What age for pellet gun, while supervised?

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Puppadore

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Jul 5, 2022
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It is a long way to go for my son, he is about to turn two. He walks, talks, but has no concept of harming, death, projectiles, etc...
But eventually, I wish for him to have fun with pellet guns, while supervised. I will think about unsupervised fun way later.

So at what age, would someone show their son how a pellet gun works? And what product would be ideal?

My wife hates the idea of having actual firearms or pellet guns at home now. But I wish to have him grow up learning the safety rather than being oblivious to all guns.
 
We started my grandson on .22LR rifles at about 8 1/2. Took him to the range set up on bench with a bolt action .22, with a single shot sled, a Win 52, so very accurate gun, him the first time or two not so accurate. WHere he lives there is not a good place to shoot, or my son has not sought one out, so he only shoots here, about 350 miles from where they live. He is turning 11 this month and is getting pretty good. A couple of years ago we got him a Daisy bb/pellet rifle and he is good with it and last Christmas I gave him a Crosman 2240 type CO2 pistol and he is ok with it. I'm planning on rebuilding an old Daisy 717, single stroke penumatic pellet pistol for him for the next time we see him, at least he will not have to fool with CO2 carts as much and it does not make as much noise so he should be able to shoot in his back yard with supervision.
 
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I started just before the age of 6 with bb guns. My grandson just turned 5 and hes been getting lessons using an airsoft rifle. Airsoft didnt exist when I was a kid so it was the pump up bb gun. I think it depends on the child and how well they can sit and listen and actually learn what you are trying to teach them in a safe way.
 
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I agree with the idea that it depends on the kid. My oldest grandson shot my Prod sitting on my lap when he was about 5. His daddy was shooting a 9mm Beretta nearby and he hated the noise of it. He really liked shooting the pellet gun, however. His sister is now 3, however, and wants to do everything big brother does so that is a complicating factor. We may need to wait until she gets to 5 or so.

I have another home made stock for my Prod so I can adjust the length of pull from about 12 inches to about 15 inches.
 
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I started taking my son to camping/field target weekends at 5 years old. He plinked alongside us with a benjamin discovery laid over a camp chair for those first two summers, but didn't shoot during the matches. I had to lean over and cock it for him each shot, lol. Last year he started using a taipan veteran and competing with the rest of us. We were both happy with 50% knockdown rates. I had to carry and manage all his equipment that summer. Two months ago (age 8 now) I made him carry his own gun and range by focus himself and click the turret all on his own, sorta as a test to see how self sufficient he could manage if I wasn't there by him. He did it all himself and shot quite well. Last month he shot a 40/52 on a Troyer 36 course (on the tough end).

So, every kid is obviously an individual case, but I find mine to generally be more capable than I think they are. Being right there, as you mention, "supervised" is a good idea though. Instills some good habits rather than bad.
 
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Hello my daughters have grown up around guns all there life. There has always been a gun on me or in close proximity in the house . With that said I started shooting with them at the age of 3, with them sitting on my lap and letting them sight the gun to target and pull trigger with help along the way. I used a low power airgun with the stock cut down, a red dot sight (easier to explain sight picture, "put the red dot on the balloon") and reactive targets such as balloons or cans of club soda shaken up. I believe it is never to early to start them, safety is a must, one of the most important lessons you can teach them is a safe direction ( an area the gun can be pointed when operating and holding the gun (from taking it out of case/safe, engaging safety, powering up optics, loading/unloading etc) where if the gun was to discharge that it would cause no harm to personal and minimal property damage) Granted most of this will be done down range but our gun has to get from its resting place to the range. Example I take the gun out of the safe to place it in it's case to go to the range: 1 identify safe direction, 2 remove gun from safe, 3 point gun in safe direction, 4 ensure gun is safe clear and empty, 5 place gun in case, 6 transport gun to shooting area still being aware of muzzle even in the case. Unfortunately accidents will alway happen (that why we have car/ home insurance and loading/unloading ports) BUT if we are muzzle aware and use a safe direction you will minimize a negative outcome. As for what gun to use I would look at a crosman 2240xl with a red dot sight a 7 inch moderator/ suppressor(you do not want to short of a barrel as so you do not sweep you/sons hand when using it as a carbine) and a cut down shoulder stock. This will make a nice light carbine with a good trigger and can be used indoors or out depending on your range set up. Well good luck getting your son behind a gun, start early and often any you will have a shooting buddy for life, my daughters still shoot with me even a 19 and 24 hope this helps Eric.
 
