I see a lot of questions about kids and rifles, so I thought this might help someone. Right, wrong, or indifferent this is how I introduced my kids to shooting and ultimately them killing their first deer. I grew up shooting either bolt action or pump .22s and rifles. I didn’t own my first AR until my 30s probably. Just never been an automatic rifle fan and thru my own ignorance thought they weren’t as accurate as a bolt action gun. Anyway I digress. I have a really good friend who I think could build an AR from scratch blind folded. He loves my kids and talked me into a dedicated .22 AR platform to get them shooting. I liked the adjustable AR stock as they both had and still have a short LOP. We started on a BOG POD with the .22lr.



Once I got them comfortable with the .22 we moved to an AR10 supressed in 6.5 Juddmoor. Since the rifle looked similar to the .22 there was no hesitation from them to shoot it.

Again we started on the BOG POD.





I started them from my bow blinds so the distance was shorter and have a greater chance of them putting the shot where it needed to be. Both killed deer I think on their first sit 2 seasons ago.

My daughter hasn’t shown too much interest, but my son is eat up with it. We keep practicing to get him to the point I felt comfortable sitting in a rifle blind with him last season.



We put a lot of hours in last season, but he ended up with a decent cull.



After the season was over, I was done carrying a 12 pound AR with a BOG POD attached plus all the other stuff needed to keep a 7 year old comfortable and interested in a deer blind.

After some research and several discussions with friends, we built him a much lighter 6.5 Grendel. I also bought a lighter suppressor. I was able to find a complete donor rifle from a member here on THF. We changed the barrel out to a Faxon running Nosler 120gr BTs in a load another friend developed and has shown to shoot in other Grendels. We also changed the trigger to a CMC 2.5lb 3 gun.

Rifle:


First trip out to the range. Good enough for me!


My sons first 3 shots shooting off a front rest and rear bag. First time off anything other than a BOG POD and first with the gun.



Next time to the range, dad forgot the rest and bag. So, we used what we had and I taught him how to use his off hand on the butt stock to stabilize the gun.

Not great but not terrible for 3 shots. Definitely need more practice.



This past weekend I put the gun in the BOG for him for the first time at the lease to see how he would do. First two shots were better than several of our lease members. The third shot didn’t chamber correctly for some reason, and he got frustrated. I had to clear and rechamber the round for him on the final shot. Still minute of deer, but I’d like to have seen the 3 shot group if he hadn’t got frustrated with the gun.



I followed up with one shot to see if I could hit the white dot. Gun is a shooter!


Still got a lot of practice left before season, but hoping I can get him to a point where we don’t need the BOG and can start extending the distance. Everything so far has been at 100-125 yards.

Hope this helps someone with their kiddo!

Looking forward to seeing him absolutely stack up some animals over the next decade. Keep feeding him and he'll graduate to a bolt gun in no time, not that he needs one

Oh he will get a custom bolt gun in 7mm-08, but we aren't going down that road until the point where it doesn't need a lot of stock work to fit him. I want to be one and done when I get him one built.

How much quieter is the 6.5grendel? I am working myself through this exact debate. Have a 3 year old so a little behind you.

scot I don't know that there is any difference since both are suppressed. I will say my son likes the recoil of the Grendel better. In the BOG it doesn't have near the muzzle jump of the Juddmoor. I'm not a recoil sensitive shooter, so both don't recoil to me. However, he perceives the Grendel as being less; so he enjoys shooting it more. He never really asked to shoot the Juddmoor much, and I could see the hesitation as he shot it. Now he constantly asks me to go to the range to shoot "his" Grendel, so I consider that a HUGE win.

He has always liked mag dumping the .22!

I've been thinking about doing this same thing with 7.62 x 39. I've got a ton of it from when I bought my SKS years ago. Want to get a lightweight setup for the kids to get started. Hadn't thought of starting with a rest like that. Really smart. Thanks for the informative and helpful post

Welcome. The rest was a game changer. Both kids were not strong enough to hold the rifle themselves. So I either had to help them hold the rifle or come up with a solution like this. As you can see in the pics above you can tension the rest to where it will hold the rifle if they let go of it completely, but it is still not tight enough that they can't move the rifle side to side as well as up and down. Rest is also adjustable enough that an adult can use it. The only con I can think of with the BOG is the size and weight of it. It takes up a lot of space in a blind!

Thanks for sharing, good stuff!

I see you're at Arlington Sportsman's Club. Great club. Great pics of your kiddos, too.

That is awesome can’t wait to get my son into shooting. P_102 donated a single shot 22 with irons sights for him to learn on and I’ve already have him a 22 competition gun ready to go.

Thanks. Yes, he and I have had ASC almost to ourselves this summer in the afternoons. I've been a member for 20 years or so.

Son loves to shoot the falling plates!

Barney, how old is your boy? I started my boy on the 22 at 7 years old, and did almost the exact same thing that you did through the years, except I went with 300 BLK instead of 6.5 grendel. Now that he's 13, he really likes the BAR in .270. But Last time he shot a bolt in .308, he really wasn't too keen on it. The semi auto action REALLY soaks up a lot of recoil regardless of the caliber that you put in it. That, and he's still a tad recoil sensitive.

I learned on a 22 with a horrible trigger and it taught me trigger control and the necessity of pressing it consistently.

This is essentially how I started my son and daughter. We actually tried a 10/22, but quickly realized it was still too big for my small-framed kids. Straight to the AR platform we went, but in suppressed .223 instead of a .22LR. The platform fit their frames very well and the suppressor reduced recoil and noise, keeping their fear at bay. After comfortable with the .223, we bumped to suppressed 6.8 SPC-II for deer/hogs.

Work location and busyness slowed their shooting and hunting progression, but they each took their first deer at 11 years of age and each have their first bucks on their walls. I have a public land Booner on my wall, and nothing comes close to the joy and excitement you feel when your kids take their first deer! One proud papa here!

Congrat, Barney. Great job!

He is 8 now. I started him in the .22 @ 6 and he killed his first deer that year. We moved back to the tower blind last year at age 7, and he killed the deer in the picture I posted.

You mentioned your son being recoil sensitive. That’s exactly how I was when I was growing up. My dad didn’t know any better and turned me loose at 8 or 9 with a .270!! I vividly remember he and my BIL setting up a galvanized bucket of water about the size of deer vitals at 100 yard. I hit it, so they said good to go. I think I gritted my teeth every time I went to pull the trigger on that gun. Took me a while to not flinch when pulling the trigger on a rifle once I hit my teens. Primarily the reason I started my kids like I did on the .22 then to the supressed Juddmoor.

Good point. I believe my buddy put a 2.5 or 3.5lb tigger in the .22 AR he built for me. You can ask my son right now about trigger pull. He and I are always talking about that and to squeeze not pull/slap the trigger so it doesn’t torque the gun. The Buckmark he’s shooting above on the falling plates has a heavy trigger. I could see him torquing the gun and the dirt splash behind the plates when he would do it. I think shooting the pistol will definitely make him a better rifle shot.

Solved

3 1/2" of LOP adjustment

I kid, but it has been fun watching him grow and being a part of his progress

Still cracks me up when I look at his eyes when he's on the rifle

My grandsons killed their first pigs using a 6.8 with a Bog Pog death grip. I felt the 6.8 AR platform suppressed was the best option. The adjustable stock, soft recoil, steady rest and reduced noise worked great.

Yessir! I'm right there with ya...

I have a REM 222 that I started the grandkids on. Grandson killed his first buck at 8 years old. Just heard from my Granddaughter in the USN. She’s stationed in Japan. She told me to dust off the triple deuce and make some ammo cause she’s coming home for a deer hunt with me. Hope she makes it. Things are kinda dicey in that world with things that she can’t talk about.

Very nice. That’s what it’s all about!