5 and 7 year old shooting
 

hey, I'm thinking about getting my 5 year old daughter and 7 year old son behind the muzzleloader this summer. They haven't shot a gun before. I'm going to let them plink with the .22 first to get a feel for it.
I was wondering though because I don't know how they will react to the kick I'm thinking about starting off loading a 25 grain load of triple 7 FFFG (its what I have) with a 225 grain bullet. My question is, will 25 grains be enough or should I up it to 40 or 50 grains. I don't want the bullet to get stuck in the barrel and have a possible explosion or anything. I don't think that would happen but I don't know. I also don't want it to kick to where they will be scared of it.

My twins are 7 and have been shooting for a little more than 2 years now. Dad and I started them off with .22's like you mentioned to give them the basics with aiming, firearms handling, and trigger control. It wasn't long at all, a couple of weeks actually, that they were shooting my sisters .243. Now they shoot their own .7mm.08's that the old man built for them. They are a little big for their age. They actually look like a couple of 9 year old linebackers. If you own a .243, I would get them on that before a muzzleloader. If not, and a muzzleloader is all you have, then I would really suggest you load no less than 40 grains for safety. If it is an inline, then I am not really qualified as I know little about them. But I have been shooting sidelocks for quite a few years now and 25 grains, even T7 3f, would be, in my opinion anyway, a bit too lite to safely depend on.

25-30 grains of powder should shoot fine. Also instead of the 225 grain bullet I would start them out with a round ball and patch. With them low powder charges at closer range the accuracy should be good and there should be no recoil to worry about.

+10

Practice with a.22LR :sheep: