Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

I want to purchase a nice .22 rifle for young/beginning shooters. My daughter is 11, and my son is 3 (he'll need to wait a couple of years).

What do you recommend? Do you have young shooters at home, and if so, what are they packin'?

I'm thinking of these possibilities:

Ruger 10/22
CZ 452
Rogue Rifle Chipmunk

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

in boy scouts they started us on bolt actions

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

When I was about 10 (girl) dad started me on a .22 ruger. I loved shooting immediately. When I grew up and moved out he gave me that very gun along with another larger caliber pistol.

My Dad has four daughters and when they leave home they leave able to protect themselves.

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

I believe in starting with a bolt action rather than auto because it tends to make people concentrate on each shot.

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

I have a Browning .22 semi-auto rifle.
Beautiful lil gun, and tons of fun for adults
and kids alike.

A friend was a Girl Scout troop leader.
This is the gun the girls liked and shot best.

Close supervision of kids required.
Start 'em out with one round at a time.
All too often kids excited by their first shot
will turn around to look at spectators.
Maybe that's a good reason to start them
out shooting from the prone position.

dtnwn

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

I bought my daughter a Savage Cub a few years back. What an excellent rifle! The Cub is a wonderful little single shot, bolt action that comes with a nice peep sight. Savage's are one the most accurate rifles out of the box. I looked the Chipmunk too, and I thought the Cub was way better made.

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

About that pink rifle. Here's a .22 Cricket in pink...

http://www.ocshooters.com/Gen/kidsho...-shooting.html

OK, my nephew got this rifle at the age of six. He was so proud when he shot his first rabbit with it!

He's 13 now. I was talking to him during last hunting season and he was a little disappointed.

He got his white tail buck (13 pointer no less), his turkey and his javelina. The reason he was depressed? He never even got a shot at his 'bobcat'.

He lives on a ranch in West Texas. They are currently experiencing a minor 'bobcat' explosion because they've had so much rain in the past couple of years. BOBCATS EVERYWHERE.

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

Eyeofliberty,
First of all, bless you for teaching your children to shoot safely. Also, thank you in advance for teaching them that firearms are tools and aren't "bad" - but people can be "bad". I vote for a .22 bolt action also. I like CZs (actually older Brnos), but I'm sure almost any youth-style bolt action will work well.
Take care,
Mod1

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

yeah, bolt action is what lee harvey oswald started on. i guess he proved that is the way to go.

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

Good call.

As a kid I had a great deal of fun with cork guns. You could use them inside the house, and they shot a harmless cork. Moved up to BB guns as I got older, bow and arrow in high school. Great fun.

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

22 cricket my 7 year old loves it and my 3.5 year old enjoys it to when i help
support it for him.cheap reliable and i consider it a good survival/hunting rifle
for me its light and can break down easy into a package that could be carried in a backpack.it also has a good child safety lock which actually requires a key to unlock.

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

Had an 9-year-old on a shortened Rem 700 in .243 today. He didn't flinch and managed to put several around the bull. He wanted to keep shooting.

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

ruger 10/22 or tha ar-7

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

Armalite makes a nice little survival rifle.

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

I bought a remington 597 a while back. Great gun for 150+ bucks. .22 LR. Great for the money. Nice plastic stock, solid barrel. It's a semi auto. The one thing I'd be concerned about with a child however is loading. After pressing round after round into the magazine, you will build up quite a bit of lead on your thumb. I could literally write with all the lead buildup on my thumb. With that said, I'd do the loading, and if she were to load I'd be on the lookout for how she would go about doing it. I must have put 200 rounds through the thing. And took breaks every 50 rds. The last thing you want is your child to bring that leaden thumb near her mouth or whatnot.

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

I think I've found the one I want to get:

http://www.henryrepeating.com/h005_minibolt.cfm

They also have a nice survival gun:

http://www.henryrepeating.com/h002_survival.cfm

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

The Henry mini-bolt is real nice for small kids, but for the price the Chipmunk is a better deal. In blued/synthetic I think Wal-mart has it for about $115. I'm getting this gun for my oldest daughter's 5th birthday on 12/6.

