Posted on 01/20/2006 12:06:38 PM PST by edcoil
What age is good to start teaching your son how to use a rifle? Since we don't hunt, it is for target practive and to learn to respect the weapon as a tool and how to use it properly.
Also, any suggestions on a starter rifle? Air, BB, pellet
The same age you teach your daughter... 8^)
I started teaching my son around first grade, but that's because he started asking questions.
my son's gi joe missions always include proper handling of weapons and ordnance...
much cooler stuff now then when i was a kid...
teeman
The day after your wife tells you, "Honey, I'm pregnant!" :-)
I was raised around firearms...
For me at age six, it went from don't touch to proper handling, care and use. My teachers were my Parents.
I highly recommend the NRA's "Eddy Eagle" program and NRA firearms instruction. The programs are structured and complete and the instructors are certified. Most imporantly, safety is stressed beyond all else.
www.nra.com can get you to the classes in your area.
Oh, and to add:
A .22 single shot. BB and pellet guns teach kids that firearms are toys. A real rifle does not. As soon as the first classes are complete the child in question needs to go rabbit or squirrel hunting and see first hand what firearms can do... They need to learn you can't take a bullet back.
I never did, but the United States Army made up for my shortcomings (single parent). He came home and taught me how to properly use a gun and provided me with a personal firearm before he was activated.
Naturally, I am extremely proud. Also, celebrate Freepers, I just got the call. He is officially on his way home!
single shots are fine. with proper intsruction you shouldn't need one. get the kid a quality firearm they will be proud to own in 50 years. some of my friends still have the first .22 they ever got, and still take them out and use them.
I still have the Steven's Crackshot my Grandfather pulled out of the garbage in the 1930s and rebuilt and the machine shop at the airbase he worked at as a machinist. I've added a Steven's 1894 Favorite to it and I'm looking for a Little Scout and (what is that other model???) to round out the collection.
Savage has started making the Steven's Favorite again and even has it chambered in .17 rimfire magnum. I believe it to be a very viable choice as a first rifle for a yougster. The youth model has a shorter butt that fits kids better. Single shots teach them to make every shot count. Even in a repeating arm I would have them load only one round at a time until that lesson is learned anyway (and this from a guy with over a dozen and a half AK varients in his collection!).
I'd say it depends on careful and objective evaluation of your kid.
Some kids, learning early is a good idea and something they'll enjoy doing safely with their parent present.
Some kids, I wouldn't let near my gun or any other until they are legally adults and I can no longer legally prevent them access.
The personality of the kid is important.
Seven years old for a BB gun and eleven for a .22 rifle.
You are absolutely correct. The NRA program is the way to go. I've been shooting for more that 35 years. My father taught me, he was a marine. I qualifed "Expert" year years in a row in the army. Last fall I took an NRA safety class. I learned more in that 8 hour class than I did in the previous 35+ years. I highly recommend the NRA classes.
Start with a BB gun. You work your way up from there.
Teach him/her about the safety, to click it back to the safe position after firing. I had a Daisy BB gun, actually two of them. The first didn't have a safety, the second, a Winchester replica, did. Shop around. (I have two dogs that need tending to;they don't live forever.)
Absolutely agree! The NRA's "Eddie Eagle" is very good.
The NRA has sent me a couple of the tapes, which I've already passed on to others. Get in touch with the NRA for a copy, they're about seven minutes long, so the kids won't get bored.
If you're not familiar with it, Eddie Eagle is a cartoon type show aimed at young children and what they should do if presented with a firearm, in a closet, outdoors, at a friends house, without an adult present. The take away lines are:
Stop!
Don't touch!
Leave the area.
Tell an adult.
As my children have grown older I've used the same theme when they see or are offered illegal drugs. I tell them in this case I don't much care if they "tell an adult" but the first three should be strongly adhered to.
I bet Mom is very very happy and anxious for his arrival.
Have fun and give him a big hug from the FReepers and all Americans.
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