best gun for when my son turns eight or nine?

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dom1104

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Heh.

So I want to get my first son who is about to turn 1 year old a gun, to give him when he is older. like, 8 or 9.

Something 22.

I have a customized ruger 10/22 so a stock 10/22 that we could customize together is what instantly comes to mind.

I hesitate on getting him a mark II or other 22lr pistol, just due to the fact I think it might be more dangerous than a rifle would be for a youngster. Easier to point at your leg, sweep your dad etc. :) Am I thinking straight about this? also, those pistols seem heavyish to me, maybe not the best for a small kid?

I guess the only question I have is, am I missing a more obvious choice?

ar15 in 22?
 
Agree

long gun is more apprpriate. What about a single shot? Easier manual of arms and easier to see chamber is clear.
Good idea overall though.
 
Nothing wrong with the 10/22, bought one for my kid, and I ended up keeping it. :D

Seriously, why not a bb gun for now in the back yard? My kiddo has been using one for a few months now, and she's 2. I hold the gun, and she aims and shoots it, and no joke she's getting cans.
 
A rifle is best, especially since it can be shot from a rest position. And yes, 22LR is a good chambering. A single shot or bolt action has the simplest manual-of-arms, and would be my choice.

My middle son's first gun is already purchased - an H&R/NEF combo with 22LR, 7mm08, and 20ga barrels. As he grows, it's easy to swap the youth buttstock for a longer one....
 
My first gun was a single shot .410 when I was seven and a .22 Winchester bolt single shot not long after. Couldn't go wrong with either. 10/22 is a fine fire arm, no doubt, but I don't know about an auto for a youngster just starting out. Just my opinion.
 
I'll vote for the bolt-action, save the semiauto for the second one.

Look at the Marlin 15Y--that's their youth gun, or was. I see it is now called the 915Y / 915YS (stainless).

Here is the online link to its specs.

Can be set up for single shot or have a magazine. I put Lyman peeps on the one for my daughters, too--for marksmanship-type shooting. If you need to, you can even cut down the stock some more. (A quick Google shows ready availability of surplus / more stocks)

Jim H.
 
Single-shot or repeater bolt action "Youth" size .22 rifle.
Ruger Single-Six or Bearcat .22 revolver.

Both require conscious effort to load and fire more then one shot at a time.

Young kids are too spastic & excitable for semi-auto starter guns!!

I taught Kansas Hunter Safety for years, and have seen more then one rifle muzzle following a shot while teaching excitable youngsters to shoot a .22 rifles. They can be jumping up and down after a successful shot and whirl around while pointing the empty rifle at you before you can react.
Heaven forbid it was a 10/22 semi-auto with a round in the chamber & the safety off!

rc
 
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ok I get it. Rcmodels experiance is definatly greater than my own.

I will definatly go down the bolt action route.

I wonder if CZ makes a youth model.

I am really liking the marlin!

thanks for the help guys.
 
I’d give him a BB gun first. With that he has much less of a chance of hurting someone when he makes a mistake. And, he will make a mistake or two. You can still take him to a range with a 22 to teach him proper safety. But, any unsupervised access should be limited to a BB gun for a year or two at least.
 
Single-shot or repeater bolt action "Youth" size .22 rifle.
Ruger Single-Six or Bearcat .22 revolver.
Click to expand...

Agree.

Both the Marlin single shot and Ruger single six that I learned how to shoot with are still in the family and still being used by the next generation to learn how to shoot.
 
Started both my boys with BB guns, now I'm at the point where buying two of every long gun grows more and more likely everyday.



Kris
 
A Henry youth rifle would be a nice starter. They look good, and shoot well. It's also not a single-shot...so there will be less dropped rounds.

I know when I was about 10 years old and shot my dad's contender pistol he chambered in .22lr for me, I kept dropping cartridges. Eventually I just asked him if I could shoot my Red Ryder instead. It irritated the heck out of him...but the thing was: it drives me nuts to have to reload after every single freaking shot at the range. Hunting I actually prefer single-shot...but at the range I like repeating arms.
 
Started mine with a 10/22 only loaded one round at a time. When they were a little more responsible I got a Single-six for my son and a Bearcat for my daughter. Both started shooting at five and six years old and are the safest shooters out there on the firing line.
 
that CZ-452 looks super for a Youth Gun

And here's one other observation, to add to RC's observations. (I, too, have instructed; at a youth camp, for 10-14 yr.olds.)

Although my father and adult cousin taught me to shoot a .22 when I was five, they used a cut-down 61--i.e., a pump. The action was difficult for a child to chamber a round, because of the small access--and I was not allowed to fill the tube. I continued to shoot that pump--and a later Remington, from my stepfather--up through about age 11--and in the marksmanship training I got, always shot it as a single shot. It was a PITA.

The Marlin 15Y has a very open receiver--more so than the adult version--that deals with this access and dexterity problem. The shooter can literally just lay a round on the magazine follower (or on the mag block) and close the action to slide the round in.

Perhaps the CZ452 does too. Of the two, I suspect the CZ is a 'better-made' rifle; the Marlin I bought (twenty years ago) was just fine, however.

Jim H.
 
You can't go wrong with a Marlin,I regularly shoot a 30 year old Marlin .22 to this day. It holds 10 in the tube and it's easy to use and hits wherever you aim it.

No .410, I got one when I was 7 and it promptly put me on my ass, and I was no small 7 year old. Heck I took the "snake tamer" to the range yesterday,shot about 15 rounds and I have a nice big old raspberry on my shoulder as I type this.
 
Marlin model 60 was the norm when I turned 10 back in the day. Out of the box it is the all around best without needing modification.
 
The CZ 452 Scout is a great rifle. My son loves his.

I've been looking at .410's as a next step up but for some reason haven't been able to find the one that will jump off the rack and make me take it home. So I've ended up going another direction. .38 Specials in a .357 Marlin lever gun is looking like the winning move. So far I've only had him shoot it once but he really enjoyed it. I had him shoot a couple of .38's and then some .357's that I had loaded to .38 +P and he did great with both. The rifle is heavy enough that it soaks up the recoil but not so heavy that he has trouble holding it up.
 
I would reccomend a little Cricket .22. It's the perfect size for little arms and hands and incredibly simple for a child to start with.
 
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