is anyone a fan of the single shot rifles ? i am looking to buy one as the only one i can find is the crickett , i have heard horror stories about the semis jamming and hard to clean and the spring gets worn down fast and the pins from the receiver gets loose and they need repair so i rather have a single shot there has to be single shots out there besides the crickett .
The new single-shot rimfire market is much narrower than it used to be -- back in the day, every maker offered at least one bolt action single shot 'boys rifle' or rimfire target rifle. Good news is that young shooters today tend to gravitate directly to semiautos, and older single shots languish on the local gun shop (LGS) shelves at very low prices with few takers. Nothing wrong with semis and repeaters, mind, but single loading a rifle is enjoyable and good discipline.
Remember too, a bolt action rimfire magazine repeater can serve as a single shot -- just don't load the magazine.
I recommend you do a troll of the LGS and see what's available. Figure spending around $200-250 on the very best example you can find -- that will buy a very good used .22 rifle today. Look for the major brands: Winchester, Remington, Marlin, Mossberg, Savage, etc. Also look for well cared for examples, with few stock dings or rusty patches -- chances are the bores will also be in better shape than on a beater rifle. Don't insist on a single shot if there is a bolt action magazine repeater of better quality available. Personally I prefer box magazines over tubes, but that's just me.
Henry used to offer an adult stocked version of their Mini-Bolt called the Acu-Bolt (thanks Aarond, I forgot the name), but I don't see it in their catalog at present. You might find a used one, but that's a long shot. I had one of their adult Acu-Bolt stocks fitted to a Mini-Bolt action (the mounting screw needs to be relocated). It's ultra light, hides under a jacket -- I've used it with CB caps to discreetly deal with trapped possums in our suburban neighborhood.