Who had guns as kids (under 18) and what kind?

Yeah a lot of shotguns (especially towards the larger shot) are that way, the worst 1 I had was a Greener 8 Gauge side by side that would nearly tear your arm off at the shoulder. I only ever fired both barrels at the same time once.

 

Funny, I remember painfully teaching myself about recoil when somewhere under age 10 when shooting my Da’s 16ga bolt action...it was a lot different than my .22 cal. Lots lessons in those days that proved I didn’t know better than the older folks giving me advice... an astounding wonder I am still here when I think back.
Just an aside, I have a young fellow I am beginning to train whose parents haven’t picked up the responsibility. A few weeks ago, on the drive when taking him to gun show as part of his preliminary safety/gun design training, he asked me, ‘when we finally go shooting, how bad is the kick going to hurt?’ to which I replied, ‘that’s going to be ultimately entirely up to you’.

 

Uhhh, no, nobody is going to stop the impulse onto ones shoulder, it is fast.
Being afraid of the recoil impulse makes the whole ordeal worse than if you let the recoil divide itself, a recoil pad helps spread out the force making it felt less.

 

BTW, both my girls are excellent shots, both trained from a very young age. When my elder girl went with me to visit a collector friend of mine, we had an opportunity to shoot one of his new aquisitions, a beautifully adorned original double H&H .500 or .577 NE (could have been a Rigby...don’t remember for sure). I was almost reluctant to shoot it, thinking in my terms of value for a gun worth as much as my home at the time. I remember my seeing my girl, 13 and maybe 85-90lb shoot it. It rocked her a bit, and she had a bit of a strange look after shooting, but she almost immediately exclaimed; ‘that was fun! Can I have another go?’. Later she asked me how much one cost and when I told her, she got quiet for a long while with a look I interpreted as being disapointed...her Da wasn’t going to get her one. She still talks about it, or I should say, brags on it to her LE husband.

 

Half the kids in my class took the same hunter's safety class as me, when I was 12. Four of us also worked the trap range at the local gun club, sometime, depending on the results we'd be invited to shoot a few pigeons for our hard work. That was normal, and it wasn't even THAT long ago. Aside from that I had my own BB gun when I was 12, but I didn't own my own firearm until I was 14-15, and that was a 20 gauge pump action shotgun. Everyone I knew had guns in their homes, the difference appears to be that we respected the firearms, respected our parents and their teachings, and weren't murderous dirtbags, but that might have been the water or something...

 

When I was being raised, education was something parents played an intregal roll rather than leaving that responsibility to the government. But then, most parents I knew weren’t terrified of guns.

 

Standing straight up helps a lot.

 

All I can tell anyone is of my experiences shooting spanning from my short pants days, and I was naught but a nipper.

And if I feared recoil, I was rewarded a smashing blow to my tender shoulder, I was only 10, Yet if I hugged into it, the felt recoil was much less felt, and remember, the Rifles of old were not designed for tender young lads as I, they were made to be carried by Army Mules, heavy, and kicked like an Army Mule too.

 

Shooting behind a bench really increases felt recoil. Standing up attenuates recoil as the shoulder is not fixed.

 

I never shot off benches in any case.

 

I got a single shot Ithaca M66 in 410 at age 8 I hunted and killed varmints and game animals with for years. I got to use a 22 at age 12 and got my Grandpa's 16 gauge Model 11 at 14. Got my 870 in 12 gauge at 16. Bought my 760 in 30-06 and my Marlin 60 at 18.