Your older child should have a regular size rifle - BOLT ACTION. Much safer. Get a single shot if possible. It will make your child learn to aim more carefully. I still have the Winchester single shot rifle (not carbine) I got for my 13th birthday. Dad took me ought and taught me how to plug a prairie dog hole with the prairie dog. At the time my dad was unemployed and we were homeless (moving around and living with family), and I think he scraped together $50 to buy this gun at a pawn shop. It is something I'll never part with. BTW... that Winchester rifle with open sites is twice as accurate as my 10/22 w/scope.

PS - I think both the Henry and Chipmunk have bolt locks. This is great just in case your little tyke wants to show it off to his/her friends.

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

Ruger 10/22 is my favorite. Started way back when on a Remington with a tube magazine. Then a Colt bolt action, single shot. But my favorite is still the Ruger. Great with, or without a scope. I finally put peep sights on it from Williams. Just a sweet little gun. Every now and then I shoot a squirrel in the back yard. My dog loves a little chew toy every now and then. Uhm, did I say squirrel? I really meant rabbit. He likes them too. He catches squirrels on his own. Actually, he catches rabbits too. Now when he's shootin' he likes the Ruger without the scope. Says his nose kinda gets in the way.

SB

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

I was confusing the Chipmunk with the Crickett. The Crickett has the integral safety lock. I think that was the cheapest little gun at Wal-Mart. I will probably go with that one in synthetic/blued so it will look like Daddy's Tikka T3 .30-06. Maybe even a small bipod and scope. :D I've been thinking about puting a red-dot scope on it because of the unlimited eye relief and lack of magnification/paralax.

Re: Best .22 rifle for young, beginning shooters?
 

I've had a 10/22 for longer than I can remember, but I didn't want to start my kids out with a semi-auto and scope.

About 23 years ago I bought a Marlin bolt action to teach my daughters with. It came with a scope but I didn't mount it.

I wanted them to understand open sites. I would draw about five versions of the front site through the rear site. One dead on center (vertical/horizontal). Another with the front site sticking way above the rear site, then one just the opposite, way below the rear site. Then one with the front site way to the right of the rear site and one all the way to the left.

I took them to our local range and shot indoors so we could bring their targets in at will (usually after each digestion of the 10 round clip). Then we would go over each shot placement one at a time. I would then ask which illustration depicts how your sites were aligned to have made this shot.

My oldest daughter got it right away. In fact, she turned out to be a natural. On one of our many camping trips (deep in the Sierra's where only Yellow Jackets and Rattle snakes live and various four legged predators). I set up a log (with a good back stop) and placed about five good sized fallen pine cones and some empty 12 ga. shells.

At the range the kids can't shoot pistols until they are 16. But when you're camping you are free to do as you please (of course by taking all safety precautions).

Any way, I handed her my .38 S&W Model 36 w/ a 1-7/8" barrel. This girl not only hit a pine cone with her first shot, she pick off a 12 ga. shell on her second shot! Like I said, she's a natural.

We were getting ready to get her into competition with the idea of getting her on the Olympic team.

Then something happened. You dad's of daughter's out there know all about this symptom, it's called ...boy's!

My younger daughter didn't take to it right away. I soon discovered that though she's right handed, she is left eye dominate.

Now a days, she'll call up and say "Hey Pop, my boyfriend and I want to go shootin' can I borrow your .357 and a 9mm". Of course I always say yes.

Now I'm teaching my grand children. My 14 year old granddaughter is even a better shot than her mom. She's also left eye dominate like her Auntie. So I taught her how to compensate for it. She really loves shooting and (like all of them), she knows that a gun is a tool and we don't play with tools. We also ALWAYS handle a firearm as if it is loaded even if you know it isn't and you NEVER point any gun at anything (anyone) that you are not willing to shoot. Simple rules, strong lessons.

My next granddaughter has to wait 6 mos. before I can take her to the range. But she's deffinately familiar with fire arms. She helps me break 'em down, clean and oil them. More important is that she asks the right questions.

My grandson, still has a few years to go. But he will be helping me break them down and maintain them until that time comes.

My youngest granddaughter just turned two and her little brother or sister will be here soon. They will both get their lessons like their mom and older siblings.

So, friends be responsible, teach your children well (and of course mom too). It is one legacy that i will leave them with and pray that they'll continue on by teaching their children and their children's children.

Maranatha,

:smile:

P.S. Sorry for the long examples. But I feel it's important to share it.