What gun for young shooters?

[oregon45]

Even with smaller, thinner grips, you need an adapter to fill the Gulf Of Horace, aka the enormous gap between grip frame and trigger guard. Target grips or an adapter rests some of the weight on the middle finger and relieve the distance the trigger finger has to stick out all by itself, giving better trigger control.

I know the temptation is strong to say “tiny shooter needs tiny gun”, but a lightweight gun is harder to shoot accurately and could discourage a new shooter. I guess you could start them out on super-close targets.

I would also be hesitant to start a new shooter with the light SA trigger of one of my M-17s.

If it were me starting again with a grade-school-aged (or younger) shooter, I’d go with a Ruger Bearcat. Small enough for little hands, but enough heft and sight radius to make it not too hard to hit stuff with.

That is if the kiddo could pry it out of my hands.

I have both Tyler-T and Pachmayr grip adapters to fill the gap if needed. I plan on dealing with the weight of the gun by teaching them to shoot, initially, from a supported position such as Creedmoor or seated. I use both positions for long-range load testing with my revolvers and both take the weight off of my hands and permit me to focus exclusively on the trigger press.

[03RN]

My son will also be 3 in july.

At this point he's just to small to grip a gun and pull the trigger so we have time. He's no stranger to holding them as Im trying to teach familiarity and respect. I always make sure to let him hold my carriy gun when he asks and we go over all the parts and safety rules.

We also shoot bb guns every week. I have a red ryder and a spring owered handgun that we'll shoot at tin cans. But its really me shooting with him on my lap

[Stephanie B]

Why not one of those Ruger Wranglers?

[03RN]

Why not one of those Ruger Wranglers?

Are they much smaller than a single six?

[CSW]

My son is almost 3 I have a 4" m64 for when he's ready. I have a single six and a 22/45.

I feel like im neglecting a .22 DA for him.

Are the smith j frame .22s good for beginners? Ive never like j frame triggers

Ruger lcr? Smith k frame? Would the k frame 22 be to big?

Find a Smith model 18.

Size of a K22, with a 4" bbl.

[medmo]

A Ruger Bearcat and an H&R 999 filled the bill when my son and daughter were first shooting handguns. Small and light, perfect for them when they were first learning safety and the basics. They are now adults. Daughter has the Ruger and son has the H&R.

[Doc_Glock]

My son is almost 3.

Are the smith j frame .22s good for beginners? Ive never like j frame triggers

Ruger lcr? Smith k frame? Would the k frame 22 be to big?

DA triggers > 8-10 lbs are pretty un-manageable by kids even up til their early teens IMO. I don’t know any .22 DA triggers that light, and even a 8 lb trigger is stretching it for these little ones.

[OlongJohnson]

Why not one of those Ruger Wranglers?

Because when you actually handle one, they're too cheap to be worth it. I'd rather have a Single Six than three Wranglers.

[jandbj]

3” S&W 63

Have a competent guy smooth out the DA and make it run with the Wolff spring. A thing of beauty.

[gato naranja]

A Ruger Bearcat and an H&R 999 filled the bill when my son and daughter were first shooting handguns. Small and light, perfect for them when they were first learning safety and the basics. They are now adults. Daughter has the Ruger and son has the H&R.

You brought up the 500 lb gorilla no longer in the room: the H&R/IJ line of "popularly priced" DA revolvers. They were the gateway to handgun shooting for an awful lot of people. Mostly utilitarian guns, they were also useful as trainers... any interested kid could learn about safety, marksmanship and gun care with one of these, and nobody's old man thought they were worth too much to let the younger set mess with. Walking the tracks or along the river on a sunny Summer day with a borrowed H&R are memories I treasure.

(High-dollar firearms are conspicuously absent from the best shooting/hunting experiences I have had. Go figure.)

Those revolvers were good guns for the money, but their relatively unimpressive metallurgy made a lot of them them a bit like the one-hoss shay if used hard: they loosened up, broke thin or brittle components and wore down almost simultaneously. Few people I knew considered them worth repairing if the cost was anywhere close to something new, and they are now kind of hard to find around here in decent shape.

For me, a blued 4.62" Ruger Single Six convertible is reasonably close in "ambience."