The boys were 4 and my daughter was six when they started shooting the Chipmunk 22. They were each maybe a year younger when they started with a BB gun. At about 8 they started shooting the Ithaca M49. When the oldest son was 8 or 9 he shot a lot of light 357 loads and full bore 7mm TCU out of the 14" Contender. My daughter is now 41, oldest son is 38, and youngest son 35. We had some great times shooting while they were growing up. We live in the country and during summer vacation while they were in High School I bought them cases of 5K 22 long rifle which would last them about a month if I was lucky. They were using my Remington nylon 66 then. Guys, you can't imagine how I long for those great days. When they do get home we still like to shoot if we can find the time.