1st Gun??

[essmanfam2]

My wife and I just found out that she is pregnant w/our 1st child. With the hopes of it being a boy, what was the 1st gun you bought for your boy? Or even girl? Thanks!! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-drinkin-gulp.gif

[Waterfowl Warrior]

First of all congratulations Ess on the baby. As far as my first ever gun goes i got a crossman bb gun at about 6 or 7 i believe and a .22 ruger at 9. I started shooting a 20 gauge winchester pump right around the same time. Id just start em off small and slowly move them up it all depends if your gonna groom them for hunting or just to shoot to.

[Common Sense]

Never bought my kids a gun(well maybe a BB gun, but can&#39;t remember). Both of my granfathers and my father had only one gandson/son, so there was always a wide variety of guns around the house and my kids just used whatever. Until a few years ago my son was partical to dad&#39;s old 30-40 Krag, but now he went and bought himself a .270.

[vermonsta]

I have not bought a specific gun for any of my 3 kids yet. They all started with the "family"22/410 and later plinked around in the back yard with a pellet gun with supervision. I daughter practiced and used a 30-30 but has now cooled off on hunting a bit. My 2nd daughter has been shooting a 243 and loves it as well as my youngest (8) my son. I&#39;m waiting to see if any of them get and stay serious before i get them a special gun. I have a bunch of family heirlooms for any of them to use in the meantime.So until they get serious or have a reason to get a specific caliber or model I&#39;m waiting. Congrats on the child ! Don&#39;t get too hung up on a boy I was hoping and had 2 girls first and when I had resigned myself that it was a new age and I could do anything with the girls I could with a son and i didn&#39;t want any more children I was blessed with a son. God bless , good luck and enjoy the parenting it will change your whole outlook on life !

[Steel Talon]

Hello E.

Congrats! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-faces-toast-beers.gif

When my son was 8 days old we took him in to get circumsized http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-wow-eyes-yellow.gif when I got a look at that plastic contraption he was going to be strapped down onto. I looked at my wife and her sister and said there is no way Im going to let this happen http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-soapbox.gif .. Wife sent me away for a hour ..

I went to the local Gun store, and bought him an never issued SKS He recieved it when he went through and graduated his hunter saftey course at age 11. We cleaned it up got all the cosmoline off etc. and sporterized it. http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-shootin-green.gif He took his first Javalina his first Mule Deer with it that year.

Also when he was 9 months old, I put his name down on a raffle ticket for the local club during the county fair, his name was drawn and he won a Ruger 22lr pistol. He was born under a lucky star that kid always has the best of luck.. http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-clappin-yellow.gif


Peace
ST~

[Waterfowl Warrior]

Welcome to the boards ST

[Steel Talon]

Hello WW

Thanks for the welcome, looking forward to learning and sharing.

Peace
ST

[Bowrange]

Ess,

Congratulations, that&#39;s awesome news. http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-faces-toast-beers.gif

I&#39;ll probably do just what my dad did for me. BB gun at around 8, single shot 22 at about 12, then a 410 the next year.

[jmabbott888]

I got a Rocky Mountain Muzzle Loader at about 3 yrs (didn&#39;t shoot it till I was 7 or 8), Got the Daisy 880 & the Crossman 760, then the 410 singleshot then the Marlin 60, then the CVA Mountain rifle kit in 50 cal, then the Rossi pump 22 then the New Orleans ace 44 pistol kit. I think dad bought them for me as an excuse to be able to by more guns, but hey who&#39;s arguing lol

My oldest son got a Daisy Red Ryder at age 7 & now I just won a Hamilton model 51 in 22 this morning for both my boys.......... http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-idea-blu.gif as an excuse for me to get it lol. I guess it runs in the family

[Varmint Cong]

Congrats on your baby.

My now 8 year old started out with a Daisy Red Ryder when he was 6. The morning of his first walk along dove hunt I sat him down and gave him a little gun satety test. (Basically the 10 commandments of gun safety which I&#39;d been pounding into him since he was 2). After he ratltled off the answers (to the amazement of his grandfather, a former Marine drill instructor), I told him to look in the gun case and a new bb gun was in there. It was a great moment.

The Red Ryder is perfect for that age because its small and easy to cock. By the end of that year he was shooting a Winchester 22lr.

This year he started shooting a single shot 20ga that I have necked down to a 28 gauge with a gauge reducer.

I&#39;d love to find a youth model 28 ga pump for his next gun but all I can find are 20&#39;s.

[bighog]

The first gun I bought my son, aside from bb guns, was a youth model by Rossi. It is a small single shot rifle which comes with a 22 cal barrel and a 20 guage shotgun barrel that are easily interchangable. They have since added other calibers for deer. The cost I believe was around $150. The gun was perfect for a youngster of 8-10 to start learning proper safety and handling. Do a search of Rossi firearms if your interested. Good luck and congrats and dont forget to "pass it on". http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-jhp-rocks.gif

[yucaipahunter]

My first gun was a crossman pellet gun, I guess I skipped a bit cause next thing I shot was an old Sears/ Roebuck 12ga(mossberg? ) Bolt action , with a box mag, just passed my hunter safety and we were dove hunting..... first shot ...WOW about knocked my teeth out..... anyways I was hooked on hunting.. I have an over/under 20ga/.22 Im saving for my daughter, shes 5 now, i&#39;ll get her the BB gun first.

[james]

Living out left (sorry, west) I have to be careful. I learned last year that I&#39;m not in Texas anymore.

My oldest son was asked to draw a thanksgiving picture last year. He was 10 at the time. He drew a pilgrim holding a musket in one hand and a turkey in the other. The turkey had a rather large hole in it, but he&#39;s figured out that shooting an animal usually results in a hole of some sort.

I recieved a call from a very concerned teacher. After a short discussion I learned he was a Psycology major from Berkley and wanted to make me understand the damage I was doing by letting my son know that the meat he eats used to be alive. He and the school psycologist had decided my son was most likely to come to school and kill everyone, or at least the potential was there. He mentioned Columbine one too many times for my liking.

A short discussion with the school&#39;s principal ended the debate. The Berkley grad was not there this year and my son is excited about hunting with me next year. I also asked him to draw a live turkey this year. When it comes to anti-hunting nuts I&#39;d rather him be non-confrontational.

I&#39;ve been eyeballing the Remmington 710 youth in a .243 caliber. I tried to have him shoot my old 22 but he has trouble sholdering the rifle due to the longer butt stock. I have 4 kids, so I&#39;ll probably buy the rifle for me and just let them use it. My youngest is a girl who thinks pink in everything, and just last week she saw a pink .22 youth bolt action at a gun store. It was so small I thought perhaps she actually could fire it, but since she&#39;s only 4 I&#39;ll let her grow a few more years before I go there.

[sjuels]

I have a son (9), a daughter (3), and another one with a launch date of may 24th.
My son can shoot a 10/22 from a rest, but I am thinking of getting him a CZ 22LR bolt action, since I would like him to work the action without taking his chin of the stock.
I also bought a CZ Bobwhite in 28ga, which is a really nifty gun (yes - I have a thing with CZ guns) that is built on a true 28ga frame - and hopefully I will see my kids shoot quail with it over a pack of pointers.

We live in the Berkeley vicinity and I have had several discussions with my little girls teachers about why the birds that we eat come out of the sky after you &#39;peew peew&#39; them - needless to say that it took a lot of convincing before they would calm down and live with the fact that a free bird that meets a sudden death has had a much better life than a chicken that spends its entire life in a cage, before being eletrocuted, while it is hanging upside down.

My daughter at the age of three knows the basics of gun safety, and she gets upset on the boys in school if they point at people - yeah _my_ drill instructor would be proud.

I was taught how to handle guns from a young age, and I think that teaching my kids how to handle the emotional rampage of gun-related fear with calm, well formulated logic is the best way to prevent us all from being vegans - and it is hard for them to classify us as rednecks, when we are polite, friendly, and can give intelligent answers to all their accusations.

Congratulations on the new one.
/Soren

[Rick]

My son started with a Daisy .177 pellet gun, then went on to .22 rimfires. The first gun I bought him was a Henry Lever action youth model - we had my first .22 single shot before that. I like the exposed hammer on the lever action, and I do not like semi-autos for kids, except for strictly supervised shooting off the bench. It&#39;s just too easy for a young one to get excited and turn around with that semi, saying "Did you see that?"

He is only 8, but he won a Kimber .45 auto at last year&#39;s Friends of the NRA Dinner and this year he won a Kimber .22-250 Varmint model. I&#39;ve started called him "The Kimber Kid."

[greg vs]

My first gun was a sears 22 single-shot at age 12. I was immediately made responsible for teaching my younger brother, Rick, everything he knows. I must admit that he didn&#39;t turn out TOO bad!

Word of advice: Do NOT get the single shots with a cocking knob at the back. The spring is pretty strong and it&#39;s tough for a youngster to uncock it if he needs to. I&#39;d recommend a clip magazine, bolt-action. Teach him to use it as a single shot, then let him use the clip, when you feel he&#39;s ready.

Pistol: My first was a single six, convertible. I agree with others autos are too much of a hazard, even if they are good for teaching trigger control.

Shotgun: Do NOT get a single shot. The recoil is murder. Or a 410 ==too hard to hit with. Go for a 20 gauge pump or auto==if you feel he&#39;s safe enough for an auto at that time. Remington and Mossbergs (?) have ones with a youth stock and an adult stock. Or buy a cheap replacement stock and cut it down.

By the way: If you are teaching a woman or girl, PAST makes something they used to call a Herrean Shield==they renamed it but it&#39;s a recoil pad that is shaped for a woman and velcos to her bra strap. My wife couldn&#39;t shoot more than a 1/2 box while dove hunting and now she&#39;ll shoot two boxes (12 ga) in the AM and 2 in the PM. She also shoots a 12 ga in cowboy action.

Good luck and remember to be patient!!

[jhuhtala]

Greg, I&#39;ll have to disagree with you a bit about the shotgun. The first couple years I went dove hunting I used a single shot .410 and it absolutely made slow down and make sure that the one shot that I took was a good one. (You couldn&#39;t hit anything with it if you didn&#39;t) What I learned there has been priceless since. My son will surely be using the same gun when he&#39;s ready in a couple years.

[Brettski]

My first gun was given to my as a Christmas present years ago, when I was old enough to tag along with my father in the woods was a chipmunk .22....Im now six foot three and the gun is wayyyyy too small for me to use, but I&#39;ll keep it until I have my first boy, then he will take over that rifle as his first gun

[Sleepy]

My first gun (other than an air rifle) was a 4/10 given to me by my grandmother. Light, soft recoil and got the job done for what i was after. Great beginers shotgun.

[Freedivr2]

Mine was a single shot .22 for rabbits. Then one Christmas around 13 years old, I got a single shot Ithica 12 Ga. full choke (for jackrabbits).

Single shot weapons are simple to operate, only involve one shell at a time, and help the younger shooters concentrate and "make that shot count" a lot more. They are the recommended action of choice by the Calif. Dept of Fish and Game for young shooters, least, that&#39;s what they tell me to teach in my Hunter Ed classes. And I agree with that.

After a couple years of single shots, then step them up to a pump or a semiauto.....after they&#39;ve PROVEN that they&#39;re handling the firearm with confidence and safety.

[fdkay]

Besides the pellet/air gun thing, the first firearm I bought my son was an old Savage 340 in 30/30 with a vintage lyman alaskan scope on it. The scope is worth more than what I paid for the whole combo. On the plus side, it shoots like a dream.

[SCREWLOOSE]

Freedivr2, Why waste the money on a single shot anything(pistol,rifle,shotgun). When my son first started hunting I would only give him 1 round at a time effectively making the weapon he was using a single shot. Then as he gained experience I let him have more freedom with what he had in the magazine/tube.

[Shay Mann]

Since I don&#39;t have any children, I will just have to post what gun I got when I was a child.

I was 6 years old, when my dad got me a Hopkins and Allen .22 short.

Funny story about this gun, is that my dad got it from a guy who basically gave it to him because he was so frustrated with it, that it would jam up and not eject the shell. He gave it to dad, and dad took it home and played with it. The light went on, when he found out that the guy was putting in long rifle shells, when it was a short.

My dad brought this up to the guy who gave it to him, and he said to just keep it. And thus I got it for my first.

[arizona hunter]

Got my grandson a BB gun-a Red Ryder, of course, last year. This year I&#39;m looking to find him a single shot .22, with a short stock like a Henry.

[BDB]

Mine in order were:

Daisy BB gun
Crossman pump pellet gun
Bolt action .22 lr. Can&#39;t remember the make
Single shot 20 guage

After that it was up to me to get my own.

[TazBux]

Purchased for me as a child.5 through to 16.
5th.22 calibre gass gun.
6th.22 model #1 Bruno.
9th.22 semi auto Unique 15 shot mag(now banned here)
11th birthday 3 shot mossberg bolt action 12 guage with adjustable choke.
12th birthday.A modified 6.5x55 swedish mauser with a 16inch long barrel and open sights.

16th birthday an SKS with 30 shot mag(now banned here)My most favourite weapon of all time.

All in all,My father provided me with my favourite weapons.The younger you start them,the safer they will be in the bush.I&#39;d say up untill he&#39;s 5/6/7 you will get away with putting a handle on a stik and let him go bang.lol.Congradulations!!!

[bryanhardie]

My son has shot all kinds of guns with me since about the age of 5 or 6. I just bought him his first rifle that&#39;s all his own at the age of 8. It&#39;s a Crickett 22LR, bolt action, single shot.

[Big 17]

I just bought my 5 year old son a Savage Cub 22 rifle. It&#39;s single shot, accurate as can be, cocks on open and has the accutrigger. Its still a little big for him, but he will grow into it. He can shoot it just fine from a bench or sandbags.

[bobcatman04]

Congratuulaions. The first is always the most exciting.
Grampa gave them their first gun, 20ga. side-side, for bird hunting.. Then I got each, as time went by, a 30-06 for bigger game. One can take or leave hunting, the other is worse than me. He&#39;s in sales for a major firearms distributor, (Legacy International), In Reno.