Well, this coming weekend (after Christmas) my youngest, age 5-1/2, will join the shooting community.She’ll start off shooting the first rifle I ever owned, a Winchester model 67A Boys Rifle. It’ll be loaded with .22 shorts. Most of the her shooting will be done seated (tot spot) from a rest on a wood bench.
The oldest (8 yrs.) will graduate to pistol shooting with a Ruger single-six. Again, her shooting will be mostly from a rest.
Both are extremely well behaved, mature for their age and have been able to quote Cooper’s Four rules since preschool.
My wife was questioning the idea of starting the kids off so young (just the idea of numerical age....she agrees that it can be done safely because of their temperament. Well, we did the Christmas thing with my Mother, etc. yesterday and she corrected a little family history.I had always thought the first time I shot a gun was at age 5 or 6. Truth is, I can’t remember an age that I wasn’t shooting. Anyway, the subject came up and mom says something like "well, Butch started when he was 4…" My wife rolled her eyes and just said "it figures". A politically correct family we ain’t …
The rest is because of arm strength and fatigue. With the oldest, I have introduced a new type of firearm after a special day passes and after her skill with the previous one reaches a certain level. For instance, the day after her last birthday, she shot a semi auto (Ruger 10-22) for the first time.
I’m planning to start her off with a 3" spot on a piece of notebook paper (some red and some black) and then move to couple of 50’ rifle targets (set up at about 20 feet). Aluminum cans and balloons interspersed at times to keep her from getting bored. Also a few "POOF" targets(Punch holes in both ends of an eggshell, blow out the egg, dry, fill with a mixture of corn meal and baby powder.). This is how I introduced my oldest.
If anyone has other ideas, Please post them.
The oldest (8 yrs.) will graduate to pistol shooting with a Ruger single-six. Again, her shooting will be mostly from a rest.
Both are extremely well behaved, mature for their age and have been able to quote Cooper’s Four rules since preschool.
My wife was questioning the idea of starting the kids off so young (just the idea of numerical age....she agrees that it can be done safely because of their temperament. Well, we did the Christmas thing with my Mother, etc. yesterday and she corrected a little family history.I had always thought the first time I shot a gun was at age 5 or 6. Truth is, I can’t remember an age that I wasn’t shooting. Anyway, the subject came up and mom says something like "well, Butch started when he was 4…" My wife rolled her eyes and just said "it figures". A politically correct family we ain’t …
The rest is because of arm strength and fatigue. With the oldest, I have introduced a new type of firearm after a special day passes and after her skill with the previous one reaches a certain level. For instance, the day after her last birthday, she shot a semi auto (Ruger 10-22) for the first time.
I’m planning to start her off with a 3" spot on a piece of notebook paper (some red and some black) and then move to couple of 50’ rifle targets (set up at about 20 feet). Aluminum cans and balloons interspersed at times to keep her from getting bored. Also a few "POOF" targets(Punch holes in both ends of an eggshell, blow out the egg, dry, fill with a mixture of corn meal and baby powder.). This is how I introduced my oldest.
If anyone has other ideas, Please post them.