I'm also going to stand in the revolver camp. As a member of my gun club since 1983, I have witnessed way too many young novice shooters with a semi auto, handgun and rifle both, inadvertently point a still loaded firearm at others on the firing line. "Look Dad, I hit it", the blue rock, gong, or whatever, while sweeping the muzzle past Dad, or the bystanders. I will admit, a DA revolver is also ready to fire in the same situation, but with a typically much heavier pull of the trigger. Single action revolver wins hands down in the aspect of safety. The only way I would ever consider teaching a novice with a semi auto would be to load just one round at a time in a magazine, verify the safety is on, load the mag, rack the slide, fire the one round, apply the safety, and drop the mag. Repeat, until you're confident the "student" is thoroughly familar with all the buttons, levers, knobs, hammers, grip safeties, slide, and etc. as found on various semis.

I don't think you could go wrong with a Ruger Bearcat...

The High Standards are still under rated but catching on. For really slow as heck reloading get a Model 101 HS. The ejector star doesn't reseat automatically, has to be done by hand. I suppose there was a reason for it, though I can't quite think of one.

I've picked up quite a few, including the JC Higgins branded ones. Great grips, which may be a consideration for a new shooter.

if you can find a used model 63 that reliably ejects, I'd recommend that. It's be light weight, with a short trigger circumference and decent trigger pull. Plus .22 revolvers where less "ammo sensitive", meaning that you can use standard or high velocity ammo. If you can't find one in your price bracket, I'd look for a used Ruger standard. The ruger semi auto was the most reliable .22 semi I've come across.

Been there done that.

It is counterintuitive, but if I had to do it over again, I would go with the Ruger MKIV 22/45 Lite right out of the gate. I tried the S&W revolver deal, but the Ruger was easier to use and shoot accurately. She had more fun, so that made her want to shoot more. That is the real goal.

It was a little more money but I thought teaching them the Cocked and Locked system was a great way to teach them about a pistol. We first shot the an older 22 rifle that would accept 22 short and 22 long and 22 LR. When using the 22 short first it made them have to chamber a round each time and then when they looked ready we moved to the semi auto of the 22LR. I'm too tired to go dig it out of the safe to tell you what rifle this was. I hope you all are having as much fun as we did!

Since grandson is already proficient with a 10-22, is 11 (and is not going to get any smaller or younger), and has already been on a hunt, I would find a used .22 target auto (Buckmark, Ruger, or whatever they have in the case), load one round at a time (as Lefty Jake has suggested above), and teach him the basics of old-fashioned bulls-eye. You can always have some fun plinking and against reactive targets afterwards, but teaching him how to shoot really accurately (and safely), will lay the groundwork for life.

BTW, Bumpyi60, I have a Taurus TX22, and while they are a good design and can be found on-sale for $250, I think this lad might be better served with a target-type platform, as long as it's not too heavy. I consider my TX22 to be more of a kit-gun. It would do, though.

Ruger Single-Six of course!

A Beretta Bobcat 21A is an interesting gun.
DA/SA with tip up barrel.
If that was the only gun in existence there would be no problem teaching a youngster to use it properly.
Ours run without issue.

The new MKIVs make cleaning a fun chore.
Whatever you buy him it might be passed on to his kids.... time flies.
As stated, a Bearcat type gun is a treasure as well.

The first gun I bought was a HS semi when I turned 21 while in the AirForce.

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Have Fun/Stay Safe

Whichever you choose, make sure it’s accurate. If it won’t shoot where he’s aiming, he’ll probably get frustrated and quit trying.

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“Look life in its iron face”

My first handgun….H&R 649. Guessing my father picked it up in a pawn shop for $50-$75.

40years later, still have it, the H&R Topper in 20, and my Marlin single shot bolt gun.

Anything you can do to slow a kid down to make him think, the better. Neighbor kid had a 10-22 at the time, if a box of ammo lasted 5 minutes, he was shooting slowly.

