First .22 rifle

[mnbowhunter1960]

I also bought my son a 22 rifle when he was about 6 years old a Chipmunk single shot, he learned the value of ownership and firearms respect at an early age and harvested many a squirrel with that rifle and he became a good shot knowing he only had one shot and if he missed the target quickly vanished into the woods. One of his first trophies was a mature black squirrel which I proudly had the taxidermist mount for him and gave it too him for christmas. Since then he has matured into a great sixteen year old young man and still enjoys hunting and shooting with me, it was a lifetime investment teaching him safe and fun shooting. MH in MN

 

[2manyrocks]

I'll tell you why to pick a .22 versus a pellet gun. You can spend about as much getting a pellet gun as a .22 to get the same consistency and accuracy, and I'm not sure what value the pellet gun will have in 10 years.

I suspect more kids get hurt going unsupervised with bb guns than kids whose parents supervise them with .22's.

I also remember the days when the kids in high school carried shotguns, deer rifles, squirrel guns and everything else in their car trunks and then went hunting after school.

 

[coobie]

for a similar youth rifle search for "chipmunk" single shot .22 rifles

Just my opinion but children that are introduced to shooting and the proper handling of firearms at a younger age grow up with a much better sense of respect for guns and what they are capable of...rather than kids that grow into adulthood without prior experience and may be more prone to carelessness.

I agreefully with this statement!!coobie

 

[Sigarms]

I suspect more kids get hurt going unsupervised with bb guns than kids whose parents supervise them with .22's.

That's because even kids know you can have "wars" with bb guns, but not with .22's

 

[MikeD74T]

gsganzer, Be wary of decocking. Years ago a friend was hunting with his brother in the winter. Thinking the dogs were bringing a rabbit his way the brother cocked his .22. When the rabbit turned away he decocked, or at least thought he did. Nearly 10 minuted later he put the gun under his arm where heat loosened the frozen bolt which fired a round that richoched off frozen ground into his brother's back & lung.
I also support your "start 'em young" concept. Knowledge is power. MikeD74T

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

sometimes, and 99% of the time for me, it isn't about killing anything.......i just enjoy shooting.......i've only hunted once in my life but i sure love to shoot my guns.....

i think it's great that he's doing it correctly.....my daughter will be 5 in a few days, i'd say i could do this same thing and she'd be attentive and i know she'd remember EVERYTHING i say (she has a great memory.....like her mother!)

my son, on the other hand, is only 2 and he's a lot like me...can't pay attention for more than 2 seconds, hyper, etc.....at the rate he's progressing, now, there's no way i'd introduce him at 5.......it's a judgment call......

i bought my daughter a small atv last fall......i put her on it, with a helmet....she did great but had a hard time with the brake handle......she rode around quite a bit over several days.....i had it where it would barely pull it's self.....one day she made a quick turn and it slowly tipped on it's side and bucked her off....she cried, scared me to death......i encouraged her to get back on.....after an hour or so, she was right back on it......but, i put it away and haven't brought it back out for about a year......she's back on battery powered stuff, for now.....

Yeah, what's wrong with starting youngsters out on a bbgun, then a pellet rifle. I don't get it. Don't know what a 5 year old can kill with a 22 that he can't kill with a bbgun, without 40 grains of lead ending up a section over.

 

[studor]

One thing I can say with a high degree of certainty -- you are far better off giving your five year old a gun than an ATV -- One of my colleagues recently completed a study on ATV fatalities and accidents. Statistically the kid on the ATV is a lot more likely to end up with a serious injury (or dead) than the shooter(or anyone around them for that matter). I am not trying to tell anyone how to raise their kids -- but just because they make peach flavoured cigarillos in a five pack so kids can afford them doesn't mean you should encourage them to try smoking

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

you mean they actually did research on that....i'm serious, i really am not being smart, but i could have told them that...........i've been riding since i was 4 or 5.......

One thing I can say with a high degree of certainty -- you are far better off giving your five year old a gun than an ATV -- One of my colleagues recently completed a study on ATV fatalities and accidents. Statistically the kid on the ATV is a lot more likely to end up with a serious injury (or dead) than the shooter(or anyone around them for that matter). I am not trying to tell anyone how to raise their kids -- but just because they make peach flavoured cigarillos in a five pack so kids can afford them doesn't mean you should encourage them to try smoking

 

[studor]

Flathead -- yep it was trauma doctors doing the research to develop recommendations on how to treat the accident victims, how to increase the safety factors and determine trends. Turns out the problem has dramatically increased (in part at least due to the increase in youth model atv's and a sharp decrease in price) and the severity and death rate has also dramatically increased. Turns out drinking is also a contributing factor in a large number of cases (research was on under twelve year olds) Guess you are just a trend setter -- glad you are still with us -- hope your riding is not the reason for your moniker -- (just joshin ya)

 

[2manyrocks]

Seems like 2-3 young adults get killed on ATV's around here every Sumner.