What kind of gun?

I was given one of these by my dad, I still have it. My 10 year old has one also. They last forever and are one of the classics in my way of thinking.

I started shooting it at maybe age 5, propped up on sandbags.

Just a really beautiful, well made firearm and a joy to shoot. This is one that he'll keep no matter what.
It's the first thing I'll grab if the house is on fire, besides the wife and kid

If you want to go truly classy, they make a higher grade with more engraving and gold inlay.
The shooter grade pictured here lists at $546, I bought my son's at Alpine for just under $500.
The high grade is around $1000 IIRC.

If you want to try one out let me know and I'll bring one of mine out sometime. I need to shoot it.

Browning Semi-Auto .22

My son is 8 and loves to shoot his .22LR rifle. However, it is single shot so it gets boring fast. We just went out and shot my .22LR pistol (Walther P22) and he had the biggest grin on his face. He was hesitant at first, but after his first shot, he looked at me and said "that was fun." I am looking at getting him a Browning .22LR lever rifle to he can have more rounds to shoot. I say get him both, but stick with .22LR for now, since it is easy and low recoil so he can get excited about it. No sense scaring him and then having him not want to shoot guns after that.

Always good to plan ahead, right? I bought a Ruger bearcat to train the #1 son on (8yr old). It's small size is perfect for small hands, and single action is much safer for inexperienced shooters. Now, I have to look at getting one for my daughter (2 yr old). Will probably go with stainless for that one. Long guns are hard to fit until young'uns are @ 8-9 yrs old. Got mine a Rossi "matched pair" youth gun in .22 and .410 for his 9th b-day, and it still looks a little big on him. Just get 'em involved at the earliest age, and instill "safety, safety, safety", and you'll always have a lifelong shooting buddy.

Best,
Mike

I had a Marlin 80C .22 my father gave to me when I was 13 years old. I gave it to my granddaughter last Christmas. I now teach the follow on grandkids with a Henry .22 lever action.

I just acquired a Ruger .22/45 to use as a first pistol for the new shooters in the family.

As a side story, my 46 year old daughter just decided that she needs to know how to shoot. She just realized the local police department can't be there when she needs them, and house burglary/security systems don't cut it. She enjoyed shooting the S&W Model 19 2". The Colt Combat Commander in 9mm was just a little bit intimidating to her.

Pilgrim

First off, Congratulations!!!

On picking out a gun, I would think that a .22 semi auto rifle would be great.
For our daughter, I am buying her a Crickett (pink of course!). And we are looking for a good deal on an anniversery edition Ruger 10/22. We aren't in a huge hurry. She just turned 1 on Dec. 22,2005. So we still have a couple of years.

Good Examples

I have three daughters and this is what I did: when past the toddler stage 4-5, the first gift along those lines was a repeating rubber band gun. It was used to teach safe handling, responsible use, and how much fun it is to hit your target. They made little paper knock-down targets like miniature silhouettes, and used stuffed animals for "big game" hunting. (Wouldn't that give the PETA folks nightmares!) The older two were introduced to my 10/22 as soon as they were physically big enough to manage it (7-8), The eldest shot a match or two, more, I think, to see what it was all about and to spend some time with me than out of any great interest on her part, but still she listened carefully and learned. (A shame as she's a natural!) The middle one wanted only to learn the fundamentals of shooting and to know enough about different actions to be safe with them and able to use them in need, but she is not really interested in guns as recreation. I love them anyway and that's good enough for us. The youngest starts this spring.
They have all followed me around in the woods during deer and bird season - once or twice was enough for the older two, but the youngest can't get seem to get enough of it and takes it personally if I don't bring her along whenever I head out. Positive exposure to YOU acting safely and responsibly with firearms will instill the proper attitudes in your kids.
Not all kids are going to enjoy shooting, (or hunting) and that has to be respected - they are people, not extensions of your personality, love them and accept them for who they really are, not for what you would wish to make them be. That said, I think everyone needs to learn, like my middle daughter, at least the basics of safe handling and operation of the common action types. To my way of thinking, this is a basic survival skill, like swimming, cooking, street crossing, being wary of strangers, not eating D-con, staying out of biker bars, etc., that all kids have to learn.

Congratulations! My son was born in September, and I'm planning on getting a Cricket for him and putting it away for when he's big enough. Of course, his big sister wil give me heck if I don't get her one first.

As for "Price isn't a major concern, but I don't see the point in giving a kid a priceless gun", whatever gun you give him will be priceless to him. I only have one of my dad's guns (the rest were stolen just before he died), but I wouldn't take a million bucks for it. And it's an Iver Johnson break-action .38 revolver with about half the nickel plating gone and so much play in the cylinder that firing it would be a majorly bad idea.

