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My wife's EDC is a Kahr CW9. When she saw my XDS45, she asked if it was available in 9mm. When I said yes, her eyes started sparkling. I already know what's going to be under the tree for her for Christmas.

ATDM wrote:I went ahead and got him a Pac-Lite 22 LR - a fairly large .22 caliber, the size of a handgun and the weight he is used from shooting my Colt pellet guns. I agree, for his fist time the recoil from my XDm and XDs would be too much even with his 3 year experience with the large pellet handguns that are heavy, but have no recoil. Will see how it goes. I wanted to let him shoot a couple of rounds from my 9 mm at the end of the first time. What do you think? Should wait longer? He is a very sturdy kid, who works out daily and can do 18-20 pull-ups, 70 push-ups and 300 sit-ups - he has a build to manage it physically, but I don't know if the experience would be hard psychologically. Just wanted to know your opinion.
Thanks

That Pac-Lite is essentially a Ruger Mk III, and that's a good choice for a beginning handgun shooter. You've got nice taste.

When my son finally got around to shooting my handguns, he was probably about that age. He started off with a Colt Government .380, but he was used to shooting generally by then, and he had watched me shoot enough times to understand the drill and he was safety conscious and had good range etiquette. I would have started him on a .22 if I'd owned one at the time. Whenever I teach the NRA Basic Handgun class to somebody, I always start them with the 22/45 because it is a good choice for someone who is completely unfamiliar and perhaps a little bit afraid at first of shooting a pistol, and being a semiautomatic, it recoils more softly than my .22 revolver. With your son, it's not so much that he's afraid maybe, but that he needs to be learning good technique, and that is harder to do if you're being distracted by recoil.

ATDM wrote:

AndyC wrote:Ohhhhhh...... ok, I got one of those:

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Love the Colt! My second favorite after the Springfield. That's going to be my next gun to buy.

Do you think my 10-year old can handle the XDs easily enough for his first range shooting (other than our pellet pistols - which are exact Colt replicas, incidentally)?

I think that the XDm is too much for him, but the XDs should be easy enough...

What do you think?

Honestly, I think he would have a much easier time with the larger heavier pistol. Less recoil impulse to manage for a 10 year old. But the BEST thing to do is to buy a .22 like a Ruger 22/45 or MkIII......or the equivalent from some other manufacturer. If you start a 10 year old kid on a powerful caliber, he's going to develop a world-class flinch and hate going shooting with you. I started my son shooting at 6 years old with a youth-sized single shot .22 rifle. He's 6'2", 240 lb, and 23 years old now and his personal tastes in pistols tends toward custom built 1911s, but he still has that old .22. You can find one for him like a Cricket or something like it for $120 all day long. But I wouldn't start him off on a lightweight micro 9mm. He'll hate you for it.

ATDM wrote:Don't get me wrong. I love my full size Springfield XDm and consider it overall the best handgun, but during the Texas summer months, I had to get something smaller. After a thorough research, reviews and tries, I opted to go ahead and get the XDS - the greatest subcompact gun. It feels so right when you hold it and shoot it. I don't know how I have lived without it before!

Just wanted to share...

Aaaahhhh........very good, Paduan!

Regarding .40 S&W, Springfield is planning to release an XDS in this caliber, but it isn't out yet the last time I checked.

AndyC wrote:Ohhhhhh...... ok, I got one of those:

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Andy, I used to have that book. My wife threw it out, accidentally of course.