Training a teenager

[T. O'Heir]

Once they get to be teenagers they need to be led. Show 'm what to do and tell 'em what is expected, respect 'em and they'll do it.
"...they destroyed a bottle full of water..." Wimps. Used a cinder block and a semi'd M-14 for that. The 48 oz. cabs of tomato juice and the 12 ga. slug was kind of impressive too.
CF Army Cadets, at the time, shot No. 7 Lee-Enfields(Tack driver .22's.), No. 4 Lee-Enfields(.303 Brit) and FN C1A1's(7.62NATO). Some Corps, like mine, shot every week end during the school year. Had one small statured girl who could shoot circles around most of the big strapping guys too.

[TimSr]

I'm with the train of though that says its far better to start much earlier and ingrain certain habits and attitudes while they are developing, but I've also taught several adults.

I don't know what other states offer, but a typical hunter safety course in Ohio is not primarily focused on firearms safety and handling. That is one small part of it. Also they barely touch on pistols, and are focused more towards hunters in the field situations. It's great for young hunters, but doesn't have much value for someone who will be target shooting with a pistol. If you're going to go with a scheduled training course, choose one of those beginner firearms handling courses FOR ADULTS taught at local gun ranges.

For starters, I'd choose something with mild recoil that is cheap to shoot. Saty away from snubbies and pocket pistols for beginners. they are much harder to master. I find revolvers are easier for beginners to understand, but those .22 target auto models are easy to shoot as well.

.22 rifle is where most of us rural kids got started, after proving responsibity with a BB rifle. There are others with very mild recoil as well, but they cost more to shoot, and the danger zone gets a lot bigger with rifle rounds.

[Pahoo]

I don't know what other states offer, but a typical hunter safety course in Ohio is not primarily focused on firearms safety and handling.

That is too bad and sad. Everything we teach, revolves around safety, whether in the field or in the home. .....

offset the negative effects of growing up fatherless.

That would be me and I was locked up twice before the age of 16. One mistake was gun related and both were just plain stupid. I got into teaching hunter safety in an effort to help young folks. ....


Be Safe !!!

[TimSr]

That is too bad and sad. Everything we teach, revolves around safety, whether in the field or in the home. .....

Don't get me wrong, our courses revolve around safety as well. They are just not in depth firearms training courses that teach you how to operate and shoot firearms. They are focused on hunter education, and hunting safely and ethically. These are only like an 8 hour course, and just cover the basic rules of shooting safely. Typically parents or other adult mentors teach kids to shoot before they ever sign up for a hunter safety course here.

[jimbob86]

Shooting at reactive targets might help stem the boredom of shooting at paper targets.

IME, reactive targets are important to keeping kids focused on marksmanship.

Any idiot with 20$ and a .30-06 can make 20 loud bangs. It takes someone with a good grasp of the fundamentals of practical marksmanship to bust 20 water filled milk jugs at ranges up to 300 yards from field positions......

[jimbob86]

Once they get to be teenagers they need to be led. Show 'm what to do and tell 'em what is expected, respect 'em and they'll do it.

IME, the same is true of the 8-10 year olds, only they require smaller challenges (smaller steps) and more positive reinforcement .......

All children need to be led ..... it's called being "The Dad".

Be The Dad.

[bamaranger]

Yeah, teach'em to shoot, teach'em safety, not necessarily in that order too. A skull session or two or three before exposure to weapons not a bad idea at all.

Depending on your own background, a firearms/hunter safety course may infact be a great idea, or just supplemental. Most states will require it if he ever wishes to be licensed to hunt.

I see a lot of young people who were started by family that are not fundamentally sound in their technique and understanding, and verge on blatantly unsafe. Kind of like drivers!!!!! Just cause you can does not mean you're a good one. No insult intended to anybody. My Dad was a poor shot, nobody that really knew what they were doing had instructed him. He was cross dominant, nobody ever caught it, 'till I came back from academy and he was in his early 60's. Grandad loved to hunt/fish, whole family were outdoorsmen......but not real firearms instructors or savy teachers. Dad was plenty safe though, and instilled that in me deeply.

Absolutely start them with a .22. Any advice about starting them out with anything bigger is bad advice. You can make the jump to bigger when the fundamentals are well established. Almost every good shot I know works regularly with a .22, even now, with the ammo problem.

[kraigwy]

Hunter Safety Course should be mandatory whether or not one hunts.

4H shooting sports, contact your County Extension Agent about 4H

CMP GSM Clinics

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Note to any instructor, parent or any other one intending to instruct Teens or Pre Teens (and young adults)

Make it a requirement that no cell/I-phones during the instruction. I don't know what the deal is with kids (and many adults) and their addiction to these things.

Don't know how many timed during a class or even a range session when I looked up and saw students with their nose in their phones.

I banned them totally. The only exception is when equipped with a ballistic program used in long range shooting classes or matches.

[Pathfinder45]

I wasn't allowed to have a gun until I was 16. When I did get mine, I was enrolled in a formal target shooting program where safety was routinely stressed as the primary focus before, during, and after. An important but secondary aspect was the training of marksmanship skills. No firearm was ever loaded or fired except by command of the RSO. Even the handling of arms from arrival to being placed on the firing-line was supervised. Anything that was not quite right became a teachable moment. Standards were upheld, and they were high. I consider that training priceless. Bolt action 22's were used and semi-autos were not allowed. All positions were taught as well as the proper use of the sling. 16 years old is a great time to learn to shoot. Most states don't allow a 12 year old to drive. Is shooting any less serious? I'm of the opinion that a bolt action 22 rimfire rifle is the very best firearm to begin with. Used as a single-shot, it teaches one to make the first shot count and promotes marksmanship better than any repeater. Kind of like building a fire with only one match.

[turkeestalker]

This may be getting ahead of the game, but I incorporated a goal to help encourage both of my sons to concentrate on learning to shoot well and not just make noise and burn ammo. Mind you they had been to the range and shooting many times since less than half the age but each received their first rifle of their own on their 10th birthday. Didn't want to give them a semi-auto for their first, and don't see a bolt action 22lr being one that they would be inclined to keep and have use for throughout their lives, so they got bolt action 22wmr's. They both already knew how to use iron sights effectively and had done so with rifles and pistols of larger and smaller calibers, and both noted the difference between their 22 mags and Dad's with the fixed 6 power scope on top of it. Also noted was the difference in their groups and mine. They wanted scopes... so the goal was to be able to place 10 shots within a 3 inch circle at 50 yards with iron sights, then they would be given scopes for the rifles. My youngest had always been more interested in precision than my oldest was, and with four years difference between them he still had a fixed 4x on top of his before his brother did.
I'm not saying that how I did things is the way to do things, it's just how I did it. But it did seem to work out well for them.

[RaySendero]

Show him how to clean all of'em first!

[coyotewsm]

If you want it to hit home how dangerous guns are you could always take him out and have him shoot at some tannerite on the first shot.

[b.thomas]

Both of my boys started shooting at the tinder age of 5 ,shooting .22 rifles. by 12 both went through hunter safety. This is pretty much what my dad did with my brother and me.
Starting at 16 is fine but think of all the time you wasted and all the fun you missed by not starting younger??
I had 40+ great years shooting with my dad and nearly that much now with my two sons.

[Limnophile]

A rifle chambered in .22 LR is the perfect platform with which to start shooting, and an essential weapon to own at any age. The first gun I shot was a 12-gauge shotgun, and my dad gave me a single-shot, lever-action rifle in .22 LR when I was 8. He didn't want me wasting ammo with a repeating rifle. It worked. By the time I was old enough to take my rifle out shooting with my friends, all of whom had semi-auto .22s, I could easily outshoot any of them.

Enrolling the teen in a hunter's safety course is wise. At the age of 8, when Dad taught me to shoot, his word was like the word of God, so I listened carefully and learned. But a teen knows he knows more than his dad, and is far more likely to listen to a formal course instructor.

[mete]

I agree with the single shot ! I learned at 7-8 years .A single shot trains your mind to say I've only got one shot , make it good. A repeater says if I miss the first shot I'll get it the second or third !

[Limnophile]

^Yes, a single-shot is the way to learn. My rifle, an Ithaca, was handicapped, relative to those of my friends, by having open sights (they all had peeps) and a very short stock, because it had been whittled down to fit me at age 8. But, my friends were always impressed by how that rifle could shoot (the rifle, not me, always got the credit, of course).

[SARuger]

+1 for hunter ed, its required by law in VA. My 13 year old has been shooting rimfire rifle/revolver for about two years now, supervised of course. i'm about to turn him loose with those before I put him with something bigger. So far so good

[Mobuck]

A. At 16, you've started 10 years too late.
B. A handgun-any handgun- is not the best choice. Start with a 22 rifle that can be single loaded.
C. A Hunter education class might be a good start unless you're a very experienced shooter.
D. Public ranges are a poor place to start-too much distraction.
E. Lack of patience is a teenager's downfall. They think they can do anything and be a "pro" immediately-that's when mistakes happen and a mistake with a gun is NOT the same as falling off a skateboard.

[Farmland]

I have two girls and to be honest they never had an interest. That changed a few weeks back when they asked me what I was going to do with my guns. I never thought about it. I have a combined 51 of them. I said they could have them which lead into them wanting to learn how to shoot.

I really never taught anyone prior. But today I took my 24 year old for her first lesson. I'm lucky we shoot right at the farm. I brought out the Sig 380. The first half hour we just reviewed gun Safety along with learning how to safely handle the pistol unloaded.

It is amazing how everything comes back to properly teach some one. There is a large list to cover and practice prior to even loading round one. Way to much to go into details.

Long store short I started her out at 10 yards. We were in no rush. She put all 10 into a very nice group. Later we moves to 25 yards and as expect one hit in the target.

She now wants a protection permit (cc for our state)

I explained I would support this but she needed far more time to learn to make safety second nature and how to handle the weapon.

Now I suspect maturity has a lot to do with teaching and ha ING it stick. But for me all the safety procedures flowed naturally. Being able to transfer this knowledge was great.

IT is going to take more time for me to feel she is trained correctly but we have a good start.

Now what I did do prior was read up on how to train a new shooter first. I mean I know everything but it never hurts as the trainer to study to make sure you teach correctly

[Nathan]

My method has been developed around young ladies, but I think would work on young men too.

First watch them. There is an age where they are parent focused, can listen and can learn...with girls, there are like 3-5 of these in their 0-19 years

First, teach them about respecting guns, knives and other weapons...basically, the Eddie the Eagle type stuff.

Then show them basic safe handling and the 4 rules....for starters, make SURE you apply the 4 rules perfectly as they will model you. Really talk them through this with a triple checked unloaded gun in their hands

Next is controlled marksmanship. Get them to a range with a gun in their hand. You control the gun 100% at first and gradually ween yourself off of control.

Last is applied marksmanship or practical shooting. As their marksmanship and handling skills improve, practical handling skills can be built up. This is tough. People always want to jump to this, but lack the fundamentals!