How old to start kids shooting 22?

[HuntenNut]

The other post got me thinking about this. I realize all kids are different, but how old have you guys generally gotten your kids started on the 22?

I have a 5 year old daughter. Took her squirrel huntin last year (tag along) which she loved and she will go again this year.

I'm just wondering when I should start thinking of introducting her to the shooting part.

[Nuttinbutchunks]

My son was 6 and my daughter was 8 when they first shot a .22. I even let them shoot my 22-250. It was way too big, but they enjoyed it. My daughter is now 10 and she can actually hit stuff with a .22. They both enjoy shooting.

As long as you WATCH them, nothing will happen bad. I'm all for starting them as soon as you can.

[Moonlitin]

Every kid is different, and nobody knows your kids as well as you do.  While I'm also in favor of starting them young, they need to be ready.  I know guys who don't hunt or fish now because their fathers forced them to hunt and fish for long hours at a time under less than ideal circumstances when they were young...I call it "forced fun".  When they want to start...they'll let you know.  Then when you're ready to take the time to help them get started...it's time.  Remember that you're going to be doing a lot more supervising than shooting at first.

That said, here's a few things to think about.  Whenever you do start them, safety will obviously be your biggest concern.  After that, remember to keep it fun for them.  While us old guys can punch holes in paper all day long, kids can get tired of it soon, so keep your shooting sessions short.  Let them decide when it's time to quit.  Reactive targets are way more fun for kids to shoot at.  If your range doesn't allow them, get as many different paper targets as you can find.  Animal shaped targets, or the "splatter" targets can be a lot of fun too.  

If you're at a range, try to go when it's not real busy.  I remember being at the range when a guy on one side of me was shooting a 375 Rem Ultra Mag with a ported barrel, and on the other side a guy was shooting a 54 cal muzzle loader.  Kids don't like that.  Oh ya...don't take them to an indoor range at that age either...any centerfire round sounds like a cannon when you're indoors.

That's my 2 cents...be safe...have fun.

[ihuntbucks]

Hnut,sounds like she ready to learn now,since you said she enjoyed "tree rat" hunting as a tag-along.Of course it could be also she just wanted to be with good ole Dad.Whichever is the case,she is old enough.Take care and have fun teaching her,cuz they grow up very,very fast. :cry: ....Rick

[HuntenNut]

The squirrel hunts we went on last year were not serious ones. Just a short walk in the woods wearing orange and with me carrying my gun. I definitely didn't want it to be a chore for her. She wasn't old enough to sit still or big enough to bust brush so we pretty much just walked slowly along the trails. We did bag a couple though which she thought was cool. She is already looking forward to going out agin this year.

I don't think she quite has the motor coordination skills yet to shoot and she is very stubborn about recieving instructions; she would rather sit at something and try to figure it out (must have gotten that from her mother). She just started kindergarten where they are supposed to be learning a lot of coordination skills.

I think this year will be tag along again and maybe next summer will be better for learning to shoot. We are lucky to have a relative with suitable property for backyard shooting, so it will just be us shooting.

[Mitch in MI]

Reminds me of the time my nephew wanted to bring his four year old out to the farm to shoot muzzleloader. After we got it sighted in with hunting loads, he loaded it with 40 or 50gr of FFg, held the kid in his lap, gun against dad's shoulder, dad aimed at a water filled milk carton and the kid worked the trigger. Repeated a half-dozen times and the kid was hooked. (I had a set of muffs that were small enough to seal on a 4-y-o's head)
Normally, I think 6 to 8 is when you get the ability to line up two sights and a target, and have some semblance of trigger control. I think I was about 8 when I got my first Marksman BB pistol with reworked trigger. Cocking it myself was a huge deal, I was small for my age. I probably shot that thing in the basement 10,000 times before the barrel was so worn out as to make it useless.

[Brett]

HuntenNut, I have a 5 year old daughter myself.  I plan to get her a bb/pellet rifle this Christmas.  Probably a Crossman Model 760 pump, it's size and weight are nearly identical to the Daisy Red Ryder and cost about the same.  I figure she won't outgrow the 760 as quickly as she would the Red Ryder since it is capable of shooting pellets as well as bbs and (depending on the number of times you pump it) is a lot more powerful than the Daisy.  IMO there are several advantages to starting a very young child out with a kid sized bb or pellet gun.  The gun is not too heavy or large for them to handle.  They are quieter than a .22lr.  They are much safer, a pair of safety glasses for you and the child is the only safety equipment you need.  You can shoot them in your back yard or even in your basement. Also, kids love reactive targets, something that explodes or makes noise when hit.  Start them off shooting at empty soda cans or clay pigeons. As they get better find smaller targets like Ritz crackers and Neco wafers.

[HuntenNut]

Brett,

Good idea. I looked them over today. I'm leaning more towards the Red Ryder though. I don't like the plastic on the crossman. Seems cheap. Also, the Red Ryder is an American Classic. Every kid shood have one.
I think one might find its way under the Christmas Tree.

When she's up to more power and accuracy, I'll load up some shorts in our VersaPack 22 which is a gun I picked up for my wife a while back.

