Just got one of these for my daughter (9) she can't wait to try it out. I bought a henry youth for her, and it was too big and heavy for her to carry while hiking and hunting. She is very small for her age and had difficulty holding the front end up while shooting, i think the tube magazine loaded with ammo adds a lot more weight than she is used to. She is still a crack shot with her cricket, but wants a repeater. But the great news is that my wife really likes the henry youth, she went shooting with me for the first time in 7 years together and she enjoyed shooting the youth model the most of all my guns. I'm still a marlin guy though...nothing more accurate for the price. The Henrys are a bit expensive but worth the price to get the girls into shooting.