Training up a young shooter tips/advice?

[Ruger-9mm]

First, I apologize if this is in the wrong spot, mods can move as appropriate. I'm taking my daughter with me to a range next week for her first trip. She's 7 years old, and I've gotten her a Cricket .22 rifle to learn on. She knows the 4 rules by heart now, and also won't handle anything without asking first. I want her to get used to guns and to be safe in using them, but I am curious if anyone has any tips about training her to be both safe and have good form? Should I even be worrying about form at this point, and go full on safety? I plan on getting her used to her rifle and demonstrate how both of my other rifles and handgun work. I just want her to be confident in herself and safe at the same time.

 

[throttletony]

first off, good job! Coming from my inexperienced position (only a toddler at home), but having helped young shooters before - I'd be more concerned about safety, and let form develop more naturally (well, maybe 90% and 10% form, just so she doesn't develop any really bad habits - like cross-dominance, etc.)
Does the cricket have a hard to pull plunger? If so, then form and safety are going to go together (i.e. safe direction when pulling plunger back)

Also, my MAIN suggestion would be to keep it fun, and light. Shoot a coffee can from 15 ft, 2 liters filled with water, etc. Big, easy, things that bounce -- no yo mama jokes plz -- are the best to learn on because of the instant feedback!!
Also, let HER decide when she is done (whether that's 5 rounds, or 200), it could turn her off to shoot a lot longer than she wants.
Other than that, have fun and let us know how it went.

 

[Dirty Steve]

Concentrate on safety and fun now. If she sticks with it and enjoys it, work on form, accuracy, etc..later. There is no quicker way to burn a kid out than starting off with technique, drills on form and making each session like a class. That takes the fun out in a hurry. Shooting rotten fruit, ballons, charcoal briquets and big lollipops are all good. The more she enjoys it, the more she will want to pursue it later.

When my youngest was about 9, we developed the sniper game. I would place about 10-20 9" balloons in the woods. Some partially hidden, some exposed. Various ranges and various difficulty. I would make him go in the house until the course of fire was ready. We would then climb into his elevated fort and he would scan for targets with the binoculars. I never told him how may targets there were. He then had to identify each target, tell me where it was at, an approximate range, the color and then shoot it. One shot per target with his scoped 10/22 "sniper rifle". One hit, move on to the next. It was great fun,....and we still do it.

The key is that shooting was fun for him from the beginning.

Dirty Steve

 

[LarryC]

Agree with the above posts, teach safety, safety and fun. Set up targets that are reactive - whether it be balloons, jugs of water, clay pigeons etc. at ranges where she can EASILY hit them start at short distance (5 ~ 10 foot) and move back as her skill improves. At her age, I doubt she will pick up any bad "habits" so I would pretty well ignore anything that is not a safety issue.

I still remember my first "lessons" back in the early 1950's - My father passed in 52, so BIL took me under his wing. He was back from WW2 (A Master Sergeant, wounded with purple heart, 2 bronze and 1 silver star - carried a 30 cal bullet in his chest to his death) but still enjoyed shooting. We went to an old dump site in the woods about 1/4 mile from my small town and shot at everything we could see, bottles cans etc. I had a ball and still enjoy the same type shooting, though a lot harder today to find places to do that! He instructed me in safety, basics like how to use the sights, breathing and trigger pull and then basically turned me loose and watched. After a year or so he did give me some additional tips on techniques.

 

[Ruger-9mm]

Thanks for the help, and for the suggestions! I had planned on getting a cantaloupe or melon to use for a demonstration about what a bullet can do, but I'm goig to scour my house for some fun things to shoot with her .22 . And for throttletony, I've worked that plunger a lot to make it easier to pull, but I'll reinforce the important rule of not putting your finger on teh trigger while pulling the plunger.

 

[atvdave]

Plastic milk jugs, water bottles filled with water are fun to shoot.

 

[EAS]

Plastic milk jugs, water bottles filled with water are fun to shoot.

I've used 2 liter pop bottles with the lids off. The pressure sometimes shoots a stream of water high in the air. Kids love it!

 

[atvdave]

I've used 2 liter pop bottles with the lids off. The pressure sometimes shoots a stream of water high in the air. Kids love it!

Or fill the with something like flour..

 

[throttletony]

Thanks for the help, and for the suggestions! I had planned on getting a cantaloupe or melon to use for a demonstration about what a bullet can do, but I'm goig to scour my house for some fun things to shoot with her .22 . And for throttletony, I've worked that plunger a lot to make it easier to pull, but I'll reinforce the important rule of not putting your finger on teh trigger while pulling the plunger.

I'm glad to hear it! My cousin had one of those crickets, and even when it was well-used, that plunger still took some muscle -- or so it seemed to an 11 yr old.

Another fun and relatively cheap target idea is the off-brand soda from Kroger/Walmart/dollar stores. (in reg 12 oz cans.) They certainly are reactive

 

[ScouT6a]

I agree with the above posts. Safety first. Sounds like you have that covered and know it's an ongoing thing. Fun second. All the ideas on creative targets are good. Big, close "give me" targets are great in the early stages but kids learn quickly and can be real good shots because they are sponges and they don't have egos at that age. As she improves, don't be afraid to challenge her a little more. Ritz crackers, Marshmallow Peeps (dirt cheap after Easter) charcoal brickets, reactive targets/spinning targets. Use your imagination. Don't forget paper targets when the time comes to evaluate breathing techniques, trigger squeeze and grouping. Kids like the Shoot-n-See targets.
And finally, one thing I always stress with any new shooters, when she is ready for the "advanced" stuff teach her how to shoot with and adjust iron sights before you move her up to a scope. (I know that the Cricket has rudimentary iron sights)

 

[hammer24]

As stated above, safety, safety, safety. Make it fun. Good eye and ear protection. Recoil is your enemy when teaching proper form to youngsters. Teach proper breathing and trigger control.

As to the cricket plunger, what I did for.my son was tie on a leather cord to create a loop that he could grasp to cock the gun. Good luck!

 

[Ruger-9mm]

I've been raiding out recycle bin for target materials, and I've already got a few 2ltr bottles and milk jugs, and I've got a plan to get some balloons as well. She'll love that. I've also already got a lot of shoot-n-see targets running around. When I go to get her some ear/eye protection this weekend I'll ask her if she sees any targets she likes.

 

[AA&E]

You might check with your local 4H, our has a wonderful shooting sports program where they focus on safety... and the kids have tons of fun. Blackpowder, skeet, small arms. It's one of the best kept secrets of 4H IMO.