Training my 12yo daughter with a .22

[duldej]

Kicking around buying a Ruger .22 pistol so that I can bring my 12 yo daughter to the range with me. Teach her handgun safety & get her on the right path. Goal? By the time she's 18 or 21 she can legally buy & control her own pistol.

Will straighten up her life for years to come. Instill a healthy fear of crime, steer her away from all that.

Dropped by Sportsman's Warehouse to take out the latest Ruger 10/22. Budget <$500.

The .22 will double as a long barrelled target shooter for me.

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[Andy54Hawken]

Teachers others to safely handle and shoot firearms is worthy goal.
Some good memories are bound to be made as well.

I taught my neighbors's son how to shoot.....he really liked my friend's Ruger Standard pistol...
So....that is what we used for a handgun.
He was taught muzzle and trigger discipline , loading and firing one round at a time at first from the magazine.
He soon go the hang of that and was able to fully load the magazine.
Andy

 

[Yarome]

Kicking around buying a Ruger .22 pistol so that I can bring my 12 yo daughter to the range with me. Teach her handgun safety & get her on the right path. Goal? By the time she's 18 or 21 she can legally buy & control her own pistol.

Will straighten up her life for years to come. Instill a healthy fear of crime, steer her away from all that.

Dropped by Sportsman's Warehouse to take out the latest Ruger 10/22. Budget <$500.

The .22 will double as a long barrelled target shooter for me.

They are never too old or too young to teach firearm safety and responsibility. That's just good parenting, IMHO. Good on you!

A ruger .22 handgun and 10/22 are great choices, IMO.

 

[solv3nt]

Shameless drift.

 

[duldej]

May have misspoken about the 10/22 (a rifle). Had meant the Mk4, as pictured, or some variation of it.

 

[solv3nt]

May have misspoken about the 10/22 (a rifle). Had meant the Mk4, as pictured, or some variation of it.

View attachment 1756062

I just bought that for my 6yo, but the 22/45 variant.

 

[Dozer99]

Teaching my 11 year old Daughter to shoot was the easy part. Teaching her to throw the knife and hawk, not so much! (needs to get stronger but it's still fun to watch some of her wild throws).

 

[Dozer99]

May have misspoken about the 10/22 (a rifle). Had meant the Mk4, as pictured, or some variation of it.

View attachment 1756062

That is an excellent choice for both her and you. A life time of use right there!

When my Daughter and I are not shooting front stuffers, she has a Ruger American 22lr bolt action and a Ruger Standard with a 6 in barrel (sand bags it for accuracy).

 

[Yarome]

May have misspoken about the 10/22 (a rifle). Had meant the Mk4, as pictured, or some variation of it.

I just bought that for my 6yo, but the 22/45 variant.

I agree. An excellent choice for a beginner shooter... and for us old farts, too.

Something that will serve her well through the years.

 

[kmk1012]

Teaching young is the greatest tool you can give them. Not to brag (but bragging, sorry) but here is my 13 year old daughter placing third nationally in smallbore (22lr precision). We are a family of shooters and now the kids want me to teach them hunting, a skill I didn't grow up with so I'm leaning on friends to fill in the gaps.

 

[duldej]

Yeah, she's a daddy's girl for sure, so
if Dad is into it she wants to do it, too. She hit .692 last season on her softball team, topping her team in both hits & rbis, nobody even close. She knows Dad loves baseball, and I umpired 20 of her games to date.

I will scrape up the $ for the ruger, train on it and then bring her along. The owner of my indoor range has a good attitude about bringing in your kids. Will send updates once that plan materializes.

 

[NobullSKS]

We've made great memories and stacking up quality time. It's great for my daughters focus too. There's a lot I could say about the experience but got to get back to work but I'll share….8 years old here.

