He said he's ready to shoot.

[dismed]

At least he picked the one with least recoil.  Honestly at what age are you starting your kids shooting?

[pstidan]

An American 180!  Ah.  I know it so well.

[ppgcowboy]

I bought each my kids a 10/22 at age 12, I shot my first elk at 10. I of course was hunting coyotes. 

[komodoj]

3 hours ago, dismed said:

At least he picked the one with least recoil.  Honestly at what age are you starting your kids shooting?

So cute!!! Congrats! 

[2ndArmored]

BB gun at 10, rimfire shortly thereafter.  Centerfire by driving age (16 in our state).  Over half a century later, I still have that Sears BB gun - in its original box!

[Kilroy]

I’ve been shooting with my kids in the back yard with BB guns for a couple years now. Started when they were probably five and seven. I wanted to take my daughter shooting this summer because I think she’s ready but it’s way too hot here. 

[rpbcps]

Dismed 👍 from me!

and while on the topic of family shots..... here is my son, who is now 29, sharing his fathers interest in the Thompson gun.... back in 2000.

and his younger sister did not wish to be left out, photo taken in 2017, probably after watching Bugsy Malone on TV.

Edited August 1, 2023 by rpbcps
Typo, as usual

[MauserMatt]

Finally, as I was loading a few guns up to take to the range with my brother, my 6 year old said, "daddy, when are you going to take me shooting?" That was music to my ears! I've waited a long time for this! 

Since having my second son, I've tried to start doubling up on things in my collection. I only had the one machine gun, being an M1 Thompson. Well I don't want them to fight over one machine gun, so I'm now waiting on the form 4 to come back for an MP40 I bought last year. Absolutely can't wait to be able to hand my sons my machine guns for the first time on the range and see that smile. 

[Dan K]

We can't have kids, however, I have a 180. Great gun for a kid, it us like a sewing machine. The 180 would be the last subgun I sell.

[Kilroy]

Digging up an old thread, I know. But, I figured I’d add to what I previously said. 
 

I took the kiddos to the range when they were 10 and 7. My daughter is the older one and she by far has less attention span etc. after months if not a year of shooting BB guns in the backyard and getting them good with gun safety rules I took them down to the range. The range I go to is private and I rent an action bay that is about 30 yards by 30 yards. It was just the four of us on the range and super relaxed. I started both of them off on my SBR and suppressed 10/22 that has a red dot on it and single loading it for them. Once I saw that they were comfortable with it and good with following directions and safe I added two rounds to the mag. Then when some confidence built up I eventually gave them a whole ten round mag to blast away with. My daughter loves that 10/22 and essentially will not shoot anything else. I think the red dot makes it super easy for her. 
 

My boy, who was 7 at the time shot a scoped browning T-bolt (it’s like a Swiss straight pull but in .22 LR). He loves that thing because the manual action, in his words makes him feel like a "sniper."

 

After about five or so range trips with them my son has expressed interest in shooting other things, so I’ve let him try and AR. He didn’t care too much for that. He shot one of my M1 carbine and he fell in love with that. He almost doesn’t want to shoot anything else. And he rings the steel silhouette with every shot using iron sights. Makes a dad proud. 

[68coupe]

15 hours ago, Kilroy said:

After about five or so range trips with them my son has expressed interest in shooting other things, so I’ve let him try and AR. He didn’t care too much for that. He shot one of my M1 carbine and he fell in love with that. He almost doesn’t want to shoot anything else. And he rings the steel silhouette with every shot using iron sights. Makes a dad proud. 

My M1 carbine is a nail driver at 100yds with factory iron sights. The 03A3 has a 4" pattern at 200yds. That's the longest outdoor range in my area.

Karl, 68coupe

[john]

I was 3-1/2 when my Grandpa taught me to shoot a pellet rifle. He was a hunter all his life so of course, I got the whole safety education. He gave me a .22 bolt action for Christmas at age 5.

I've taught Firearms Safety for 30 some odd years now, Scouts and NRA classes too......each kid reaches a maturity that allows safe firearms education at different ages. Generally if you feel they exhibit traits of being responsible, pick up their rooms, help at home and get schoolwork done they should be fine. This usually happens around ages 6-9 but that can vary a lot.

My daughter was six when she started shooting, Son was seven.

After they got used to the single shot .22s, then semiautos, larger calibers and shottys I let them learn about the sub guns.

My son was going to shoots with me at age 8 and although he couldn't shoulder a heavy Thompson, he could mow down targets from the hip at 50-75 yards.

You should see him now!

Daughter too although not as practiced, is still quite adept.

Both went through firearms safety and have hunted with the family - very safe, and love to hunt.

One other thing......our Club runs a class every spring "Intro to firearms for women" which ,I've been involved in fir over 25 years. Ladies pick this stuff up faster than guys .... they listen and process things differently and firearms, sights, targets, etc. seem to be easier for them to understand. And the guys they come to classes already "knowing it all". 😉

Edited October 30, 2024 by john
Sp

[deerslayer]

First deer at age 9.   I roamed the farm with a 22 rifle starting about 7

[Rekraps]

My family is originally from Texas and my brother an i have been handling guns for as long as i can remember. Each child is different, but we started with the daisy BB guns at around eight or nine, then moved on to pellet gun (Benjamin .22 and Crossman 760 .77) and then on to .22's. With the real guns, my father was very careful with us and safe handling was always a first priority. I've raised my two boys the same, and they are both excellent in handling and safety. It's the other kids I was worried about. No incidents though. 

So with my NFA stuff, I try to collect in "2's", so they will both have something. 

What we never did was fool around with the guns. In the gun room or on the range, all business. Check to see if a round is in the gun, muzzle down range, finger off the trigger until you shoot. Works like a charm. And the gun room was always off limits to friends if I was not there. Period.