[hunter44]

Well, my fifteen-yr old son is now ready for his first gun and I am not sure what I should get him, since I am also a novice. Should it be a rifle or a shotgun? If rifle, what kind, what caliber, blue or stainless. What length of barrel. Lots of questions but I know this is the right place to ask them. (BTW he has "worn out" a few bbs.)

[Quintin Likely]

First rifle for what purpose?

[itgoesboom]

A .22lr would probably be the best rifle for just about anyone to start with. You should learn the basics before you move up to a larger caliber. Plus it is cheap enough to practice with a lot.

I would say a Ruger 10/22 or a Marlin 60

I.G.B.

[hunter44]

A308Winchester,
It's for my son, a youngster, just graduating from shooting bb pellet guns.

[dakotasin]

the intended use will dictate the type of gun to graduate to.

a 22 lr is much fun, cheap to buy, and cheap to shoot. while a ruger 10/22 is certainly one of the best out there, i think i would reccomend a bolt-action to learn on. the semi-auto of the ruger makes it too tempting for beginners to rapid-fire several clips and learn technique slowly.

a shotgun (12 ga. preferably) is certainly a useful device, but if no bird hunting in the future, perhaps it will gather a lot of dust.

centerfire is much more exciting than rimfire, but w/ no intended use, it is tough to reccomend one, though something in the 6-7 mm range is pretty universal and useful (243, 6mm, 6.5x55, 25-06, 257, 260, 270, 280, 7-08, ad nauseum...).

[CWL]

Probably a .22lr such as Ruger 10/22. Good starter/anytime rifle.

If you two are into father/son projects. Maybe a military surplus rifle like a Yugo K98 (from CDNN for $69.00). You two can refinish it or put on a new stock, trigger set, free-float it, etc. Lots of hours of project time you can do together to cheaply upgrade a good rifle.

Another cheap rifle good for plinking & deer is a basic SKS carbine.

[Kaylee]

Another vote for a .22lr bolt gun. Perfect for shot discipline with the real thing. Cheap, and no recoil to speak of to generate a flinch.

CZ 452 basic model still gets my vote for the best compromise of rifle and money. Start with irons, then maybe get him some glass down the road.

After he gets that down... an AR15 of course.
Every American kid needs to learn the AR15. :D

-K

[Art Eatman]

Another vote for a .22 rimfire as the Very First Real Gun. And, not the tube-magazine-fed type, just for safety's sake.

A bolt-action forces self-discipline. It obviates the thrill of bangety-bang-bang spray-and-pray.

After all the process of sight-picture and eye-finger coordination is second nature, which really only takes a relatively short time, then one is ready to move up in power.

Doesn't hurt to autopsy a squirrel or rabbit, after a hit with a hollow-point or a QuikShok bullet. "Real" hunting rifles are much, much worse in the case of "Oops!"

There's a learning process with guns, just as with school. You don't start out right off the bat by entering high school...

Art

[Tropical Z]

For bolt action-Savage Mark II in .22lr
For semi-Remington 597 in .22lr
For shotgun-Mossberg 500 in 12 gauge;)

[Quintin Likely]

Ditto on a .22 rimfire, if you or he wanted to start off with something centerfire, a .223 bolt gun would be good too.

[Dave R]

I strongly recommend a .22 bolt-action for a first rifle. NOT a semi-auto.

The reason? After a bolt-action rifle is fired, you have to go through several obvious steps to make it fire again.

With a semi, you just have to pull the trigger again.

Lots of accidents happen because "I didn't think it was loaded" or "I forgot it was loaded".

True, all guns are always loaded. But a semi is always ready to _fire_, unless you take steps to make it "un-ready" to fire.

A bolt gun is only ready to fire after several motions. And after it shoots, it requires more motions to shoot again.

So IMHO they are significantly safer for first-time shooters.

And I echo the fact that they reinfirce good marksmanship, because you can't get in the habit of "spray& pray".

Of course, everything I said about a bolt gun foes fo a lever action, too. And the "cool factor" of the lever action is higher...

[ReadyontheRight]

.22 lr in a bolt action. And preferably a lot of time spent target shooting and squirrel or rabbit hunting. Bull barrel if mostly target shooting and regular barrel if hunting.

If your son is going to shoot mostly for hunting, a good next gun would be a shotgun for upland birds, turkey, ducks, geese and even deer with slugs.

A .22 and a 12 or 20 gauge pump shotgun will fill most hunting type needs for $300 or so. Move into a Remington/Winchester bolt action later if he gets into rifle hunting.

If you're more into shooting than hunting, the idea brought up earlier of a military surplus rifle would be a great father/son project. What about getting two at the same time for ~$100 each and cleaning/tuning them up for shooting as a little competition?

Swiss K31s are very accurate shooters that are inexpensive now and will go up in the near future. Mosin Nagants with Russian surplus ammo or Mausers in 8mm will offer cheaper ammo. There are a lot of places to buy online and have it sent to a local FFL holder. Most military surplus rifles have difficult safeties, but you shouldn't learn to rely too much on the mechanical safety anyway.

Another option if you want to spend more and get a piece of American history is a pair of Springfield 1903A3s or M1 Garands from www.odcmp.com. I didn't get my Garand until well into my 30s (got one for Dad too), but getting one as a kid would have taught me a lot about history and shooting.

But get the .22 first.