this is going to sound crazy but, a few years ago i wanted my nephew to go on a youth deer hunt, he also did not care for the single shot 410 too much, one day the neigbors grandkids are over and the wanted to shoot a little, not wanting to miss the chance to get some kid hooked on something i consider very positive and better than any stupid hand-held game, i broke out a 10/22 a h&r single shot 410, and when one of the boys mentioned he'd like to shoot a deer rifle, i brought out the wifes rem model 7 in 260 rem, all 4 of my neighbors grandkids shot all 3 guns and it basically shamed my nephew into shooting it before you knew it they all decided it wasn't that bad, kinda cool for them, they would shoot it and go "oh man" rub the shoulder for a second and be ready to shoot again faster than i could load, these boys ranged in age from 8-14 and my nephew was 10. to me its like paintball, yea it hurts a little [:@] but the adrenaline is so high you hardly notice it. best of luck and like other mentioned don't make him shoot or he could turn away or develop some poor shooting habits