Some recommended options by the gun store guys:
Some good advice for sure. I hope a bunch of parents see this video before Christmas.
I was surprised to hear that some of the first guns that were talked about came with stock spacers, so the gun could grow with you. Pretty neat idea.
What was your first gun? Do you still have it?
If I ever have kids, they are going straight to a Glock 19. :P I’m Kidding of course…
Comments
32 responses to “Guns For Kids”
my dad taught me to shoot with a ruger 10/22 that he still owns. the first gun I got for myself was a mosin nagant m44 I got about 10 years ago that I still have.
Great sensible stuff from the shop guys. I still have my first rifle, an Anshultz .22 single bolt action. My Uncle, who is a gunsmith; gave it to me for my 13th bithday. Similar action and saftey mech to the davey cricket by the look of it. Now at 42 years old, I can say that it is still by far and away my most accurate open sight .22. Fantastic for the possums, rabbits and goats or just punching paper. I’m hoping it will be my grandsons first rifle when he gets old enough… (if my daughter will let me get away with it). I’m workin on it. :-)
First gun was a Remington 870. I feel it is the best of my collection!
Anschutz Woodchucker .22lr on my 8th birthday. Cute little rifle. Planning on passing it down the chain someday.
The racist hicks NOT being racist OR hick?! I’m speechless!
Maybe someone clued them in that publicly insulting the people that give them money was bad for business. This vid may not have been funny but it was actually WORTH WATCHING! Imagine that! A- guys! Keep it up!
I can tell you guys that talking about giving kids .22s for Christmas would raise a hell of a storm among my French fellows!
I happen to agree with the American point of view however, and I think teaching kids how to handle guns properly, with this kind of rifles (which seem really appropriate for their little hands and short arms…) would sure be safer than making it look like evil (what is done currently here…).
As I already said, my daughter will be able to assemble and disassemble a M1 Garand before going to school…
Maybe I should think about a M1 Carbine for a start :).
If the French had taught shooting like their Swiss neighbors, the 20th century would have been far, far different…
Educated American hoplophiles know that while shooting is fun, the true reward is gaining a skill that ensures liberty and independence.
I don’t get the emphasis on single-shot only rifles. Why not buy a youth size in a magazine-fed bolt action, and as the adult supervising, dole out the rounds one or two at a time, and then more as the child gets better with their handling skills and aim?
I think it’s a price issue as well as a safety one, since not only are single shots cheaper but would be much more difficult to abuse/misuse by a child in a worst case scenario. They also reinforce good range habits such as clearing the gun between groups as well as put a premium on shot placement and accuracy over round count. Jamming and misfires (quite common on 22s) are also easier to handle on a single shot, and since the gun is simpler to clean and maintain, the child can learn to do it on his own, a big plus. Not to mention the issues associated with 22lr magazines.
The CZ that they mentioned comes with a short stock, and a polymer magazine plug. The bigger stock and box magazine are available to purchase to add to the gun.
Best solution if you ask me.
Aaron – you’re exactly correct that the supervising adult can and should hand out single rounds at the beginning, but the “philosophy of the single shot firearm” goes way beyond the initial training phase. There is no better way to emphasize accuracy and the idea of making every shot count than to only have one shot to work with.
My first was a Remington 760 30-06 pump action rifle, when I was 11 years old.
But I bought my son the CZ Scout before he was even born.
In November, I bought my son a .22LR Crickett for his 6th birthday. My daughter’s 10/22 is too long in the stock for him.
I would hope you’re kidding. A Glock 19? Get them something attractive and collectable. Maybe a Les Baer 1911, or a Colt Python.
Congrats on the informative video. Great content. This is much better than previous ones where he is simply venting his frustrations about his customers.
“Yo dawg, I needs me a gauge fo’ mah chilluns!”
Based on his customer lingo video, I am pretty sure he hears this all the time…
Someones been following the “racist hicks” as i have!
Laughed a while at this post.
I was taught on a Colt Diamondback .22. Then went on to bird hunt with a break-action 20GA, then 12GA Mossberg 835. But the first one I bought for myself was a Colt Govt Series 80. I sold it years back, but don’t miss it.
