What's a good gun/rifle for a kid?

[lindertw]

My daughter became my shooting partner when she turned seven, and all I had at the time was a Ruger MKIII 22/45 (which fit her small hands perfectly).

For Christmas that year I got her a 10/22, installed a set of tech sights (similar to AR15 irons), and had a custom stock made to fit her by a gentleman on rimfirecentral. She's worked very hard over the last year and a half, and is progressing well - best of all she loves to shoot.

Enjoy the range time with your son!





be sure to check into the NRA and NSSF youth shooting programs

[LOKNLOD]

I'm a proponent of the 10/22 as well. There's nothing to prevent single loading the mags initially to emphasize precision and safety, but the 10/22 will be enjoyable as he gets older.

I think every kid ought to be issued a 10/22 and MkIII when they leave the hospital at birth

[larry0071]

My son shoots a Ruger 10/22. What I personally like about it, and it has been mentioned at least twice before.... is that with a Ruger 10/22 as the boy grows he will find that his trusty Ruger is like the AR-15.... it is barbydoll for men! The Ruger can be made into AR style rifles, machine gun looking double barrel monsters, pistol type things.... there is so much weird stuff and neat stuff for the 10/22 that you could own 100 of them and have each one dressed up different.

It also can be done as a high quality match rifle.

My son dropped a groundhog that was setting under my truck with one shot at 60 yards. My truck was out at the end of my driveway and he leaned against the garage pillar and fired one round and the groundhog took a head shot and just slumped. Groundhog, meet my boy and his 10/22.... groundhog, meet the lord.

[Outlander Systems]

My first heater was a Savage 22/20 over-and-under when I was 10. I was fortunate enough to have ~100 acres to stroll and shoot on.

I personally don't think a handgun is a good idea for a kid, unless there's constant adult supervision. The risk of an accident seems to high. YMMV.

[d90king]

I started at 13 in military school with a Garand (and doing push ups with one) I was also taught pistols with a 1911 Service Model ACE in .22LR. It was a great pistol to learn on because the pistol is designed to give a little more felt recoil than a traditional .22. It also fit my hand at a young age and made transitioning to a higher caliber seamless.

I have two daughters 9 and 11 (going on 21) who are both getting Crickets for Christmas (they will be less than thrilled that it's not in a blue box from Tiffany)... Both of my daughters have been taught firearms safety since they were 7 and have helped with cleaning and assembly. They are never thrilled with it but do it to keep dad happy (as a single dad we are very close so they try and act interested)...

For a boy the Marlin rifle linked looks great for your purpose. Best of luck with your purchase.

My shooting as a kid has stayed with me and is why I had to buy one of these as a result of my first pistol shooting and why I still have a passion for 1911's (not counting when I snuck out my dads revolver)....

[eagle359]

Please take a look at the CZ 452 Scout. It is a REAL rifle that has a short LOP for smaller/younger shooters. It has a single shot adapter that can be replaced with a 5 or 10 round mag when you "trust" the shooter with more ammo. My wife is small and this is here favorite .22. Some of the other small .22s are little more than toys-the CZ action is the same as on the larger .22s.

[tracker722]

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[apb2772]

When I first started Shooting (at 4 years old) my father started me out with a "Chipmunk" .22LR ( http://www.gunblast.com/Chipmunk.htm ).

That said your young shooters might be a bit more grown and the Chipmunk would probably be a bit on the small side for them.

If you have checked out the Crickets and noticed that they are just so so, well they are just that so, so... They are not the most high quality little rifles out there. I have seen plenty of them broken, especially the bolts (rear portion). They are a good trainer but defiantly not an Heirloom.

A couple years ago I bought a friend and his wife and son one of these as part of their surprise 3 rifle wedding gift.

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firear...ion22/915y.asp

It isn't too small and it isn't full sized either. Their little one is just starting to shoot now and loves it.

As far as lever guns go I wouldn't recommend them for a "First" rifle. The reason being is that to unload them the action has to either be worked repeatedly, or the magazine tube must be slipped out - from the muzzle end, and the shells dumped out. In my opinion it is a bit complicated (for beginners), messy and risks repeated muzzle exposure while loading and unloading (for beginners). In general tube fed guns are great I really like them, but I prefer to train kids on a bolt gun/single shot/magazine fed .22 first and then branch off from there once they have their safe handling skills down pat.

The CZ's are really nice, and they come with a single shot adapter also.

( http://cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-452-scout/ )

Also available in pink ->

( http://cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-452-pink-scout/ )

As far as 10/22s go they are great, and you have the option of both single loading them and adding optics. They are like Play Dough or Legos you can shape them any which way you want..

Good luck!

--->APB

[SteyrAUG]

Outstanding job.

More kids are turned off by shooting because somebody handed them an adult gun than anything else. Either they are too cheap to buy the kids a dedicated youth firearm or they are trying to impress themselves with how cool their kid is because they can shoot a mans gun.

Kids do not enjoy lugging big heavy boat anchors around and they can't manage them in a manner that promotes firearm safety. They also don't enjoy massive recoil and significant muzzle blast.

Getting your kid a gun that fits them, that they can shoot comfortably will let them become good at shooting and that is what makes them want to shoot. So many parents just aren't willing to do that.

[RancidSumo]

I'll second the recommendation for the CZ 452. I have one in 22 WMR with a full stock and it is all I could ever ask for in a rimfire. At 25yds prone it easily keeps them all under a dime every time. Depending on the rounds you can do anything from take small game for food to blow them up with CCI TNTs like I do to prairie dogs. If need be, you can get the scout model which is smaller and comes with a single shot adapter.