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Kids and ar15s

coopsdaddy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2022
Messages
111
Location
oklahoma
Wanting to teach my daughter how to shoot a larger rifle.Problem is she's left handed.
Any issues,tips on having her use one of my ar15s.
 
I don't know her skillset at all, but I'm not sure what shooting an AR will do to help with shooting a larger rifle. The ergos are completely different and the recoil is even more different. It's not bad by any means...getting used to the noise etc is always a benefit.
I guess for me, shooting the way most of us learned seems to be the right way. Start with a pellet gun, go to a rimfire, progress to a 223 or .243 or other smaller cartridge etc.
Steps. Progressive steps.
 
If you have a slick side upper it might be a problem, but as long as you have a brass deflector it'll be fine. Don't have her shoot suppressed, it'll blow extra gas in her face and be an unpleasant experience for her.

Good to know that.
Thanks
Couple things. If you have suppressed ARs get an adjustable gas block. And use eye pro every time. A properly tuned AR with a suppressor is just fine. Between the adjustable gas block being tuned down and the eye pro the gas issue can be mitigated. My daughter prefers ARs. She's 10 now but been shooting my AR since she was about 6. She has two barrels now. One in 6 ARC and one in 5.56. While there is a difference kids adjust quickly. And these days ARs and various cartridges and bullets are excellent hunting rifles for up to deer and hogs. .300BLK is another good hunting round. Basically a modern day .30-30. Both my kids refuse to shoot unsupressed at this point.

On another note I started both my kids at 6 with a savage rascal .22lr. One went the AR route. One went down the road of a single shot break action. Neither one cares for bolt guns much.
 
Couple things. If you have suppressed ARs get an adjustable gas block. And use eye pro every time. A properly tuned AR with a suppressor is just fine. Between the adjustable gas block being tuned down and the eye pro the gas issue can be mitigated. My daughter prefers ARs. She's 10 now but been shooting my AR since she was about 6. She has two barrels now. One in 6 ARC and one in 5.56. While there is a difference kids adjust quickly. And these days ARs and various cartridges and bullets are excellent hunting rifles for up to deer and hogs. .300BLK is another good hunting round. Basically a modern day .30-30. Both my kids refuse to shoot unsupressed at this point.

On another note I started both my kids at 6 with a savage rascal .22lr. One went the AR route. One went down the road of a single shot break action. Neither one cares for bolt guns much.
An adjustable gas block helps, but it doesn't eliminate the issue. Same with eye protection.

My dad's a lefty. His ARs are all left handed and have AGBs tuned down as far as possible, borderline under gassed. They're unpleasant for me as a righty to shoot suppressed. It's not unbearable, but it stings and I could absolutely see it turning a kid off shooting. A flow through can might eliminate the problem. The open ejection port blowing gas in your face is a totally different animal than a gassy AR that leaks a bit of gas.

A suppressed lefty upper would probably be best, but that's not financially viable for everyone.
 
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An adjustable gas block helps, but it doesn't eliminate the issue. Same with eye protection.

My dad's a lefty. His ARs are all left handed and have AGBs tuned down as far as possible, borderline under gassed. They're unpleasant to shoot suppressed. It's not unbearable, but it stings and I could absolutely see it turning a kid off shooting. A flow through can might eliminate the problem.

A suppressed lefty upper would probably be best, but that's not financially viable for everyone.
Ya I'm not sure about the lefty thing. But I'd guess you can offer better insight than me there since I have no lefty experience.
 
My older son shoots lefty and we built him an AR in 6mm ARC and he loves it, non-issue at all.
 
I'm ambidextrous, but mainly shoot left-handed especially on anything with a buttstock. Shooting out the right door of a hilo left-handed has 1 draw back......deflecting of brass. bounces off the back of the cockpit and into my collar then down my back. Get a brass catcher and the brass will stay out of her face. You could get a left-handed upper and use the same lower. I'm not sure if you can just change the bolt and still use the same carrier to save money? Nice thing is uppers are fairly low cost and am able to change cartridges for higher powered 1's.
https://www.deltateamtactical.com/rockeye-v2-556-nato-upper-build-kit.html

https://www.wingtactical.com/blog/a-guide-to-lefthanded-ar15s/

https://www.stagarms.com/products/s...st_order=price&rifle_ejection_orientation=910

https://www.stagarms.com/products/s...st_order=price&rifle_ejection_orientation=910

https://www.stagarms.com/products/s...st_order=price&rifle_ejection_orientation=910
 
Definitely good points,I was just wanting to get her started before making the investment of a left hand rifle.
A cheaper blot action is definitely on the list.
Personally, I think you're onto something with the cheaper bolt actions to begin with. Savage and Ruger both make fairly inexpensive models and most of them I have seen shoot remarkably well. Folks around here are getting some amazing groups out of the Ruger American. The progressive plan is excellent advice, 22lr will be much more fun than anything with recoil. My heavy Remington 700 was a bit too much for some of my smaller grandkids even though it's a .243.
 
It really depends on the size of your child. I use collapsible AR stocks because my 10-year-old weighs 55 pounds and my five-year-old is 54 pounds. They both shoot them extremely well, but neither one can shoot a regular rifle because of the length of pull is just too long. When my 10-year-old was five, he was about 35 pounds and still able to shoot with the AR style stocks. It's a **** shame no rifle maker makes a legit hunting rifle with a collapsible stock for children.
 
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