I have a grand-daughter turning three, and another due in June. I plan to special order a couple of CZ427 Scouts from Wal Mart for them -- kid-sized and quality in the same package. (Although I do like the Browning automatic.)

CZ 452 Lux.

Stiletto Null said:

CZ 452 Lux.

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Never could keep them numbers straight. Dang furreners! How come they can't speak English like everyone else?

I say....

10/22 - Yeah, it will be around and very serviceable in many years, I believe. These guns have a lot of cool toys that "can" go along with them like your everpopular RoboGun(tm). With that in mind, as he ages, he can modify it to suit his shooting style and wants and hopefully use it in some competitions. It will teach basic long gun skills and of course be cheap to shoot. If we ever get to the point where the gun grabbers are after our .22's, you will have left the country anyway.

22/45 - Yeah, it will be around and very serviceable in many years, I believe. For the obvious reasons the 22/45 is a good gun, it functions like a good ole 1911. He can train on it, for cheap. It will help develop good skills with a handgun in an easy to manage form. Its got a few accessories to help make it all his own.

Both of these guns can of course be found just about anywhere and they are not expensive as you already know. Parts/accessories are easy to get your hands on too.

I say...buy both!

Good Luck and congrats my brother!

There were 2 .22's that immediately popped in my head when I first read this thread.

1) .22 Henry Lever action rifle

2) CZ 452 Lux.


The Henry can be used in the beginning, and work his way up to a 452, or a trainer model which is slightly shorter than the full size.

Those two would be great for him.

Also, get him a pistol also. Every person needs 2 types of .22's (and i dont mean actions, nor the two i just listed. ). The first is of course the rifle. Preferrably not in semi-auto so he has to take his time for each shot. The second is a handgun version of a .22. Either an older S&W Revolver or a Ruger MKII.

btw, Congrats on the kid!

TB,

Congrats on your soon to be new one.

As for as what gun. Obviously, a Barret 50BMG for the little tyke...


Seriously, I'd go with a the .22 Cricket, good starter gun, then move on from there.

For my (now twelve year old) daughter, I had a Marlin 60, so I bought a another stock for it and cut it down to her size. It takes about 30 seconds to change the stocks which makes for a good "family range time plinking rifle", many a balloon and ground mounted clay pigeon have been taken with this gun.

I dunno, the Crickett's awfully expensive for a single-shot. $99.99 at Wal-Mart (apparently), versus $100 for my Remington 597.

Congratulations!

To me, Marlin 39A says "heirloom".

I'm not sure what would be the ideal first gun, but can suggest this: an N.R.A. membership.

Standing Wolf said:

I'm not sure what would be the ideal first gun, but can suggest this: an N.R.A. membership.

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Oh hell. You've outdone us all with that one......buy him a Life Membership.
Wow, good idea.

All you need is a 22lr upper for your AR and he'll be set. Might as well start him off with the best.

HighVelocity said:

All you need is a 22lr upper for your AR and he'll be set. Might as well start him off with the best.

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How small do 5.11's come? Do they make Kiddie Kydex?

TexasSIGman said:

How small do 5.11's come? Do they make Kiddie Kydex?

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The've got baby camo jumpers

.22 bolt with a magazine

AFS

Well, my son Vinny (Vincenzo Antonovich Aveni) was born December 28, 2005 and somehow has already managed to convince dad to buy him the following:

A 12 gauge Beretta single barrel, usually known as a Companion. It is hammerless, and folds almost in half. Dad has also purchased some all brass shotgun shells for it, so we can build some light loads with black powder.

Every kid needs a 20 gauge though, right? Well, I found an H&R M48 single barrel 20 bore. It is different from todays H&R's in that it has a top lever, all steel parts (no plastic, thenk yew), and wonder of wonders, a nice walnut buttstock and forend.

Obviously Vinny is going to be a shotgunner at this rate, but dad likes rifles too, so we found a pristine Marlin 15YN. A trigger job and either a peep sight or decent .22 scope and we will be all set. Best of all, total expenses for all three? Less than 400 bucks!

Mom already owns a Ruger Bearcat, so we are covered in the handgun department. As he gets older, there are any number of my rifles and shotguns to choose from. Then, as his tastes settle in, we will buy him guns to cover his needs. Hopefully he will be a lever action rifle/single action revolver man like his dad, as that will make the choices that much simpler!

My son is 16 months old (or there abouts)

I can never keep straight the women speak of age in months. He was born Sep. 27 of "04. Anyway, I bought him a Yugo trainer. Bolt action, mag fed, and it's wood stocked so I can cut and dowel it to fit him as he grows.