first time target shooting
 

So...

Spring break just wrapped up. Spring break started with a family trip in the rv to Mammoth for 3 days of skiing. Amazing spring skiing, blue bird days and lots of sun screen.

On the Friday of spring break a neighbor and I took Bryce (8), neighbors son (7), other son (13) and his friend ( 13) out near Mojave desert, BLM Land, Spangler Hills Area out to ride dirt bikes, quads and do some target shooting.

Dirt bikes and Quads got very little use.

My neighbors guns on the other hand got worn out.

He brought a .22, .223 Ranch Rifle, 9mm, .357, and a 12 Gauge shotgun.

Bryce shot all but the .357.

The kids were amazing. We had a meeting about gun safety, how to handle the guns, rules for handling ect.

The kids did an awesome job!

1000 plus rounds and we had to drag them home.

Shopping list for me, .22 rifle with scope and .22 pistol.

Recommendations are appreciated, applying for license as we speak.

I've got some great video from iPhone just got to figure out how to upload.

The rifle below has amazing kick.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1334725195.jpg

Ruger 10-22 & 22-45 are a fun place to start. You may check out The Nutnfancy Project on youtube for some gun reviews, gun safety & videos on training your kids to be responsible shooters.

+1 on the ruger 10-22

ruger, thats made in AZ right?

They have a casting plant in AZ. They're based out of Connecticut.

I have to tell you I was mildly suspect about taking the kids out shooting.

I have dragged Bryce out to a ton of things. Rock climbing, dirt biking, skiing, surfing, camping, hiking, white water rafting, and off-loading.

He is always good to go.

This was much funner than I anticipated and amazingly fulfilling.

Really a cool experience. I can't seem to put my finger on exactly why.

Project Appleseed Home

2nd the 10/22 and 22/45 Stick with .22s for a while. A daisy Red Rider will work wonders in the backyard.

Care-full being on the right side of the .223 ranch riffle I got my cheek split by an empty shell getting ejecting out of one.

Now shoot a lot, learn basic safety and marksmanship and get thee to a USPSA or IDPA match for some fun run and gun competition. It's what to do when putting holes in paper gets boring.

or you start making bigger holes farther away-

join a range, lots of good folks at gun clubs. very helpful this is the one i am a member of Douglas Ridge Rifle Club


shooting is a sport

three gun
cmp
speed steel
many more

looks like a bit of a weird position to fire that rifle..
especially if it kicks.

Somebody is going to get a Scope-eye sooner or later that way..
+ it doesn't seem like a decent way to be accurate at all.. there's no balance in that setup. Difficult to find and repeat your hold

A sling is prolly a bit to soon for kids their age with a fullsize rifle..
Go prone and use logs or a bipod, or bring some kind of table or bench along..

Look at the Walter G22 for a fun .22 rifle. More fun than a 10/22 IMHO.

That and a buckmark pistol and you'll be good.

Ditto on the Ruger 10/22..it is an inexpensive rifle that if you drop it in the dirt you are not going to cry.

Ruger 22 Autos are a fine way to go as well, or a Browning Challenger 22. for a pistola. I would also suggest as a bit more esoteric choich an older or even a new High Standard or maybe a Colt Match Target Woodsman of later/last vintage.

I think I would want a bit more variety than just a coupla Rugers. And 22's are the only way to fly..


There is a CHALLENGE to see how good ya can get...and that is the draw.

Go with the rugers. They're reliable, inexpensive, and have good upgrade portential. You can always acquire more 'esoteric' firearms later. :)

Just a thought...kids love semi-autos but a nice bolt action or lever action are better at this age to teach them a bit of fire discipline. They are also, in my mind, safer for young shooters.

I started my son on a lever action Marlin.

There are a ton of used guns on the market for nearly nothing.

Pistols? I bought a Ruger Single Six .22 used and it is every bit as enjoyable as my MKII.

Also, paper targets are great but they sell cheap spinner targets that seem to make young shooters happy.

Enjoy. Great start.

Scope eye was a big topic of conversation!

Gotta get the vids up.

A good first way to bring home the importance of proper gun handling and gun safety, is to graphically illustrate what happens when you don't.


Show these to the boys, I'm sure they'll get the point.


Guy put a .45 round into his own shoe. :rolleyes:


:eek:


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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1334763827.jpg



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1334763850.jpg

nice group of 1!!!

+1 on a Ruger 10/22 rifle. Get the basic model - they can be found all day long new in the low $200 price bracket. There are nearly limitless upgrades and gadgets to personalize it with down the road which is fun to do.

Bolt action is great but I think the semi-auto will be more entertaining in the long run. You can always start the boys off with just 1-2 rounds in the rotary magazine to enforce quality shots and limit Hollywood style shooting. :)

how did that kid pictured not get clipped above the eye with the riflescope? that body positioning is crazy.

