[tlhelmer]

A friend of mine is interested in starting her child into shooting. He is 10 and could benefit from a shorter stock to build good markmanship skills.

I started my child off with a Rossi .22/.410 interchangeable bbl. I also looked at the chipmunks .22 caliber.

Are ther other options for her child?

Thanks in advance for your input.

[wanderinwalker]

The Marlin 15YN comes to mind really quick. This is the rifle I learned on (along with a target rifle that I cannot tell you the model of). For some beginners it might seem heavy, but I recall lifting it when I was 8 (and I am a runt), so a 10 year old shouldn't have a problem. HTH.

[Master Blaster]

I Just went through this decision for my 8 year old daughter and my 5 year old son.

The winner was the Savage cub It has a good peep sight on it and the size is JUST small enough (hint almost too big).

Take your son with and have him hold the rifles you are considering. We passed on the Marlins because they were simply too big, halfway between the cub and the full size .22lr rifles.

The trigger stinks on all of them.

The cricket is smaller than the cub still, but the striker was hard for me to cock. The cricket has a bolt that must be opened to load and a striker that must be pulled to cock after the bolt is closed, on the one I looked at at walmart, it took about 20 lbs of force to cock it.
Savage and Marlin cock when the bolt is opened.

I wanted to look at a CZ scout, which may be the best choice of all, but no one in my area stocks them.

Up till now my daughter has been shooting my super 14 thompson contender but I have to stand behind her and open it and cock it for her.

[Brian Williams]

Get a Savage MKII and cut the stock to fit, then later call savage and get another stock. The MKII is very accurate and you can get both 5 and 10 round mags.


Mark-II Rimfire Series
Model MARK II-GY Youth
Caliber .22 LR
Overall Length 37.75"
Barrel Length 19"
Weight 5 lbs.
Magazine Capacity 10 rounds
Stock Walnut finished hardwood stock.
Sights Adjustable notched rear sight, bead post front sight.
Rifling Rate of Twist 1 in 16"
Features Blued steel bolt action, free-floating and button-rifled barrel, with detachable magazine.
Suggested Retail $156.00

http://www.savagearms.com/images/rimfire/mark11g.jpg

[Master Blaster]

The problem with getting a full sized rifle and cutting it down, is the weight, and the distance from the pistol grip (hand grip section ) and the trigger, you may find that holding the grip the trigger finger is not long enough to reach the trigger.

I have seen a rifle that was cut down, in order to make the reach shorter for the trigger finger the owner had screwed a contoured piece of wood to the front of the pistol grip. The child's hand cant wrap around the grip all the way but the palm can rest on the extra piece of wood bringing the finger closer to the trigger.

Take your son and try the rifles before you buy.

[Brian Williams]

The Savage above is a Youth model....

[HarryB]

I purchased a Crickett for my daughter on her 8th birthday. She had no problems with the striker. I think having to load and then cock makes her be a little more patient and make each shot.

Its an accurate little rifle too. Hers is the synthetic stock with stainless and a peep site. Soon we'll mount a scope base for some optics.

[Steve Smith]

How about any of the ones here:

http://www.odcmp.com/Services/Rifles/caliber22.htm


They all come with match aperture sights and would be fine guns to start shooting formal Smallbore matches with. I'm sure your 10 year old wil grow faster than you think.

[mr_dove]

Here's a comprehensive list of rifles for kids. It even has weights and other important information.

http://www.ocshooters.com/Gen/kidshooting/youth_firearms.htm

http://www.ocshooters.com/Gen/kidshooting/kidshooting.html

[tlhelmer]

Thanks for your responses. I will relay the information to her.

[Mattkc]

I would go with the Rossi it's very light 3.5 pounds and my son's trigger isn't bad. My son is getting good at busting clays with the 410 when he moves up to a 20ga he will be deadly. Last week he popped his first tree rat. When he out grows it I'm getting a full size stock ($50) and it's going to be my walking through the woods gun.

[Sunray]

It depends on the size of the kid. Some 10 year olds are big yard apes, but I'd lean towards a 10/22. Take him to a gun store and let him try a few rifles for size. Same as you would for yourself.

[ojibweindian]

Some 10 year olds are big yard apes

That would be my son; he's 6 years old, is 4'7" and weighs 92lbs! His grandpa is 6'6" and two of his uncles are 6'5" and 6'3".

