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Took my ten year old son(will 11 at the end of the month) to the shooting range on Saturday. The only gun he had shot up to then was a CO2 pellet pistol. Rented a 10 round .22 revolver for him to try out. He went through 200 rounds in no time and was asking to keep on going. He had no problems loading, unloading, firing, or hitting the target. He is a great little shot. We spent about an hour re-hashing gun safety and working with snap caps. He did not break any rules. I was very proud of him! He also shot one mag of my 9mm, and did very well. When I asked him if he wanted to shoot the .45, he looked at me as if I had lost my mind. He knew the 9mm was the smaller load, and was surprised at the difference between the .22 and the 9mm. He did not want to find out the difference between the 9mm and .45!

Also! Always been a Springfield XDm guy. Love my 9mm and .45. Decided to see what all this Glock fuss is about, so I bought a Glock 30. OK, now I can see what the fuss is about. Darn thing shot tiny little groups at 3, 4, 5, 6 yards, right out of the box. It carries IWB as well as my 3.8" 9mm, but it packs those .45 missles. My XDm .45 is the 4.5", so it does not conceal as comfortably. Don't get wrong, I still love my Springfields, but I'm not going to be able to bad mouth Glock anymore.

Oh, happy day!

A proud papa,

RJ

It is amazing that kids now days really do understand the danger of guns. With the proper guidance and training they do just fine. My boys understand the business end of the gun and it never points towards an unintended target. These kids and gun safety are the future of the 2nd being secured for their future.

Good story.

...great memories...I'd offer him a bananna split if he'd shoot the .45...betcha he'll prefer it to my 9mm...my boys did at 8, so did my daughter and nephew's wife who'd both never fired a gun before...

...my only Glock experience was the 22 and a lot of hearsay...I got rid of it and went right back to .45...but, at the range, we qualified with the 19...and I fell in love...if I ever buy a Glock, that'll be the one...I wouldn't carry one except OWB in a trigger-covering holster with no safety strap...don't trust that trigger...

My youngest has been shooting .22's (pistol and rifle) since he was ~8. When he was ~9 he tried .380 and handled it well. On the same day, after trying the .380 I asked him if he wanted to try a .45. I had been shooting a friends Kimber in the next lane. Honestly, I wasn't sure I would let him if he said yes. To his credit, he said "no way dad, I'm not ready for that yet".

That's awesome. My 6-yr-old daughter shot my daddy-size .22 rifle a couple of times this summer and loved it. I have a sneaking suspicion that Santa Claus will probably be bringing her her own youth model Cricket .22...pink, of course.

As an aside to the 'cricket' post above, my across the street neighbor bought one for his 4 year old daughter for her last birthday. As he always goes overboard, he special ordered one with a better trigger and a heavier stainless barrel.

I don't know how many 'heads' he and his wife have in their house, but the count is very high. That does not count the 3 or 4 that are in the extra freezer, on the 2 or 3 at the taxidermist (sp).

As a further aside, she got her first deer last week. Was in a stand with her grandfather, playing with some Barbies when the opportunity came up. Another head in the freezer....

StewNTexas wrote:
As a further aside, she got her first deer last week. Was in a stand with her grandfather, playing with some Barbies when the opportunity came up. Another head in the freezer....

That is HILARIOUS!

I did see where they offer a bull-barrel, but don't think I need to quite go there just yet...

speedsix wrote:... at the range, we qualified with the 19...and I fell in love...if I ever buy a Glock, that'll be the one...I.

I have quite collection these days, but the single go-to gun on my bedside table is a G19 with night sights. The darned thing just works when it needs to, holds 15 rounds, and is just the right size to carry, even in a pocket if you just have to. I have yet to find a better all-round pistol.

johnson0317 wrote: Also! Always been a Springfield XDm guy. Love my 9mm and .45. Decided to see what all this Glock fuss is about, so I bought a Glock 30. OK, now I can see what the fuss is about. Darn thing shot tiny little groups at 3, 4, 5, 6 yards, right out of the box. It carries IWB as well as my 3.8" 9mm, but it packs those .45 missles. My XDm .45 is the 4.5", so it does not conceal as comfortably. Don't get wrong, I still love my Springfields, but I'm not going to be able to bad mouth Glock anymore.

Oh, happy day!

A proud papa,

RJ

Welcome to the dark side.

Thanks for introducing firearms to him early on. He will now grow up to respect them as well as know how to use them.

Thank for the comments!

As I said in the original post, he will be 11 at the end of this month. Needless to say, I started checking out the stores and sites for a nice little .22 revolver for him...when did the prices go so high? The only ones down in the less than 250 buck range were ones made by some company called Heritage. Never heard of them. I don't want to get him something I think will give out before he has a chance to take his own son shooting. Any thoughts about a good revolver that fits the price:quality ratio? I would rather dig deep than go cheap. (Ha! Just made that up.) But I would also like him to have something that causes less buttock pain than my IWB.

RJ

...a Smith would be great quality at a high price...I'd buy him what I first bought in 66...a High Standard Sentinel Deluxe 4" in .22 LR...it's a 9-shot DA revolver built on just under a K frame...I paid $41.50 for my first one...about 3 years ago, paid $219 for another in 80% shape...well worth it both times...swing-out cylinder...I had a trigger job done on my first one to slick it up...but not on my second...they are accurate...easy to handle, reliable, and, even at today's prices, inexpensive...I put 500 rds. of short hollow points through mine every weekend for months till I could shoot well...what I learned is still with me...you will find one by hunting the pawn shops...diligently...they came in blue and nickel...I'd recommend the blue...

speedsix wrote:...a Smith would be great quality at a high price...I'd buy him what I first bought in 66...a High Standard Sentinel Deluxe 4" in .22 LR...it's a 9-shot DA revolver built on just under a K frame...I paid $41.50 for my first one...about 3 years ago, paid $219 for another in 80% shape...well worth it both times...swing-out cylinder...I had a trigger job done on my first one to slick it up...but not on my second...they are accurate...easy to handle, reliable, and, even at today's prices, inexpensive...I put 500 rds. of short hollow points through mine every weekend for months till I could shoot well...what I learned is still with me...you will find one by hunting the pawn shops...diligently...they came in blue and nickel...I'd recommend the blue...

I'll second the Sentinel. Here's my 55 year old gun inherited from a family friend - it's a great plinker:

Sorry about the big picture - I did resize it on Photobucket down to the 620X480. Dunno why it didn't "take".

Another good choice for kids is the pricier S&W M 63: