Excellent Matt!!
The single six is a good way to introduce the boy to the joy of handgunning. Don't let em fool you, gun safety with handguns is not any harder to teach than gun safety with rifles or shotguns. I teach 4-H Pistol and the little guys as young as 8 do just fine. After a few sessions one on one to get the safe handling ideas down pat they do just fine.
I have also found that some who have troubles with long guns take to the handguns fine and vice versa. All are great places to teach. As soon as possible get him shooting from the standing position. Bench work slows the transition, they get to used to the added steadiness of a bench or sandbags. I am working with a 10 year old boy that can hold the black offhand 80% of the time and a 12 yr old girl that can do the same. Both of these youths are safer with a handgun than some adults you may see at your local range ;~)
Best of luck and thanks for doing your part to bring this fun sport to another!
Wasn't really planning on buying anything at the gun show today....but, there was this beautiful, but very dirty, little Ruger Super Single Six Convertible with the both cyclinders (22 LR and 22 Win Mag) for a pretty decent price ($200). My son (9 years old) was right there with me...and it just fit his hand like a glove :wink: . We took it to the range today and it shoots like a dream. Now he's got his camping, hunting, and fishing gun :grin: