Who thinks a .40 subcompact is too much for a 9 year old?

[petyweestraw]

I plan on taking my 9 year old to shootsmart sat or sun morning. My plan is to rent a small .22 pistol for him to shoot. Hes shot .22 rifles before and he likes it alot. He asks about the sub and if he could try shooting it one day. Im not having a problem with it but i dont want to scare him off shooting either. so Im asking to see what the shooters here have to say about it and what your past experience on the subject is.

[krazy kris]

Its all based upon the kids experience but personally I think the .40 is a little to much for a 9 year old

edit has he ever shot a pistol. you said he shoots the .22 rifle but what about a handgun

[ThreeFingerPete]

Way too much. I know MANY adults who can't shoot well due to the snappy recoil. It will teach the kid bad habits that can last forever.

[Josh.0]

let him try it once and let him decide

[petyweestraw]

Its all based upon the kids experience but personally I think the .40 is a little to much for a 9 year old

edit has he ever shot a pistol. you said he shoots the .22 rifle but what about a handgun

No never a handgun. Yet

[petyweestraw]

let him try it once and let him decide

He will decide on his own. Gonna do the 22 handgun thing. Then after a few mags of that see if he wants to step up. I keep thinking he's a boy and the power will make his day but not gonna push him either.

[YALE]

No never a handgun. Yet

WTF, dude? Does he have to fold space/time into a wormhole to fire it in said wormhole?

[VaderTT]

He will decide on his own. Gonna do the 22 handgun thing. Then after a few mags of that see if he wants to step up. I keep thinking he's a boy and the power will make his day but not gonna push him either.

Buy mine for him.

[jakesford]

.40 in a sub can definitely be snappy. Maybe try a .38 revolver, that has a little mass to it.

Thinking back I was probably close to that age the first time I shot a 12ga...

[Mach1Run]

I would be hesitant to let my son shoot a 40. He is big for his age at 8, nearly as big as most 9 yr olds and I don't even let him shoot my xd9 for a couple of reasons. The main on is that it's too large for him to really wrap his fingers as securely around it. Wouldn't want it jump out of his hands.

I bought him a sig mosquito to learn to use a semi auto pistol. I don't even have to cock it for him so it's just about right when we go shoot.

[momo]

if you do decide to let him shoot, load 1 round only to see how it goes.

women and children have a bad tenancy to turn around to express human-like emotions and forget about pointing the pistol down range

[bottlerocket]

Most definitely too much for his first. IMHO I wouldnt do anything polymer or bigger than 9mm

[soap]

yeah. i still had a BB gun at 9

[Mopar63]

My kids were 11 and 13 when they first shot my .40 sub compact. Neither liked it at all, but both would shoot a 9mm sub compact or full size all day long.

[petyweestraw]

Talking to him he held it and said he'd try it but feels better if it was smaller. Said mine is cool but really wants his first gun to be a revolver. Said he thinks they are beautiful guns. I almost teared up hearing him talk like that lol. He may end up a wheel gun Guy. So Xmas is coming and his B-day is in January. Gonna be renting small caliber wheel guns to see what's the largest he can handle. Or just get a nice 22. Other than that what other size ammo is cheap and readily available?