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Dealing with the wifey first - my wife is the same way. Absolutely hates airguns or any guns. Hated how many Nerf guns my son has. But has also realized that even without guns / toy guns that boy will make anything into weapons. So I've worked very hard to get her to trust that I am making things safe for the family and the kids. Even though they are airguns I have a small safe to keep them in. I keep air pistols locked away. She doesn't love it but I've also flat out told her I grew up in a family where my mom hated guns and I am an adult an will be owning airguns (I don't own powder guns - not because I can't, just because I don't) - so don't make me choose. Anyways - we have a working agreement and I keep safety at the top of the list.

I started teaching my son the firearm rules when he was 5 with Nerf guns and I've been very strict with him following them. I guess I felt he had matured enough to start shooting some of my airguns, with supervision, when he was about 8 or 9. He's been slowly picking it up and doing well with a red dot or scope. Still learning open sights.

As others have mentioned the age will vary depending on rate of maturation. I also feel people in more rural areas may teach their kids at a younger age as it's just easier if you can do it in your bak yard.
 
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You have to judge each child individually as to their level of maturity and understanding of safety, handling, etc. hawkeye69

We all know thirty year old folks who can't be trusted with a dull part of scissors. So it's not about the age at all, it's about what's inside their melon. During the first HUNGER Game movie, the grandkids asked to learn about self defense and firearms. So after obtaining the proper permissions we began with a Benjamin Prod and surprisingly both were born natural shooters, amen. Knowing me well enough the girl wanted to venture into edged weapon uses. So we began slowly throwing knives, then spears, tommy hawks, and finally axes. In time both would make their own with our little forge.
Aye there is something very special about a beautiful girl, woman, lady throwing an axe with authority friend.
“A knife less man is a lifeless man” ~Old Nordic proverb :cool:
 
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My advice is not to stop at teaching your kid just safety and usage but also to instill the proper thinking about guns. Guns are tools, they are inanimate objects that can be used for good, evil and fun. It’s important for kids to learn that many societal ills are caused by ethical/moral shortcomings and that too often people will blame the symptom/method rather than the cause/disease.

I don’t mean to preach but introducing kids to airguns is a perfect opportunity not only to teach about safety but also about morality, taking responsibility for one’s actions, and being able to make sound judgments independently.

-Marty
 
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esingle said:
Hello my daughters have grown up around guns all there life. There has always been a gun on me or in close proximity in the house . With that said I started shooting with them at the age of 3, with them sitting on my lap and letting them sight the gun to target and pull trigger with help along the way. I used a low power airgun with the stock cut down, a red dot sight (easier to explain sight picture, "put the red dot on the balloon") and reactive targets such as balloons or cans of club soda shaken up. I believe it is never to early to start them, safety is a must, one of the most important lessons you can teach them is a safe direction ( an area the gun can be pointed when operating and holding the gun (from taking it out of case/safe, engaging safety, powering up optics, loading/unloading etc) where if the gun was to discharge that it would cause no harm to personal and minimal property damage) Granted most of this will be done down range but our gun has to get from its resting place to the range. Example I take the gun out of the safe to place it in it's case to go to the range: 1 identify safe direction, 2 remove gun from safe, 3 point gun in safe direction, 4 ensure gun is safe clear and empty, 5 place gun in case, 6 transport gun to shooting area still being aware of muzzle even in the case. Unfortunately accidents will alway happen (that why we have car/ home insurance and loading/unloading ports) BUT if we are muzzle aware and use a safe direction you will minimize a negative outcome. As for what gun to use I would look at a crosman 2240xl with a red dot sight a 7 inch moderator/ suppressor(you do not want to short of a barrel as so you do not sweep you/sons hand when using it as a carbine) and a cut down shoulder stock. This will make a nice light carbine with a good trigger and can be used indoors or out depending on your range set up. Well good luck getting your son behind a gun, start early and often any you will have a shooting buddy for life, my daughters still shoot with me even a 19 and 24 hope this helps Eric.
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Hi esingle, i have a question. How did you explain the danger of accidents with guns? Maybe this is less of a airgun questions but more of... how do you explain stuff to children who has not experienced or seen guns?

