8th Birthday. What gun for nephew?

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El Tejon

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My oldest nephew is turning 8 in June and I am in quite a torment over what to purchase. "His" battery now includes a Winchester M67, a Chipmunk, and a Savage 101 single shot revolver.

My brother, THR's MPFreeman, only permits me to give him one gun a birthday and one at Christmas. I am considering the following options:

1. A repeating .22, likely bolt-action;
2. Another single shot, maybe one of those falling blockesque .22s;
3. A flintlock rifle, maybe .32 or .36 (learn follow through and trigger control);
4. Couple of cases of .22 ammo;
5. A .22 revolver, maybe a M63 or a M17, have to get grips for it for his hands.

Background: He has been shooting since he was 6. They live in the country and have access to own range. The boy is bright (excellent grades and shows a proclivity for all things math like his granddad and father [not so much Uncle Kirk:D]), well-disciplined (has only received one violation and it was administrative, for failing to remove bolt from his Chipmunk when going to check targets with Dad), excellent coordination and visual acuity and strong for his age. However, he was a premie and is still small for his age (this may change when hormones arrive, but he is still in 65 to 70 percentile range in height).

What say you???:confused:
 
maybe a Henry lever action .22? they're pretty well suited to smaller shooters, a good simple action for a first repeater.

i guess i'm partial to leverguns, but there's just something about being a kid in the country that demands it. :D
 
Play, don't think a self loader is in the cards yet. However, I have been eyeballing that 915Y and 915YS. However, he has a single shot rifle.

lawson, Henry? Had not considered that. He has 3 brothers and one sister behind him. Think a Henry would last that long?:confused: Do they have youth models. I'll check.
 
You could cheat

and get him one of those cool .22/.410 OU combinations. Perfect for plinking, small game, etc. a life time of fun.
Good luck.
 
I've not been at all impressed with the quality of the (c. 5) Henry .22s I've seen. I'd vote for a S&W Kit Gun in .22 lr or a Bearcat. (Look how happy Taffin's grandkids seem to be with the Bearcat . . . .)
 
I like the idea of the flinter.

Or, how about a good air rifle, e.g., an RWS Model 24? It's a spring-piston barrel cocker, very accurate, and can be shot indoors at nominal cost for ammo. Shooting an air rifle is a good way to develop good follow-through due to the relatively low MV and long lock time.
 
My youngest nephews, aged 9 and 11, love my Ruger Bearcat. Perfect size, weight and balance for them, and the whole single-action MOA makes a great teaching tool. Having to pause after every shot helps establish good fire discipline and gives more opportunities for immediate remedial coaching.

My favorite teaching repeater (and it's always gotten a rave reception from the kids) is a pre-Taurus Rossi M-62 pump. I got around the over-long butt problem by getting a spare buttstock and cutting it down to 12" LOP. It took a little effort, but it's worked out very nicely. Changing involves two screws and less than five minutes.

The Henry lever gun would work, too. But as a genuine geezer who has fond memories of shooting galleries, the ol' trombone just seems "right".
 
I would recommend against a flint lock if you want to train him on muzzle loading. I would recomend a sidelock percussion gun. Even if you went higher than .36, you can keep the recoil way low by using only a little powder. Junior would still get the oppertunity to make big holes in paper or whatever other tragets you use.
 
My vote would be the CZ 452, an magazine fed Bolt action spells out "TOO MUCH FUN!"

Bolt action allows the shooter to take his time per shot, yet without the tediousness of sing shot bolt guns.

:)
 
I see others are recommending the Ruger Bearcat also. I think a kid would love such a handgun. If you have trepidations about buying your nephew the Bearcat feel free to buy me one and send it to me to test out for you. I will give you my honest opinion.:D
 
Barrett M82, nothing says "Happy 8th Birthday" like a .50 cal. :evil: :D ;)

Seriously, NEF has those nice single shot .22LR/.410 combo's for kids. (My son has one.) The boy needs a shotgun. The nice thing about them is that as he grows older, send the receiver back to NEF and they can fit on other barrels for under $100 each, IIRC.

Oh, here's the webpage http://www.hr1871.com/barrelAcc/index.htm

Makes future gift giving easy, you just buy him a new barrel. :cool:
 
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I'd maybe lean toward the shottie thing. Every well rounded individual should have a pistol-rifle-shotgun selection. Somebody's gotta make a little .410 (maybe the NEF). If the .22/410 wasn't too heavy, that'd be great
 
Here's something he can grow into as well as pay for college one day: Gunbroker

Although if you'd like to stick with 22, I'd go with a Ruger 10/22. He can always upgrade it later when he gets into tinkering and still be cheap enough ammo to practice often.

-Colin
 
It sounds like the boy's ready for a Ruger 10/22.

If he has good control of the basics, and has mastered a Chipmunk, then he should do well w/ a semi Ruger. As long as he's responsible enough to keep hold of the mag, and remember to check the chamber.
 
NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO..... why hte hell not buy him what he wants and needs??? get the kid Door # 4 - several bricks of 22 ammo. They will do him more good at this point than any other firearm... hells, you never outgrow single shot guns...:rolleyes:
 
(has only received one violation and it was administrative, for failing to remove bolt from his Chipmunk when going to check targets with Dad)
Click to expand...

You remove the bolt entirely on rifles? What about semi-autos and pistols? Do you take the bolt out then too?

I think a good air rifle is a good idea.
 
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