My oldest turns 6 this month and trying to decide if there is any equipment that would be good for getting him started with shooting. We can shoot on my property and was wondering if a shooting bench like the Caldwell Stable Table, or just a gun rest similiar to a Lead Sled would be good? I have safety equipment: ear muffs, safety glasses already for him. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Make it fun!

Ultimate Father/son day.

Don't over-equip. He wants to make the gun go 'bang' and see stuff react to being shot (that's why glass bottles and tin cans were such satisfying targets)

Talk to him a lot in the days before - build his interest. This is a rite of passage - it's important.

When you're actually shooting, stop before he's worn out. Keep him excited for the next time.

Wonderful experience. Make it wonderful for him.

I fixed my son up with a cut down 22 rifle. Made it easier for him to hold proper. Had him learn to shoot standing then let him try other positions. He shot very well while when he went thru the Police academy.

Take some balloons with you. Make it fun. I bought my son a Davy Crickett and gave it to him for Christmas when he was 6. I asked him if he wanted to shoot with a scope or with iron sights. He told me with a scope. I put a 4x scope on it. We sighted it in and he shot it a lot during the summer when he turned 7. That fall he took his first squirrel. It was a big male fox squirrel. I had it mounted and it is in his room as I type this. He has shot more animals with that gun than any other gun he has. He is now 14. I bet he has shot at least 25 or 26 groundhogs with it. It was his go to gun for 25 yard shots until this year. I bought a Browning T-Bolt with a maple stock and he seem to have taken a liking to it. Imagine that. BTW- he has several rimfire/centerfire rifles to pick from but until the Browning, he always went to the little Davy Crickett!

Strongly recommend the Savage Rascal rifle, if you don't already have the shootin' iron covered.

Start with a .22 rifle. Shoot cans, plastic bottles or balloons so he can see the hits.

Let him shoot only about 10 rounds. This is the cliff hangar that will keep his interest. Rwmember, he's 6. His attention span is short.

No need for a special bench. Just spending time with dad is enough.

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Freedom isn't free.

These guys are all correct, the biggest thing is to keep it fun.
My personal tips:

DO NOT make it about marksmanship, heck he'll probably miss everything.

Keep it interesting, like the guys above said, reactive targets rule!

Encourage, don't critisize, it's HIS time to shine not yours.
You're setting the example for future shoots.

Every shot begins and ends with a smile, if dad approves, he'll be happy.

Anger/dissapontment/frustration (well unless he hits the truck) are your problem not his.

He's just out for a good time, positive reinforcement rules.

And the biggest...
Enjoy the time together, that's what it's all about.

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Hold my beer and watch this!

Go shooting and have fun, afterwards run to steak and shake have a burger and ice cold coke and talk about how much fun it was. Perfect father and son type of day.

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Aim small miss small

the Aguila Super Colibri ammo has no powder and allows you to shoot without hearing protection. Makes it easier for the little ones to hear the instructions.

I started my son with a chipmunk and a red dot. Peep sights can be difficult for a youngster.

enjoy!

Thanks for the advice. The attention span was what made me put up his bb gun for a little while. After having finished kindergarten his attention has gotten better. Have a Ruger 10/22 and an old Winchester 290 that was his Great Grandfather's for him to try out, hopefully one of them will fit him okay, plan on just loading 1 or 2 rounds at a time for him to try. Will definitely bring out some balloons and some cans for him to try hitting.

I have a Caldwell "Dead Shot" front bag that works well for people
of varying sizes.

My kids started out at six or seven. We used an air rifle first, then
a 10/22 single loaded. Before long they were shooting my Ruger
Mark II and light .38s.

Match shooting started around 12. Some of the best times I had on the
range were at matches with my sons. My oldest and I shot bowling pins together. My youngest became a Bullseye shooter and made several trips to Perry with the local Jr. Team.

They were also good for running targets out, tacking them up, and pulling them down afterward.

I'll probably catch heck for this, but just gotta say:

I'm father of a now-21 year old son, and when he was 6, I wouldn't have thought about taking him shooting with "real" ammo. He enjoyed the BB rifle I gave him -- except when I took it away whenever he muzzle-swept me -- and it satisfied the "need to shoot" in him. We never did pellet guns, and later, when he was 10 or so, he was introduced to hunting and shooting. In his case, his maturity level was acceptable by then, but not before.

You're the dad; you know your son. I just think sometimes we try to move 'em along a bit too fast, wanting to do the best for them, when some things are better left to look forward to when the time is better. Just my opinion.

You're good to be looking at the whole subject, though, and wanting to do stuff with him. That's what it's all about.

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

As an instructor I would also say keep it fun. But you first need to teach him safety. One of the ways to get through to youngsters is to tell them to pretend the firearm is a ray-gun, and the ray-gun shoots out a laser beam. Now this laser beam will injure anything it crosses. A really good teaching tool for this is a 22 with a laser on it. It shows the student where the muzzle is pointed.
Make sure you start out with something small and light in 22lr. Whatever you do don't do what my Grandpa did to me and let me fire his 12ga. Turns them off shooting for awhile.
The firearm has to fit the student, so you need a child sized gun. Good luck.

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Tom
NRA Pistol Inst

Bring a big supply of humility. My 10 year old nephew kicks my butt every time we shoot.

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God spelled backwards is dog.

Have fun balloons with powder in them make nice puff's when hit, so do clay pigeons. Shoot at close range first so he can hit something sometimes, and doesn't lose interest. Above all go over safety again, and make sure he keeps muzzle downrange and finger out of trigger guard until ready to shoot at first I only put one round at a time in the firearm until I knew the young ones knew what they were doing. Then I would let them load, gotta learn it sometime. And number one don't get mad or holler if he doesn't take your advice about aiming he will need to pick that up on his own, but if he plays shooting games he probably knows how to aim.

Have fun and make a good day of it.

And don't forget pictures.

I'm sure you will tell him but my grandad ( he raised me) always stressed to me that a .22 can travel up to a mile

I've never forgotten that.

Be mindful of your back stop

Good luck and have fun with your son. These are precious times and they go by fast.

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Wake me when it's over...

Moments like these don't come every day. Get the most out of it. You'll want to remember this.

I think all he needs is guidance, a gun and a target. The other stuff can be added later if needed.

All youngsters are different in how they handle things.

I got my grandson a Chipmunk single-shot for his 7th birthday. We spend lots of time learning the DO's and DON'T's and then spent many days at the range. Poor kid wore blisters on his finger and thumb cocking that thing.

Then we moved up to a Ruger 10/22 when he was 8. He took his hunter/safety course in California when he was 9. He got his first duck the first day of duck season the day after he turned 10.

Then I've seen other kids that I wouldn't trust with a BB gun when they were 15..................

In any case make it fun and keep it safe.................

Agree here. Every kid is different, but I think when to start them shooting often becomes a source of bragging rights with the Dads.
"My kid already had an XYZ and a .45 when he was born, and he started shooting when he was four."
"Yeah? My son was three when he shot his first match."
No, he was in between you and the gun but he wasn't shooting.

I started my grands out with a ruger 10/22, but the stock did not fit them so they had to contort their little selves into a pretzel to shoot it.
Now we have a S&W 15/22 with an adjustable stock which fits them well and they like it alot.
We fill gator aid bottles with colored water makes a very exciting target.
I also found that Kids teach themselves way better than we can.
My grands also really like crimson trace lasers on the hand guns.

Here`s my 6 year old Granddaughter and my son

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