My nephew, who is 11 and not particularly big for his age, wants me to take him out shooting. Is he old enough to handle recoil from a 9mm or a 38 special pistol, or do we need to stick to rimfire till he's older? 

 

Thanks

 

AS

only you , and he , can tell. 

No magic age.  Different guns have different felt recoil.  IMO I would load a mag with 1 bullet and try it.  This way if it is too much or he freaks you dont have an accident waiting to happen. 

I would graduate to pussycat 38 special target loads. Usually the revolver is big and heavy enough to soak up most recoil. It is also much easier to control fire with a heavy double action trigger than with a semi-auto.

No magic age.  Different guns have different felt recoil.  IMO I would load a mag with 1 bullet and try it.  This way if it is too much or he freaks you dont have an accident waiting to happen.

 

^^^^^^ this

My son is an average sized 11-year-old. He has been shooting my S&W 10 .38 revolver for a couple years and loves it. The 92fs is still too stout for him, he cannot work the slide and has trouble remembering what all the levers do.

 

I agree with loading the 9mm with 1 round to see how he does with it.

My nephew started shooting my ruger 9mm at the age of 11. He's actually pretty good with it but prefers my Henry.22 lever because he likes to shoots the heads of like they were zombies.

My son started with my 686 when he was 9, I started with light 38 target loads and he does fine.

6 years old in the vid...

 

I took my daughter shooting when she was 10 and she weighted 60lbs. She shot rimfire first then a 9mm she was doing fine shooting the 9 when all of a sudden a piece of brass went down her shirt I even made sure she had a high neck shirt on (I wanted to avoid this if at all possible) well she got burnt and was so made at me, Like I did it? So remember this take every possible safety precaution and then only load one in the mag and then stand with them and help hold the gun at first until your sure they are ready.

 

Good luck and my daughter is pretty mature for 10 girls are usually more mature at that age at least that my experience when I taught my son to shoot at 17 I gave him the same speech I gave my 10 yr old and he turned around on the line and said how was that with a pistol in his hand and after I yelled at him he said it's not loaded. I had to give him the speech all over again. I only had to give my 10 yr old girl the speech once

I had to give him the speech all over again. I only had to give my 10 yr old girl the speech once

 

Having one child of each sex, I understand this perfectly.  It's not sexist, it's the truth.

 

You have to watch your child and make the determination yourself whether 9mm will be too much or not.  Also, typically a girl (ok, my girl) will tell you that "yeah I don't like that" whereas a boy may try to muscle through the recoil though not enjoying it.

MOST importantly do not load more then 1 round... Years ago up in Mass I still remember this story a young boy who was good at shooting rimfire handguns was at the range with his father and his instructor qualifing for a match or something. Anyhow they gave him a semi auto and when the first one went off it threw him off balance causing a second round to go off killing him right in front of his own father... This is something no father should ever have to go though and they were both quite experenced... all it takes at that age or any age is one mistake... just look at all the idiots on youtube firing stuff they have no right to handle..

At some point I will be teaching my own son to shoot but like what was said every kid is different in strength and abilitys. Just be carefull and even if they are not ready yet they will just appreciate it all the more when they are finally allowed.

How about air soft the first couple of times to see if he has muzzle discipline ?

 

My nephew has an AR15 airsoft and points it at people constantly unknowingly

No magic age.  Different guns have different felt recoil.  IMO I would load a mag with 1 bullet and try it.  This way if it is too much or he freaks you dont have an accident waiting to happen. 

+1 with this, but be sure to teach the safety aspects first.  True story - my daughter has shot with me for quite a while now (over a year) using my rimfire 1911.  She wanted to try something bigger (she's 22) so I put one round in my sig229.  Wouldn't you know it - hang fire with a 2 second delay.  I never experienced one before or since, but if she hadn't been trained it could have been a big deal.

Thanks for the replies. Of course he will want to shoot them all. I'll try the one bullet thing and see how that goes. 

My nephew was 11 or 12 I think when I took him to the range.  He shot my ar, 1911, and m9 that day.  He didn't  fancy the 1911 that much, but he handled it fine.  

We don't give kids enough credit sometimes for how strong they can be.   Of course that NOT an excuse not to be incredibly careful.  

I would graduate to pussycat 38 special target loads. Usually the revolver is big and heavy enough to soak up most recoil. It is also much easier to control fire with a heavy double action trigger than with a semi-auto.

 

^^^^^THIS^^^^^

 

Best answer on the thread!  (But that doesn't surprise me considering you're a REVO Man like myself, lol!)

 

To the OP:  .38 Wad Cutters are powder-puff loads and will teach SAFETY along with sight alignment at the point of ignition, especially when used in single-action mode.  Start with a dry-fire lesson, watching for flinching.  Teach them to ride the grips "high" to force the recoil into the palm, so little fingers can reach the bang switch and muzzle-flip is reduced to a minimum.  Let him/her get used to the mechanics and offer praise for doing good, THEN put a round or two into the cylinder and don't be too shocked if they hit somewhere near the 10-x ring of a target at 7-10 yards distance!  I find the use of standard bullseye targets with a Shoot-N-See paster in the center works quite well and offers instant gratification with the green splat marks!

 

Once your child (or any 1st-timer) can hit the 9 or 10 rings with regularity, THEN it's time to try the snappier and louder 9mm (preferably a single-stack, single-action, since they weigh more and the trigger pull will be easier to accomplish (like the revolver they just did) than using a double-stack safe-action pistola, unless of course you have really small interchangeable grips).  

 

If you need any further assistance, please PM me.  I am "at your service", since I enjoy watching/hearing about kids doing well in the shooting sports.

 

Force water down their gullets too, since they get so excited they forget to drink.  Have fun and enjoy them.  Teachable moments are to be treasured!

 

Dave