Something like heat was easy to explain because, I gave him a hot mug and he got the concept of high temp = pain. Same with falling, running into stuff, sharp objects, etc because there are a mild forms of example that is unpleasant. But how does a 3 year old understand what getting shot is, and how that relates to serious pain + injury?
 
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There's a lot of good advice here. I started using guns around age 8, the first time supervised, and then after that, unsupervised. My uncles would give me thousand-round boxes of .22's and tell me to go have fun.

That said, I took a 30-year-old man kayaking once and he almost paddled into the propellers of a water plane. He could not simultaneously process audible feedback from a person, while doing a physical task like kayaking. In most ways he would be considered an "intelligent" person, but it's fascinating he couldn't put the two different activities together.

My own son is 12 and I wouldn't just let him walk around with a loaded gun, unsupervised. That said, I don't think he would want to. He's maturing slower than I did. But everyone is different.
 
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Hello Puppadore what I did is took a hard Item like a melon or cantaloupe and a little demonstration. Push on it with your hand (nothing happens), then cut it with a axe , hit it with a hammer, and than shoot it. After the demo explain that the above are all tools and each have a set purpose. Explain that when using the tools correctly they do as intended but when misused the can and will cause damage or injury. Your hand was unable to damage the melon but each of these tools did and none of them were intended to be used on a melon. I hope this example helps Eric.
 
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esingle said:
Hello Puppadore what I did is took a hard Item like a melon or cantaloupe and a little demonstration. Push on it with your hand (nothing happens), then cut it with a axe , hit it with a hammer, and than shoot it. After the demo explain that the above are all tools and each have a set purpose. Explain that when using the tools correctly they do as intended but when misused the can and will cause damage or injury. Your hand was unable to damage the melon but each of these tools did and none of them were intended to be used on a melon. I hope this example helps Eric.
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Thank you. This makes sense. I never thought of using another object as an example. I can't wait to have fun plinking with my son. Hope he likes it.
 
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Emotional maturity varies a lot but I would say whenever you start, do so in a situation where you can physically take control instantly if needed. A bench situation is what I would prefer for sure vs any where the child can freely move around without being controlled.

For walking around independently, that would take a level of trust in their judgement that is hard to estimate as each kid can be so different. I would say that is phase two after they can confidently demonstrate safe operation and when they are physically strong enough to safely control the gun.

Phase three is letting them be completely independent and to me that is in the teens at a point where they fully understand consequences.

I lived in a crazy police state in suburbia, so it was ridiculously risky to own anything, but the way I was as a kid I was better off and likely wouldn’t have trusted myself until at least 15.
 
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I was going out hunting with my Dad, grandpa and uncles at 7 or 8 they where already teaching me how to shoot, gun safety, how to clean game. I would take my grandpa's Daisy. 25 on those trips.still have it to this day.
By 10 had a Sheridan blue streak. Yup still have it also. The next year a .22 and 410. Finally able to join the big boys for birds and small game. My first deer at 12. Growing up then was much different than today.
20220802_185227~2.jpg
 
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