Posted on 12/12/2012 5:38:05 PM PST by RightFighter
I'm looking for a recommendation for a gun for my son for Christmas. Just to lay out the basics - he just turned 15 and is about 6'3" and weighs 235. Yes, he plays high school football. His mother and I have been divorced for many years, and she absolutely forbids him to have anything to do with guns in or near her home. His cousin recently received a .22 pistol, and my son's mom wouldn't let him hold it. I don't know whether she knows (but I assume she does) that he has shot my HK .40 USP along with some rifles at a friend's house a few times.
I think it's important that he learn to respect guns and use them properly, so I'm considering getting something for him for Christmas.
So, the first question - should I start him out with a .22? I have looked at several possibilities. One is a Smith & Wesson M&P .22 pistol, seen here:
It's supposed to be a 1:1 copy of their larger caliber pistols. I played with it a bit and it's a really smooth pistol. Feels very nice in the hand. The other one that I have been gravitating towards is a little more "fun," I think. It's an H&K .22 AR-15 clone. This one is really well built, with metal parts where you expect metal parts on a "real" AR-15. As you can see, it's got all the rails that one would need to feel like they were building a true AR-15, and one day if he decided he wanted one, he could just sell this gun and move to a true AR platform gun.
Or, should I just go ahead and spend a few hundred more and get a "real" AR-15 or a larger pistol for him? I figure with a .22, he can shoot as much ammo as he wants and it's not going to cost much.
Either one works for me. Good choices.
Go with a 22 rifle. 22’s are vastly under rated as guns. I started my son off with mine when he was 8 and he did just fine. I’d stay away from pistols.
I meant to say that if he sold this .22 AR-15 clone, he could keep all his accessories for the piccatinny rails and use them on a full AR-15.
Go with the AR-15 and get a .22LR conversion kits.
Can plink all day for a few dollars and can move up with the same platform.
I am not opposed in agreeing your son should know how to use and own a gun but in just three years he will be 18, there is no point is causing additional angst with your ex-wife which will effect your son (and other children).
Sorry, not sure its worth it, there are many other items you could get him.
You mean a real AR-15 with a conversion kit to shoot .22 ammo? I didn’t know there was such a thing.
Over-protective mothers are going to be death of manhood in America.
I love that .22 AR. Useful and fun!
Way to go, Dad!
Post #3 is good advice.
Most of us that grew up learning, knowing and using guns responsibly started on .22 rifle.
The semi-handgun can be fun to shoot but not good to learn with (IMO).
Talk to your son and send him through the local hunter safety program first, then select according to his interest.
Good choices as is a Ruger MK III. It’s a fairly traditional pistol but damned accurate for the dollar and very good quality
Get him a relic weapon like a Mosin-Nagant
I’d stay away from the pistola as well. My father bought me a Browning .22 lever action rifle. I love it. Does your boy have any interest in hunting? Maybe a shotgun?
I think they are easier to teach and learn the fundamentals of marksmanship. .22 ammo is cheap and you can get a whole lot more trigger time than you can get with a center fire. Starting with a bolt rifle and a SA revolver, he'll also learn the evolution of modern firearms, and the respective advantages and disadvantages of other weapons he tries and ultimately graduates to.
Again, JMHO.
You are being a jerk. His mother doesn’t want him to have one. It is one thing for you to take him to the range and let him shoot yours or theirs. You do not need to push her buttons by getting him one. When he is 18 he can get his own and meanwhile you need to respect her wishes and not push her buttons. No freakin wonder you are divorced. Your second sentence is “his mother and I have been divorced”... what is your problem? Get over yourself.
My honest opinion is to buy him reputable martial arts course rather than a gun — particularly a hand gun.
In the meantime, get a good plinking rifle and go out plinking with him. Take him to the range for pistol training. The time you spend with him will be more valuable than any gun you can buy — except for maybe a 50 caliber sniper rifle.
Why not start with a stainless steel, composite stock, bolt action .22 rifle. It will last a lifetime.
You are wrong dipsh8
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