First gun was a Springfield XD 9 Compact.
As far as reliability goes… I’ve put about 9000 rounds through it… and I’ve had 3 issues. The majority of the rounds have been reloads with the exception of defensive rounds (factory loaded 147gr Winchester Ranger 9mm and various Goldspeer Hydrashock etc). Its very well maintained. Its in need of an ultrasonic cleaning and a full take down and inspection. I’m surprised its made it this far.
The malfunctions I’ve had are as follows.
1) 1 Failure to Eject (Reloads – Could have been the case I’m not sure)
2) 1 Failure to fire (No squib just a punched primer)
3) 1-2 failure to feed (Resolved by switching magazines. Turns out the spring was installed backwards)
Thats it… Never had an issue with stove pipes, double feeds, and the like. I love my XD. But its time to grow. M&P here I come. Some day I’ll dump the money for a 1911 but I would rather spend it on a new rifle.
Getting a gun here (RF) is a very tedious process.
No handguns, no full-auto, you have to be 18+, you have to gather a crapload of documents, you have to spend months waiting for an approval (And the license needs to be renewed every five years), you have to be in the hunting club (Which eats a lot of money on its own) to hope to get anything other than a pneumatic (less than 7,5 joules and caliber smaller than 4.5mm) or tear gas, and even then you can only get a gun from a little list of certain smoothbore hunting weapons untill you own one of them for five years or more without any law offences. After that you theoretically can get a rifled weapon.
Finding a present with a rifle for chrismas? Yeah, right…
P.S. Don’t mean to nag, but what about the Metro post you mentioned in an e-mail? :P
My first post. Very entertaining blog.
My first real gun was an Enfield when I was 11. I think dad got a good deal @ a gun show. I had a bb/pellet gun before that.
I got my son his first gun when he was twelve. H&R Break Barrel .410. Then with his own money and me buying the guns for him he got a Ruger 10/22 and just recently bought a S&W .357 revlover
When I was 10 or 11, my dad took my brothers and I out to an outdoor range to let us experience shooting for the first time, since all children should have awareness of firearms, as well as their usefulness and dangers. Me, being a rambunctious little monster wanted to live out all of my action movie dreams without any hinderance. My dad decided that the best way to put the fear of God in me was to let me fire a 12 gauge (not sure of model). Needless to say, I quickly learned that guns are not something to be played with. I kinda have to give credit where its due, because that experience taught me very young that guns should not be played with…
My first gun is a Mossberg bolt action .410, it was my grandfathers and given to my father with express instructions that it was mine. I learned to shoot with that and a 10/22.
My sons first gun is my first gun which was my father’s first gun. A Remington scoremaster model 51. My father purchased it new in 1948 and it still is a tack driver. At the range I love to take off the stock and show everyone there is no serial number.
Mine was a universal m1 carbine grandpa won playing tip board.
Well at least they didn’t insult their customer base as they do on most videos, I thought for awhile they were trying out for HK. You would of course put a buttstock on that G19 for junior wouldn’t you EndoMike?
Hahaha yea the adapter/stock for sure! It would have to be on a full size model though, it’s not for the compact/subcompacts.
My dad is a NRA instructor for 4-h and teaches many 3-12 graders. What we’ve found is those cricket type rifles with the striker you have to cock manually is a little to hard for most kids to pull back themselves, and detract from the training value the small size is sappose to bring.
My first gun?
The Ruger 10/22, I don’t have it anymore.
First rifle: Mossberg Model 142A w/hinged forearm (that was cool) and Weaver 4x scope. First pistol: Ruger Mk I Standard w/6″ barrel. Put thousands of rounds through them both and still have them. Had told my dad I wanted either a lever action or a pump action rifle because I was left-handed and they were easier for me to operate. He gave me a bolt action with the advice: “Son, It’s a right-handed world. You can do anything else left-handed if you want, but you need to learn to shoot right-handed.” I did and have always thanked him for it.
First gun was a Sears .22LR that my Dad got when he was a kid. When I was away at college he was hard up for cash and sold it with all his guns. I tracked one down on gunbroker, paid way more than it is worth but man does it make me smile at the range.