My 4yr old finally pulled the trigger this weekend!

[CountryBoy]

Congrats!!!!

[agdave112]

I wanna know too, what is she shooting? I would love to take my son next season.

[qzilla]

OK here is some info about the rifle. She started shooting last year at 3. I have 3 rilfes I built for her. Two of them are 22lr and this one is a 223.

I took a contender (not a G2 and not an Encore) because of the frame size and weight. I have a 16" barrel and we threaded it for a special built muzzle brake. I use Defensive Edge in Idaho for all my rifle work and his brakes are simply the best available.

From there I measured her up and we cut down the wood stock to fit her. We then had to custom fit a Kick Eze butt pad and cut it down a lot because of how small the stock is where we cut it down.

That is only half the battle! I then spent several weeks making a custom load that has basically zero recoil. I DO NOT recommend you just copy exactly what I did unless you are fully aware of the consequences. I stuck 3 bullets in the barrel before I got it right.

I am using 6.5grs of Tightgroup (pistol powder) with a 55gr Ballistic tip.

When I was done me and my Dad fired the gun with the butt of it on our lips to make sure there was not any noticable recoil.

And the biggest ingredient, we shoot A LOT. It is not unusual for her to shoot 300rds of 22lr and 100 rds of 223 a week.

I have bought every single contender stock I can find so as she gets older we can keep increasing the LOP on the rifle. I will slowly step up velocity as she handles it well.

This load and barrel has a velocity of about 1600fps and the ballistic tip works well.

This last buck was a fluke, every other animal she has shot has fell within 50 yards.

On the 22's I recommend using a Ruger 10/22 instead of one of the Crickets or other rifles that have the firing pin you pull back because that will pinch their little fingers.

If you are uncomfortable with a semi-auto in your childs hands, just put 1 bullet in the magazine and it is now a single shot. That is how we started.

I started her off with subsonic 22lr ammo and obviously she shoots regular ammo now.

The last thing and probably the most important is hearing protection. She has never been around a firearm without her muffs on. I see lots of kids that flinch and jerk triggers because of sound, not recoil. Don't ever let them know it is even loud, use protection and they won't develop these bad habits.

Another thing we do is play a game where she never knows if I actually loaded a round into the chamber. I take the rifle and turn around. Then I shuffle around and I either load one or I don't and hand it to her. She then sets up, takes it off safety and squeezes the trigger. This lets me see for sure if her trigger squeeze is smooth or if she is jerking it.

Make sure when they are shooting you have fun. Don't just shoot targets, that gets boring. Set up all sorts of games for them and keep them interested and it will amaze you what they can do with some work. We probably spend 6-8 hours a week shooting year around. This time of year it is more and in the summer it is less (because we like to fish too!).

If you guys need any help getting little ones started let me know I will be glad to help where I can.

[Dusty Britches]

Kudos, qzilla - you started her right. Few people do that. I see pictures of 7 year olds shooting deer with 270 or 30-06s and I just know they are not shooting very well.

Congrats on the deer. 4 years old and 4 bucks is quite an accomplishment. I'll bet her friends all envy her.

[bearintex]

What are you doing for optics on those? I'm going to try and do basically the same thing with a H&R tri-barrel setup (22LR, 20G, 243). I was thinking of a simple red dot scope on the 22, and a low power (4X) on the 243.

[qzilla]

Right now we are shooting a red dot scope that is 0X.

I have a variable scope on one of her 22lr's that we are learning with.

There is just too much to go wrong with a regular scope in the real world for her right now. From proper eye relief, to fogging (you can move the red dot out far enough to avoid this), to parallax to mirage etc.

I just keep it simple and make sure we hide good enough to get her a shot under about 60 yards.

[bearintex]

Right now we are shooting a red dot scope that is 0X.

I have a variable scope on one of her 22lr's that we are learning with.

There is just too much to go wrong with a regular scope in the real world for her right now. From proper eye relief, to fogging (you can move the red dot out far enough to avoid this), to parallax to mirage etc.

I just keep it simple and make sure we hide good enough to get her a shot under about 60 yards.

Roger that. Thanks for the info. Ever worked up a light load like that for the 243?

[bonniemc]

Looks like the whole family did well...tell her congrats!

[Sancho]

Awsome story...

[Steady_Hand]

Good stuff, congrats to your daughter on a fine buck!

[Double L]

Congrats to your daughter. Bringing this little gal up right. My hats off to you Q.