[Brett]

I know what you mean about the plastic stocks, I wish they were wood myself.  The Crossman 760 , like the Red Ryder, has been around for ever.  I can remember back when the model 760 did have real wood stocks on them.  I have a couple of .22 Revolvers and a modified 10/22 that I'm sure she will want to shoot someday but right now, even with ear muffs, she's put off by the noise though she likes to watch me make soda cans jump & dance with the .22's and a .410 Topper out in our back yard 'range'.  Yes, I'm fortunate enough to live out in the sticks where such activities are still considered normal by the neighbors.

[tallyho]

Both my kids (now 9 and 14) started at 5 with a Ruger Single Six. It was me cocking it and helping with holding it for them while they aimed and fired.

Tried various rifles over the years, TC Carbine w/Youth stock, Stevens Favorite, Daisy 2202 with adjustable stock.

This summer I acquired a couple of Sportsters in .22, one with Youth stock for my 9 yr old son, and one with adult stock that 14 yr old daughter used.

Also have a Henry .22 lever and Marlin 39 Mountie. Both of these the kids loved, though my son found the stocks a bit long. And it was a toss up which they enjoyed more.

My son ended  up shooting the Youth stocked Sportster most of the time, with a 4X Simmons scope. The more he shot it, the smaller he wanted the targets to be. Finally he was shooting popsicle sticks at 30 yds, trying to split them in half.

My daughter shot the Henry more than anything else, and like the old west feel of it.

We fired a couple of thousand rounds of Colibri through all these guns, at a friend's rural property (we had about 30 yds) and never shot a single paper target. (Well I sighted in on paper, but after that it was all 'reactive' targets - balloons, cans, plastic pill bottles, plastic dinosaurs, animal crackers (though I tended to eat many of them before they had a chance to become targets!)

Most fun were cans from a case of Diet Pepsi we found that had a 1996 expiry date. Left them in the hot sun, shook 'em up and let fly! Yeee-ha!

Anyway, we also had some airguns, and the Colibris were quieter than the CO2 (Crosman MK1 and Crosman 1077) and about the same noise (maybe a teeny bit louder) as the break barrels.

I think that noise and 'frustration' are probably the biggest factors in kids not enjoying shooting. Frustration in the sense that they want to hit something and see a response. That is why we didn't shoot any paper this time. It has been 3 summers since we last shot together, so I wanted to maximize the fun!

I would say it was the most enjoyable my kids have had in their shooting experiences to date! It certainly was in my shooting experience with them.

I only get them in the summer, they live with their mom, far from me the rest of the year... and we haven't managed to go shooting together for the last couple of years.

My son is also an awesome shot - for a 9 year old - with a handgun. Shot the Crosman MK1 and a single action Colt revolver like he was born to it. The single action made more noise with the Super Colibri, so we used the lighter version Colibri in it.

So, anyone concerned about noise at the early stages of shooting with kids, try the Colibris. They are accurate at the ranges we were shooting and accurate (certainly 'minute of can') in all the guns we used this summer.

In any case, I love shooting with my kids and though it is awkward to take them hunting under current living arrangements, it is my intention within the next couple of years to make it happen.

Cheers
Kerry

[MSP Ret]

Kerry, those super Colibris are great. I have reduced the grey squirrel population around my back yard (at my wifes bird feeders and trying to get into the house) by 250+ this year with head shots with a model 60 and  4 power scope at between 15-20 yards with a max of 30 yards. They won't feed thru the tube magazine or work the action and loading them is a pain but they are super accurate out of my gun!!!...<><.... :grin:

[tallyho]

MSP

Yeah I know what you mean about not working the action - a friend had a Ruger MK1 he tried with them... too much hassle for him.

If you are tired of your hassle with the mod 60, let me know I've got two Sportsters NIB that I'm open to selling or trading... that would likely be quicker to load singly than the mod 60. (I bought 4 all together, thinking I'd keep 2, sell 2)

Colibris work great in the lever actions. Only one problem in extraction out of all the rounds we fired. I did notice that the guns were quite dirty, black powder-like stuff in the barrels after we finished each day, but it cleaned up easily enough.

Super Colibris are a tad pricey compared to some of the bulk ammo, but it is worth it in my opinion to be able to just go "out back" and quietly shoot them.

By the way, how do you cook your squirrels?

Cheers
Kerry

[MSP Ret]

Tallyho, The Super Colibri's are $11.97 a brick (500) at "Cheaper  Than Dirt". At about $1.20 a box of 50 I don't think thats excessively expensive. Of course if you buy them at a small store you will pay considerably more. I suggest buying a case of 10 bricks and splitting the cost with a few friends. Thats what I did. Even about $25.00-$26.00 for 1,000 rounds is affordable and will keep your children shooting for a long time. The added cost for ammo shipping is only $3.00 on the order so it is a reasonable total cost, most likely less than $70.00 for 5,000 rounds....<><.... :grin:

Yes I might be interested in trading for a Sportster. What are you looking for?

