BB Guns are every kid’s requested toy. We have all seen movies where the kids are warned not to shoot out their eyes. BB Guns are “GUNS” and need to be monitored. These low powered, but dangerous guns are weapons and can cause injury.
BB Guns are the perfect Gun to teach safety. They only travel at 300 feet per second but at close range, they can cause injury. That’s why parents must set the ground rules.
RULES
Protective eyewear. Always wear shooting glasses.
Muzzle Control. Never point the gun in a dangerous direction. Barrel up and never sweep others. The barrel must always be pointed in a safe direction.
Aim small miss small. The more you understand how to aim, the better you will shoot. Practice, practice, practice. It will take thousands of shots to make that one perfect shot.
Never aim at pets, friends, or personal property. Targets are the best choice.
Watch what is behind the target. Know where the BB will end up.
Guns are handled unloaded. Before you receive the gun, say “Thank You!”
If you kill it, you need to eat it! I learned this lesson as a kid after bagging a bushel full of blackbirds. My Grandmother made me eat everyone for a week! I have never shot another black bird since.
Know where the Safety is and use it!
Untrained kids have accidents.
Becoming a Marksmen requires many trigger pulls. Identify the shooters’ dominant eye. There are many directions and YouTube videos to help with this task. Some people are ambidextrous, which means that they can shoot with either eye. Usually, a right-handed person is right-eyed dominant.
Sighting the gun means that a straight line from the shooters eye, through the back and front sights, and then too the target is required. Draw a picture so the shooter gets the point. We are visual learners and pictures make things more understandable.
BB Guns are great at Hunting Camp. You can set up a simple range and routinely have everyone practice their shooting skills. The guys that refuse need to proof they can be accurate with their shooting before they wound or miss a critter. You will also see which hunters understand and practice proper gun safety.
Kids can start shooting early but monitor them closely. Never allow them to shoot without adult supervision. Eye coordination is difficult for kids. Their brains are still developing, and they can’t close just one eye until they are aged 7 or older. The gun needs to fit the shooter. Smaller, shorter stocks may be required.
Try using a sandbag rest, shooting stick, or other support. Let the shooter practice one skill at a time. Accuracy ultimately comes down to hand and eye coordination. At shorter ranges if you mount the gun the same, and look at the target, that’s where the BB will go. Later you can toss cans or targets in the air and shoot moving targets.
Targets need to be interactive, hitting a can makes a noise. Shooting into the water makes a splash. Shooting a paper target makes a hole. This is instant gratification.
Patience is a learned skill, and BB Guns will help with this valuable lesson. No shooter hits a Bullseye with every shot. Start with the shooter maybe 10 yards from the target. Position a big piece of cardboard as the target. I had my grandson draw a bullseye with a sharpie pen. He made the target his own and the Bullseye became a giant flower.
Now the shooting begins. Follow up each shot. The shooter needs to find the hole and number it with the sharpie pen. This also reinforces some Math skills. Once they see where they are hitting, accuracy will improve.
Limit the length of the shooting sessions. I usually find 15 BB’s is enough. Allow the last 4 shots to be consecutive. Then score the damage. Usually this more rapid fire improves accuracy, and the session will end on a good note.
If you want to recover your BB’s, hang a sheet behind the target that makes a loose trough at the bottom. A spent BB will hit the sheet and fall into the trough below for reuse.
Instill a SAFE word. Practice reacting to “NO!!!” No means No and don’t shoot. You may not see a pet or person nearby or another safety issue. If they fail to react to this NO SHOOT safe word, the shooting session is over. We will try again later.
As a kid, I loved my Daisy BB gun. My Dad warned me that if I ever mishandled this weapon, he would wrap it around a tree. I believed him. This risk of losing my gun kept me following the limits and rules.
BB guns evolve into pellet rifles. The Crossman 760 is a great next level rifle. Whether your gun fires BB’s, pellets, or high-powered bullets, the rules stay the same. You need to grow into these faster and more lethal weapons. You can also explore handguns and archery. Avoid semi-automatic weapons at an early age. One shot and one hit are enough, not a spray of uncontrolled rounds.
My Dad allowed me to hunt with him for years. Eventually, I was allowed to carry my BB gun on the hunt. On one hunt, I shot at a flock of quail and bagged one. Later a few Bunnies made it into the game bag. This was when my dad took me to the gun shop and bought me my first Shotgun around age 16. This Ithaca Model 37 is still my favorite shotgun.
I know that some parents want to teach their kids to shoot early. They want to brag about how their child tagged a deer at age 8 or competes in shooting sports at age 9. The truth is that kids need maturity to understand and develop to become a safe and accurate shooter. Hunting is not for everyone. Exposing them to Blood Sports too early could ruin them. Injury is not an option. You are foolish to allow inexperienced shooters to do too much too fast.
Shooting is like swimming. Everyone needs to understand how to respect the water and weapons. Learn to swim and learn to shoot. At some point in your life, these lessons will be needed to save a life, maybe yours.
Once you pull the trigger, you can’t recall the bullet.
Montana Grant