Best advice on this entire thread.

Semi-autos can be great for older, more disciplined shooters. They are a lot of fun. The problem is, they encourage a lack of discipline. That's the last thing a young shooter needs (or for that matter, most older shooters). The habits they develop at a young age will stick with them for life, for better or for worse. Poor shooting disciplin, deeply ingrained, is one hell of a tough thing to break later in life. I see far, far too many shooters who seem to feel they can make up for poor shooting through sheer volume.

A single shot bolt action is the rifle to start with for young shooters. There is a very real psychology at play here; if they really want to hit something, they really have to pay attention and get good. The notion in the back of your mind that there is always another try just a trigger pull away leads to sloppiness and laziness. I see it in adults all of the time - adults who should know better. But, shooting a lot is "fun", hitting is hard. Kids are particularly susceptable to this.

Don't think for a minute that you will maintain the discipline to "load just one or two" in that magazine for long, or that the kids would be happy with that for long. The only way to really stick with it, learning proper technique and discipline, is to have that one shot in the chamber the only shot. The only one available, the only one that matters - the one that has to hit. It's when that notion gets ingrained in the psyche that the real shooting begins. There are no shortcuts.

my first rifle was a marlin semi. my dad handed me .22 ammo one at a freaking time. very annoying to an amped up young shooting machine such as myself.

probably for the best tho...

Great advice. I follow the same thought but start them with a single shot .22 bolt action, then on to the other styles. I make them memorize the rules of shooting too, They MUST be able to recite them from memory before they can shoot any gun. This includes air guns too.
yeah I'm a dick.

My granddad (WW2 marine) had me with a little falling block .22 -- you would have thought those rounds were gold the way he metered them out. Decade or so later doing the prone slow fire for a Garand match didn't seem so slow!

I must be too. Emily couldn't even look for one in the store until she could recite them. She started with a Red Ryder and up to a falling block .22. Kids can be responsible when they need to be, but they are distracted easily.

Good for you. All these shoot em up video games teach terrible gun habits.

My 8 year old has been shooting a bolt action .22 at his grandparent's house (40 acres) since he was 5. He loves it and is a pretty decent shot. Exposure and close supervision is the key to gun safety in my opinion, it removes any novelty related to guns and he absolutely knows that they are not toys.

I would start with a rilfe

- Definitely NOT an automatic. I'd get a break open single shot or a bolt action for safety and for learning that every shot counts.
- I would go with iron sight to start. Everyone should know how to shoot with iron sights - don't spoil a kid with a scope right away. The iron sights will be helpful for handgun shooting later on as well.
- Get a youth model that has at least a shortened length of draw. You want to teach the proper shooting stance / position which is impossible with a grown-up gun.
- Only allow shooting in a proper position (not off a chair!). Train prone, sitting, standing, sitting with shooting sticks.
- Make sure you have the dominant eye correct. A person can be right handed but left eye dominant. If that is the case, make sure to get a ambidextrous or lefty model.

Have fun shooting!

G

I agree with the single shot advice too. Ha, I had an old single shot Winchester brand .22 with a little short bolt. You still see these particular ones poping up in auctions.

And when I was 8 my dad used to take me on the skeet/claybird shooting circut with him. I had my own single barrel .410. I thought everyone was laughing at me so I made sure I didn't miss with my one shot. I now think they were smiling at the determined lil guy.

+1 ^

This is great advice. My only comment is on the suggestion to avoid a semi-auto. While I completely agree with the rationale, I would point out that you can always load a single round in a semi-auto to get the same effect. Once they have safely mastered that, you can load more in the mag without buying another gun. This keeps rifles like the 10-22 high on my list and a .22 pistol like the Ruger a good choice for learning and fun.

Lastly, I am a natural lefty. I recommend having lefties adapt to RH guns where possible. I have no problem with RH mag releases, rifle safeties, slide locks, etc. I have even shot a 1911 in competition without an ambi-safety by developing a technique to sweep the safety with my weak hand over the top as I push out. It's a right handed world out there. I'd like to be able to pick up any gun and be comfortable shooting.

still my favorite gun too shoot is my old single shot bolt action springfield rifle with iron sights.
my first gun and it always brings back memories of my youth. have to take off the safety everytime you work the bolt so it really enforced safety use.
we used something very simular in scouts. spent most of my free time at the range during the week of summer camp every year.

all that time wasted reloading the mag can be spent shooting. keep the box of ammo next to you on the bench and off you go. plinkplinkplinkplinkplinkplinkplink

10/22 would be a good choice down the road when you are ready to step up from a basic learing gun.

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Calguns.net