Kids rifle manifesto

[Azhunter10]

I agree completely with the OP, I start my now 14 year old shooting when he was 8 and my now 10 year old when he was 6.

Both started on a suppressed 22lr, once they were comfortable shooting that, I moved them up to a suppressed 5.56 which they took longer to get comfortable with. The recoil for my younger son made him nervous. So we had him go back to the 22. Now they both shoot a suppressed 25 Creedmoor and spot shots.

The brakes with how loud they are and the flash was a huge factor for my boys and some people I have helped learn to shoot. They developed a flick and a fear of them.

I absolutely agree with the OP and a lot of the other posts where suppressors definitely mitigate that noise and recoil and make it a less stressful learning experience for kids and adults!

 

[Piranha37]

Really appreciate this post! I have a 4 year old who is already itching to shoot a ‘real’ gun. I filed the paperwork for my first suppressor just for reasons in this post. I don’t even have a gun to put it in yet but with the wait times I went ahead and got the suppressor piece in motion. This post helps me solidify getting a .223 over a .243. Now I have to figure out if he’s left or right eye dominant.

I’ve got a kid that’s right handed but left eye dominant, so I’m teaching him to shoot left handed. It’s not hard to figure out, but it took me a while to realize why he was holding his head weird shooting a 22 LR scope. I’m sure you have figured out by now, but let me know if you need help determining the dominant eye.


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[scott m-70]

Started my son with a 243 at 14, he shot his first buck with it. I bought him a remington 700 SS mountain rifle in 260 for his 16th birthday, 15 years later he is still hunting with it.. its a great deer rifle.

 

[SloppyJ]

As a follow up to this topic, I went with a tikka t3x lite in .223 for my son this year. I chopped it down to 16" and put a 3x9 Trijicon creedo along with a Dilligent Defense Wolfhunter.

My son 7 and he's been on a few hunts with me up to this point. We pretty much have to use a blind to hide movement and just facilitate a better overall experience. Using a blind means I can use a tripod for him and that has been a game changer. I know Form is a firm beliver that the kids should be able to handle the rifle fully. I don't disagree with that but holding it for an offhand shot is a bit much for him. Teaching him to build a position is a bit much at 7 too.

We practiced all summer with it shooting 75gr HPBTs out to 100yds and finally worked up a good enough load with 77tmks just before season. He made two perfect shots on two bucks last weekend from under 50yds. My jaw hit the floor both times and I couldn't be more proud. The Tikka .223 was the best option and I'm extremely glad that I went that route. Hell, I like it so much I'd like to build one for myself in a lefty model.

The first buck (button buck) instantly dropped on the spot. The second was a little bit bigger and he bucked and we were able to watch him go down within 25yds. Both shots were through the shoulder with a golf ball sized exit out the opposite shoulder. Somehow the exit wound through the hide was small but under the shoulder was nasty. If you're in this perdiciment, go with the same setup hands down. I'm now sitting on 1k 77tmks and we are set for a VERY long time. The ONLY thing I didnt like was that we didn't find much blood on the second deer that ran. It started about 20yds after the shot. I imagine it had to pool up inside to start coming out. More testing to come on that front.

 

[Unckebob]

As a follow up to this topic, I went with a tikka t3x lite in .223 for my son this year. I chopped it down to 16" and put a 3x9 Trijicon creedo along with a Dilligent Defense Wolfhunter.

My son 7 and he's been on a few hunts with me up to this point. We pretty much have to use a blind to hide movement and just facilitate a better overall experience. Using a blind means I can use a tripod for him and that has been a game changer. I know Form is a firm beliver that the kids should be able to handle the rifle fully. I don't disagree with that but holding it for an offhand shot is a bit much for him. Teaching him to build a position is a bit much at 7 too.

We practiced all summer with it shooting 75gr HPBTs out to 100yds and finally worked up a good enough load with 77tmks just before season. He made two perfect shots on two bucks last weekend from under 50yds. My jaw hit the floor both times and I couldn't be more proud. The Tikka .223 was the best option and I'm extremely glad that I went that route. Hell, I like it so much I'd like to build one for myself in a lefty model.

The first buck (button buck) instantly dropped on the spot. The second was a little bit bigger and he bucked and we were able to watch him go down within 25yds. Both shots were through the shoulder with a golf ball sized exit out the opposite shoulder. Somehow the exit wound through the hide was small but under the shoulder was nasty. If you're in this perdiciment, go with the same setup hands down. I'm now sitting on 1k 77tmks and we are set for a VERY long time. The ONLY thing I didnt like was that we didn't find much blood on the second deer that ran. It started about 20yds after the shot. I imagine it had to pool up inside to start coming out. More testing to come on that front.

Good luck. I bought the same rifle for two purposes.
- Cheap practice for me
- Cheap practice for the kids. They will either use the Tikka or a suppressed 6ARC Savage. I am leaning towards the Tikka because it is so light and handy.

 

[Nine Banger]

 

[NPBravo]

Mom seemed to suggest that she’d be interested in some precision rifle, and my thoughts went immediately to this thread.

I’m on board with the idea that we need light weight along with low recoil and blast.

If I was doing this for myself, I would be tempted on either 22ARC or 6ARC, but I’m pretty sure I’ll go 5.56x45mm for this.

I’m already stocked on quality 5.56mm, the 75 ELDM is what I prefer for when I need precision small caliber autorifle duties, and I need to be sensitive to logistics.

She’s not into rifle hunting, this would be a straight range gun.

I really wonder how light a 5.56mm shooting heavies can be while still having shot spotting be easy.

 

[outdoordad]

Thanks Eric! I bought a tikka t3x in 6.5 cm last summer and my 14 year old killed his first elk with it a couple of weeks ago. He seems to shoot it reasonably well, but definitely not as well as I do. I’m assuming it’s the recoil sensitivity. I also have an 8 year old that will be hunting soon. Although we can’t hunt with a .223 in Washington, We’ll be getting a .223 as a practice gun and planning on converting the 6.5 to a 6 creedmore.

 

[SchwarzStock]

Although I have a fondness for a bunch of old calibers (50-70, 50-90) and some other big recoil calibers the 22LR is still high on my list. For my kids ( boy/girl twins) I built them both Remington rolling blocks when they were 9 yo. Both actions are vintage 1893-5 but wear new Green Mountain barrels. Sights on one are Lyman the on the other MVA, wood is original that I intend to replace with Treebone at some point.

My son is a hunter so his rifle imitates my 50-70 roller I use for hunting. When I was lookiing for the barrel I could not get a .223 barrel so his was built as a 22 WMR. My daughter completed the Arizona Hunter safety course but I do not believe she will ever hunt (currently studying veterinary medicine) so hers I patterned as a Rolling Block target rifle from the 1870's-1890's.