And regarding the squirrels, we don't eat them around here, just try to keep them from invading our homes and destroying out outbuildings and birdfeeders.....When they say tree rats thats exactly how we think of them..Also called "Cape Cod Monkeys" by some...........

[tallyho]

MSP..
Yikes :shock:  I paid $30.00 for a brick at a local gun store. I'll look into Cheaper than dirt for sure! Thanks

re squirrels: I lived in Ontario Canada just north of Toronto for awhile as a teen, and where I grew up (Alberta Canada) we never ate squirrel (red squirrels), but they did in Ontario. So I decided to have a go at them.. the greys and blacks were big enough for some meat but the reds were hardly worth the effort.

Done properly they are quite tasty actually.. even tried ground hog once.. not bad either!

PM or email (kandk AT dashoflife DOT com) to discuss dealing on a Sportster.. Right now I'm interested in a 30-30 and/or 357, a scope, wood stocks, a decent  revolver .. but you know how it goes, I can become interested in practically anything at anytime...

Cheers
Kerry

[HuntenNut]

Hey guys,

I just checked out those Colibris at Cheaper Than Dirt. I have been shooting squirrels out the back window of my garage using my 22 sportster with 22 shorts. The shorts are a bit loud, and I can only pop off 1 or 2 here and there for fear of raising suspicion of the neighbors (we have woods behind us, but technically are in town).

Those Colibris sound like just the ticket, however, they say for use in pistols only as they might not make it out the barrel of a rifle. I am assuming you guys haven't had any such problems?

What kind of trajectory are you getting at 30yds?

[tallyho]

Hunten... can't say what the trajectory is, but when the light is just right you can see the bullet in the air!

However, I can say that I never had a problem with  them making it out of the barrel of any rifle in which I was shooting them.

In fact I even had a couple of boxes of the 'regular' Colibri with a lower muzzle velocity that made it out of the rifles (yellow boxes - which I believe are no longer made). They were so quiet and low recoil that I didn't actually know that they had fired until I saw the can jump and heard the 'thunk' of the hit, or I saw the dust spurt when i missed...

Of course there is always the possibilty, with any cartridge, that there could be some kind of failure.. nothing is 'guaranteed' to happen when you pull the trigger, so perhaps that warning is as much for legal protection as anything else.

Cheers
Kerry

[HuntenNut]

Another good reason to use them in the Sportster. It would be easy to check the bore and remove any obstrucion with a cleaning rod should it be required.

[tallyho]

Yeah.. when I was shooting the yellow box ones in the lever guns, because I couldn't tell by the sound, (they were soooo quiet) I never chambered a fresh round until I saw the can being hit, or the dust kick up.

With the red box ones I could at least hear the round go off and the hit (or miss) reaction down range was confirmation that the bullet was gone.

[MSP Ret]

I had a couple of regular "yellow box" Colibri's stick in an older rifle (rough beat up rifling, no  Micro Groove) but never had a "Super Colibri" (red box) stick in a barrel, Easy to remove, just push it out with a cleaning rod. My Marlin Model 60 has a Micro Groove  barrel just as the Sportsters do and the Colibris seem less prone to sticking in them, less lead to be displaced by the rifling I guess...Even if one did stick in your barrel, because there is no powder in the shell, only the power of the primer to propel the bullet, firing another on top of a stuck bullet would not be dangerous....<><.... :grin:

[Mitch in MI]

firing another on top of a stuck bullet would not be dangerous.

But a stack of Colibri in the barrel would be worse to clean up than an air rifle with a half dozen pellets in the bore.

[jgalar]

To get back to your original post, start them when they say they want to try it. As someone else stated keep the session short.  When you take them plan on letting them shoot and don't plan on it to be a shooting session for you. Some may disagree with me on this, but I clamp the little scoped Marlin single shot down so really all they need to do is look through the scope and pull the trigger. Small kids get frustrated easily so I like to make sure their shooting is a success. There is plenty of time for them to learn to hold the gun and shoot from other positions etc. Make it as easy and as fun for them as you can. Give them all your attention, they'll appreciate that more than the actual shooting. They love to search for used brass after the session also.

Before shooting we draw and color scary monsters and rabbits with mean faces so we have interesting things to shoot at. I mean whats the point of shooting if you can't pretend you're killing something :grin:

[Brett]

start them when they say they want to try it... keep session(s) short...  don't plan on it to be a shooting session for you.   Make it as easy and as fun for them as you can. Give them all your attention, they'll appreciate that more than the actual shooting. :grin:

Great advise and right on the money,  Thanks jgalar.

[Ambushhunter]

I started my boys with air guns at 6.  Now at 11 and 8+ they each use my tracker .22 LR revolver,  the 11 y.o. has his own .20 ga pardner and the 8 y.o. has a mossberg youth .410.  We get out to shoot whenever we can and have a ball.  (The 11 y.o. can hit skeet with that .410!!).  Like stated earlier, don't try to do much shooting yourself while out with the little one's, they NEED your undivided attention.

[goldhound56]

 My little girl will be 8 yrs. in Oct.  She's had a .17 cal. for 2 years !!