thanked me and I told him to thank his Grandfather. He said why. I said because your Grandfather did the same thing with me when I was about his age
We made plans to go to the range next week and shoot .22 cal pistol.
Shooting is definitely a sport the whole family can enjoy. Its going to be great to have my father shoot with his grandson like he did with me, when I was young.
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I say go for it also. If you don't want to start with a .22, go with the classic Red Rider BB gun maybe even get her one for Christmas. Great gift that will never be forgotten. I still remember mine and wish I still had had it. My dad gave my son one that I am saving for him to pass along one day.
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I have started my daughters with a Marlin 22lr single shot bolt action. We are blessed with having several acres of land which allows us to shoot on our property as we please. My girls are 8 and 9. So far the 8 year old is not impressed. In fact I asked them this morning if they would like to shoot and received a split decision.
I recommend taking your time and let learn at a pace that is comfortable to them.
I recommend taking your time and let learn at a pace that is comfortable to them.
I took my youngest daughter (12 y.o.; she's actually one of my stepchildren) shooting for the first time at a friend's house a few weeks back.
I started her off with my Ruger Single-Six .22, then let her shoot a smaller-framed .22 revolver (S&W, I think) that my buddy brought with him. After that, she wanted to try my buddy's AR, so we adjusted the stock, pointed her down-range, and let her fire off a few rounds. Lastly, I let her shoot my S&W Sigma 9mm. She didn't like that one as much because of the stiff trigger, but she still popped a few in the target at ~15 yards.
My friend had his daughter (21) there and she took a bunch of pictures (when she wasn't shooting every gun we had). The common theme?: the constant ear-to-ear smile spread across my little one's face. She is now convinced that little girls are made of gunpowder and lead (her words, not mine!). My avatar is actually one of the pics from that day.
I always had guns around when I was little, some of which were mine. My Dad instilled the respect necessary to handle guns at an early age and I've been doing it without incident since (knocking on wood as I type!). I started teaching the little one how to safely handle, aim, and shoot pistols in our garage using an AirSoft BB gun that I bought at Walmart awhile back. I think it helped a lot.
It's such an awesome way to develop and strengthen bonds with a child which, I have found out through experience, will come in handy when they get older (5 kids total; 3 girls/2 boys; 12- to 24-years old)!!
I say go for it and have fun!:thumsup
I started her off with my Ruger Single-Six .22, then let her shoot a smaller-framed .22 revolver (S&W, I think) that my buddy brought with him. After that, she wanted to try my buddy's AR, so we adjusted the stock, pointed her down-range, and let her fire off a few rounds. Lastly, I let her shoot my S&W Sigma 9mm. She didn't like that one as much because of the stiff trigger, but she still popped a few in the target at ~15 yards.
My friend had his daughter (21) there and she took a bunch of pictures (when she wasn't shooting every gun we had). The common theme?: the constant ear-to-ear smile spread across my little one's face. She is now convinced that little girls are made of gunpowder and lead (her words, not mine!). My avatar is actually one of the pics from that day.
I always had guns around when I was little, some of which were mine. My Dad instilled the respect necessary to handle guns at an early age and I've been doing it without incident since (knocking on wood as I type!). I started teaching the little one how to safely handle, aim, and shoot pistols in our garage using an AirSoft BB gun that I bought at Walmart awhile back. I think it helped a lot.
It's such an awesome way to develop and strengthen bonds with a child which, I have found out through experience, will come in handy when they get older (5 kids total; 3 girls/2 boys; 12- to 24-years old)!!
I say go for it and have fun!:thumsup
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Definitely take her shooting...I started my oldest son when he was 8, my daughter (in the middle) when she was 10 and my youngest son when he was 12 (they all matured and showed interest in firearms at different ages). Now my daughter and youngest son are both USPSA Certified Range Officers and compete in IDPA; he also shoots 3-Gun and she shoots in GSSF and has her CHL.
Even when kids don't show an interest in shooting later in life, guns won't be a big deal to them, like the way some people who've never been exposed to firearms tend to freak out about guns whenever they're in the presence of one. And they also won't be duped by the media's constant mischaracterizations about guns and gun owners.
Even when kids don't show an interest in shooting later in life, guns won't be a big deal to them, like the way some people who've never been exposed to firearms tend to freak out about guns whenever they're in the presence of one. And they also won't be duped by the media's constant mischaracterizations about guns and gun owners.
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Went to bass pro shops today in fort lauderdale. They had the red ryder BB gun on sale for $40.00. Comes in a replica of the original 1940's box and also comes with a copy of the original comic ad. Almost bought one but I bought ammo instead.
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Some of my best times with my little girl were at ranges. She's 30 now and I miss her. She shoots with her hubby.
It was sort of funny. At the range we sort of loosened up and we could talk about anything. Sometimes stuff I didn't want to know came up. The range became a place of trust.
Shoot some talk some.
I can't wait until my granddaughter turns about 7. Then I'll take her to the range. And my daughter can't come.
It's special.
Get her to the range and treasure every moment. Just the 2 of you. Teach her safety, respect and that she's now old enough to begin taking responsibility. She'll also learn the trust goes 2 ways.
And have FUN
AFS
It was sort of funny. At the range we sort of loosened up and we could talk about anything. Sometimes stuff I didn't want to know came up. The range became a place of trust.
Shoot some talk some.
I can't wait until my granddaughter turns about 7. Then I'll take her to the range. And my daughter can't come.
It's special.
Get her to the range and treasure every moment. Just the 2 of you. Teach her safety, respect and that she's now old enough to begin taking responsibility. She'll also learn the trust goes 2 ways.
And have FUN
AFS
All of you guys are the best. We just got back from the mouse house in Orlando and I plan to make the purchase later this week. I'll let you know what I end up with and how our first range day goes. Thank you all for your input and stories. I have similar fond memories and I want to get to the point where my children (4 and 6) will be ready to hunting and camping in the next few short years. As we all know hunters are down in population and they are the first and most effective wildlife conservationists. I am going to be doing my part. I'll post more stuff as it comes up. Thanks again. :angel
I bought my grandson a Savage Cub (single shot bolt action) for Christmas. It'll be a few years before he actually can shoot it (he's only 18 months old), so my daughter and I took it to the range for break-in and test firing. After a good cleaning/oiling, it'll go into the safe for him.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
Personally I would go with a Henry lever action .22
Simple and uncomplicated and just plain classic. My daughter is currently -0.2 but I will probably get her one some day. Of course since my wife is all for shooting we will probably start her much younger on a single shot bolt gun. I will probably do like J T and buy it well in advance
Simple and uncomplicated and just plain classic. My daughter is currently -0.2 but I will probably get her one some day. Of course since my wife is all for shooting we will probably start her much younger on a single shot bolt gun. I will probably do like J T and buy it well in advance
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I am not sure if you have made your purchase yet, but you may want to consider one of these for your child's first .22 rifle.
http://www.crickett.com/
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