See if any ranges near you have a "kids day" or something. RFGC has many rifles for use and hand out free ammo on those days for the kiddos

 

[Warne]

Here is what I did while teaching my daughters how to shoot with a .22. I noticed that each of my daughters enjoyed shooting but didn't care about hitting the target. What I did was I would offer a prize. It started by offering a cash prize, and I saw instant improvement. Once that got to be too expensive, I would offer a treat like ice cream. I would let them shoot from the bench, and I would shoot offhand, and if they could beat me, they would get a prize. My youngest, took her hunter safety class this year. She was nervous about shooting against all the boys as there were 18 of them, only five girls. She was one of the first three to finish and scored 100%. They also scored the shooting. She had the highest score, outshooting everyone, including the 18 boys. Most of the kids there were her age or older. Yes, I am bragging.

 

[kmk1012]

Yeah, she's a daddy's girl for sure, so
if Dad is into it she wants to do it, too. She hit .692 last season on her softball team, topping her team in both hits & rbis, nobody even close. She knows Dad loves baseball, and I umpired 20 of her games to date.

I will scrape up the $ for the ruger, train on it and then bring her along. The owner of my indoor range has a good attitude about bringing in your kids. Will send updates once that plan materializes.

My daughter is almost 17 now and growing up fast, enjoy all the time you get with them as time moves too quickly. Thank you for starting this thread, brings a lot of good memories.

 

[bradsteen]

Awesome to hear! I would recommend teaching her on something like a Ruger SR22, Walther P22, etc. They are a little more compact than the average pistol which makes it easier for people with smaller hands to use, they are very light weight so easier for them to point downrange for longer periods off time, and it helps build their familiarity with controls and operation of most semi autos on the market. Just my $0.02.

 

[duldej]

Awesome to hear! I would recommend teaching her on something like a Ruger SR22, Walther P22, etc. They are a little more compact than the average pistol which makes it easier for people with smaller hands to use, they are very light weight so easier for them to point downrange for longer periods off time, and it helps build their familiarity with controls and operation of most semi autos on the market. Just my $0.02.

The range I will be taking her to is 50ft to target, required, and I would be concerned that with the SR22, accuracy could be an issue.

Weight of the pistol is, however, on my mind, as the Mk4 is about 2lbs, and twice that of the SR22 that you suggested.

I was inclined to get a barrel 5.5" min.

 

[bradsteen]

The range I will be taking her to is 50ft to target, required, and I would be concerned that with the SR22, accuracy could be an issue.

Weight of the pistol is, however, on my mind, as the Mk4 is about 2lbs, and twice that of the SR22 that you suggested.

I was inclined to get a barrel 5.5" min.

50ft is a long distance for a new shooter. I taught my nieces how to shoot a couple years ago (they were 11 and 13 at the time), started them with .22 pistols and worked them to bigger calibers. With rifles they ended up being very accurate, but they had a hard time hitting distant targets with pistols. If you're stuck at that kind of range I would invest in some Shoot N See targets to make it easier for her to tell where her shots are going.

https://www.amazon.com/Sight-Adhesive-SPLATTERBURST-Shooting-Targets/dp/B01M25UEB0/

 

[spookshack]

I have a MK4 22/45 target (5.5" bull barrel) and it's a heavy beast in that configuration.
I also have a TacSol 6" lightweight barrel that is so much lighter. I use it specifically for speed steel type matches.

I bought a MK4 22/45 Lite for my daughter. Sadly, she not into guns like I am, so it's been collecting dust for a couple years now.
She's nearly 18 now. Might have to drag her to a match one last time.

 

[kmk1012]

I have a MK4 22/45 target (5.5" bull barrel) and it's a heavy beast in that configuration.
I also have a TacSol 6" lightweight barrel that is so much lighter. I use it specifically for speed steel type matches.

I bought a MK4 22/45 Lite for my daughter. Sadly, she not into guns like I am, so it's been collecting dust for a couple years now.
She's nearly 18 now. Might have to drag her to a match one last time.

Spend as much time with them as you can, precious time flys at that age. Take her to a match and let her chose how you two spend the afternoon after the match.

 

[JadeFox]

All but one of our 6 are shooters. I really like our MK4 Lite but our older MK II Target Rugers have better triggers. We all still enjoy shooting together.