You would not regret purchasing a H&R 999 Sportsman: 9 shot 22LR, top break, Auto eject, Adjustable front & rear sights.
Mine was made in early 1941 - & still a tack driver @ 80 years old.
Even my 2 snub nose H&R top breaks are extremely accurate. 22LR, & .38-S&W. KEEPERS - ALL.

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The SR22 is a better gun than the m&p22 or the walther p22. Had both and they don't hold up. In fact at the range one day, a p22 a guy had just bought at the attached shop had a slide separation, broke into two pieces an inch back from the front sight.
I'm definitely in the revolver camp for beginners

I have a S & W 22A that I bought about 15 years ago. It has the lightest trigger of any gun I have or have ever shot. I have to be very aware when shooting it after shooting my other guns with normal trigger pull because the trigger is so sensitive.
I really like the trigger because it is so light but it is a gun I am very careful with! Not for a kid!

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NRA & TSRA
Texas CHL Holder

My grandson came into the shooting sports under Iowa's old laws.
Namely NO handgun shooting for any one under 14. By the time he was 14 he had shot thousands of rounds in various rifles, Ruger 10/22, Browning BL22, an old Winchester 22 pump, and a Henry 17 hmr. On his 14th birthday handed him a Browning Buckmark and 200 rounds of CCI.and stood next to him.
He is 20 now, a better shot than me and very safety conscious.
Every kid is different, take clues from him.

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Super Snooper

My two girls (teenagers now) started with their late grandad´s S&W M&P .22, and a Ruger 10/22.

The oldest one (16) is a rifle girl, doesnt like handguns as much as she enjoys .22 rifle shooting (Remington 550-1, CZ 452 and Winchester 63 from 1935). Although last weekend she alternate between our Remington 550-1 and my S&W M 617 (revolvers are starting to grow in her hearth).

On the other hand, my little one (14) enjoys pistol shooting more than rifles.

My oldest one started at 9 (Now he is 25), with a S&W M 17. He still loves that particular revolver, and rifles, and pistols and whatever goes bang.

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"lets be careful out there"

Just my 2-cents.

Buy a pistol that you think he would be proud to own for all his life. Then give it to him when he is legal to own it.

I was with my grandfather in an old Gibson's department store when he spied a Canadian Centennial Winchester Model - 94. A few years later he gave it to me as my first deer rifle. I dind't know it at the time, but he bought it with the intent of it being mine. I still treasure it and think of him every time I pick it up.

I can speak to the specific point of learning to shoot a handgun. We have a training business in which we've run well over 500 Intro to Handguns classes, probably well over 5000 people. Many if not most have never even touched a gun in their life. For reference, our Intro is our own syllabus and style, in which the students run 100 rounds of .22LR and then a handful of 9x19 at the end if desired. That's a lot of shooting.
We used Ruger Mk III 22/45s for many years and thought they were the best choice. Then the Taurus TX-22 came along and we converted as soon as we all tried one out extensively. Our training fleet now has 13 of them.
For the modern student the TX-22 will produce the best overall results for a nearly all people, of all sizes and ages. We get a significant number of seniors nowadays and the qualities of the TX are a big help there.
The TX has excellent ergonomics and can fit almost any size hand without crowding or stretching.
The slide is exceptionally easy to deal with, and the controls are just about perfect in location, size, and effort.
The 16-round capacity is nice, but not very relevant in the training arena.
The practical accuracy is excellent. One of our instructors, the group-size maven, plugs single holes at moderate ranges and we all get good results.
The price is right. Even here, they have been selling at retail just over $300 with two magazines (and a useless mag-loader- get the Lakeline).
Better still, the configuration and operation closely mimics the modern striker-fired guns that so many go on to adopt when they go centerfire. The ease of transition to say, an M&P or a PPQ was the clincher: going from the Mk III to those polymer guns almost required retraining. The TX-22's transition is so smooth the students hardly know they're changing, excepting the noise level.
As to the revolver: well, I own more round guns than semis, and more 1911s than any other kind of semi. But- revolvers are harder to learn on and take more time to get the same results on the target. We originally started out incorporating revos with the Rugers but dropped them as they required too much time to produce good shooting.
Just about any new shooter will get better groups faster with a decent semi than any revolver. Learning the double-action trigger pull is hard and takes a long time. Single-action shooting can be fun, but it's not the complete job. Learning to run a DA revo right is a necessary skill, and it takes quite a while.
The only time we bring out the M63 Kit Gun is for seniors with such serious arthritis that putting any kind of rounds downrange can only be done with the little J. But using it double-action will be of course out of the question.
Just the observation of someone who's seen some thousands of first shots.

I'll second the recommendation to start with reactive targets. Plates, spinners, cans or plastic bottles are all good. Kids get a big kick out of seeing things jump, ring or roll when hit. Its a lot more fun than just punching holes in paper.

Another vote for a Ruger Mark I, II, III or a IV

I think the 22/45 lite is the prefect rimfire pistol to start a youngster out with.

We started my son as a kindergartener with a Ruger MKII. One round at a time in the magazine until we where satisfied that he had good control of all gun safety rules and general operation / loading of the gun. Then 3 rounds, then more.

A S&W 4" Kit gun works well for a new shooter. Mine is a 63 no dash. It has introduced many young shooters to range safety, marksmanship and the joys of ringing steel.

One of the the very best shooters on our range is a college student whose father and uncle started him with a K22 at age 9. They got him a Ruger SR22 when he was 11. At 15 he transitioned to a G19. We all thought he would slow down when forced to deal with centerfire recoil...
We were wrong. He kept right on beating us.

If you were to ask me which of your firearms would you use to train a youngster I;d probably drag out my old marlin with scope or Ruger III with 4-5" barrel and iron sights. Why those two you say, because they are fairly cheap and paid for. Can download magazines easily have enough weight to get decent results. Frank

I was a RSO and Trainer for 12 yr at our gun club. WE had one 4" S&W 617 (back when they were a lot cheaper) and a Ruger 22/45.

The Ruger is an easy gun to shoot well and inspires confidence in the student. I agree that one that has been tricked out w/Volquartsen parts is not the right way to go, as I had my own personal 22/45 Volquartsen. it was so accurate, I had to remove the red dot as there was no challenge left.
However, a nice 22/45 or similar- preferably with a bull barrel is a fine starting pistol and simple enough for the trainer to load or let student load in single shot mode. I really like the newer ones too with the 'tilt to remove' barrel for cleaning purposes.

Revolver first. Like manual before automatic transmission.

I like to use a 4" Smith Kit gun with new shooters.

One of the best shooters at our range is a college student now. His dad and uncle started him on a K22 and then transitioned him onto a Ruger SR22. He wore it out twice. Ruger rebuilt it both times before he graduated to a G19.

A 22LR revolver wouldn't be a bad idea.

MANY, MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO SHARED THEIR WISDOM.

It is very much appreciated and helped a lot.

To close the thread, here's how we're going:

I'm reclaiming my H&R 999 Sportsman from son #1 and "loaning" it to son #2.
Plus I'm loaning him a Sig P250 compact with a really sweet DAO trigger in both a .40S&W and .22 (just change out slides and mags). He's also getting the laser thing-a-ma-jig that let's you see where you've hit when you dry fire. He can practice with the .40 and laser (at home) and then use the .22 at the range when he's ready. It will be the same trigger as only the top gets changed from .40 to .22.
But we're also investing in a Ruger Wrangler for him to get started on as well. (I may buy that one,for himof course,...as I don't have a .22 SA and, well, it's a nice gun, it's a Ruger, and my grandson is just the excuse I need to add it to the safe.)

I think we've got it covered. 2 .22 revolvers and a DAO semi-auto which he can use at home (supervised of course) and at the range. As he grows more proficient he can borrow my Ruger Mk IV or the .22 Sig 220.

Again, all the advice and tips are much appreciated. Y'all are great!