I'll be looking around for him in a few years, and will more than likely have to get him a full size .22.

His sister, who is 10, is several inches shorter and weighs 35 lbs less than him. I'll be looking to get her a .22 next summer, and will definitely be looking at the Henry youth .22.

[striker3]

Remington Nylon 66

You can still find these around for a decent price, and they are great shooters. I started shooting one when I was about 7 years old. I put a few thousand rounds through it and still have it to this day. Not the most accurate of .22s but a great learning rifle. Stock is on the shorter side and it is very light.

[Sarge]

are great little rifles that make fantastic training guns. Everything is right there in the open and you can stand over a young'un's shoulder and see everything that's being done in the loading process. The rear-loading action makes it easy to get your fingers in there if they need a little help, too. They are plenty accurate too, and this one has made many a 50-yard group well under an inch with 99-cent bargain-store ammo.

Another advantage of these is their straight stock, which does not discriminate against little hands when to comes to trigger reach. It also obviates the problem of cutting the stock and achieving zero results in that department; they just choke up on the gun wherever they need to, in order to reach the trigger.

Standing in the corner behind me is an old '72 Crackshot that I picked up in the early 1980's, and cut down for my oldest son when he was 6. It's probably had 10,000 round of .22 LR & Mini Caps through it, and is going on it's second firing pin. It has trained four other boys and girls from this household, and as they each outgrew it I'd buy it back from them to help finance their next firearm. When the next kid got ready to shoot, it'd come outta mothballs and go right back to work.

It may be the most expensive rifle in the house, as many times as I've paid for it. It is also most certainly the most valuable, because that little rifle bought so long ago has increased the registered, pro-gun votes from this household by 350% in the last 12 years! That's a pretty darned good investment by any standards.

The original recipient of this rifle turned 24 in May, and made me a Grandpa in August of this year. I dug the old Crackshot out and gave it back to him with instructions to put it back to work when my little Grandaughter is ready to start shooting. I'm going over it again because I expect it will have a lot of work yet to do in the next 25 years.

[stevelyn]

Henry Mini-bolt. Comes with Williams Fire Sights making the concept sight alignment and sight pictures easier to teach. They also make a youth lever gun based on a full sized model.


http://www.henryrepeatingarms.com/minibolt.cfm

[James Bondrock]

Only one mention in passing of the CZ452 Youth Rifle? This should be a perfect first gun for a kid. It is a bolt action with a five-round detachable magazine, but you can single load the magazine if you wish. It has excellent open sights and can also be scoped.

[Greg L]

A M/N M44, they have nice short stocks :what: . If he survives the first trip to the range he'll never look back :evil: . Actually my 11 year old and his best friend like nothing better than taking my M44 out and abusing their shoulders for an afternoon. Of course they both have been shooting for years and on top of that they are both wierd :D .

I would suggest a bolt action .22 over a semi auto for the first one. All the lifting of their head & messing with the bolt reinforces the idea of getting a good cheek weld with every shot. Also there is a much lower rate of fire so he won't be tempted to lean by spraying & praying.

I don't know if I would recomend a Chipmunk for a 10 year old. They are really tiny rifles (more for the 5-8 range). Also, with the shorter barrel the sight radius is much less so that it is a little harder to be accurate than with a full sized barrel.

Greg

[4v50 Gary]

Chipmunk or Savage falling block. Single shot will teach them to place their shots. Forget the Moisin Nagant M-44. Too brutal for a 10 year old and too brutal for me too (even the Mauser 98 kicks a lot - but I can handle a 1903A3 Springfield - go figure).

[Mannlicher]

Finest youth rifle I ever saw, was a Ruger International in .250 Savage.

[Selfdfenz]

CZ Scout.
It's a shooter.

S-

[clint1911a1]

A M/N M44, they have nice short stocks . If he survives the first trip to the range he'll never look back .

I can relate Greg L. The first rifle I ever shot was a big, burly M-1 Garand. I was about eight years old and my father said, "Son, it's time you learn to shoot a rifle." and then shoves an en-bloc clip into what seemed like a howitzer to a spindly little eight year old boy, and hands it to me. :eek:

[dadman]

youth 22 LR (http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48130)

youth model long guns (http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=50092&highlight=youth)

.22 rifle for beginning youngster (http://www.falfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=91366&highlight=youth)