kiddie gun?

[bongfoo]

hello again all,

i'm looking to get a 17 hmr so that my son can get into shooting with me. he is 8 yrs old and all of my current rifles would knock him on his a$$. with the exception of MAYBE my m1 carbine. looking to start him off at 25 yds then work his way up to 50 then 100. i want him to enjoy his first real shooting experience. you know, i want him to at least hit the target. what would you guys recomment as a relatively cheap, accurate out of the box rifle for him to start with? i preffer to have iron sights on it but thats not a requirement, just a bonus. i'm also open to say a 22 mag or 22 wmr rifle. i would preffer it to be a bolt action rifle as opposed to a semi auto. thanks guys.

 

[TCB in TN]

Hard to beat marlins for the money. A little marlin 25 bolt .22 makes a good first gun, and you can get the .22 mag to match it. The last Marlin bolt .22mag I got for $160 very lightly used at a pawn shop with a bushnell 3x9x32 scope on it. Shoots like a dream. They are tough, shoot straight, are durable, and don't hurt the wallet to much. If you have a bigger budget then you can certainly go on up, but the Marlins are good guns for the money.

 

[Duke of Doubt]

At 8? Start with a Red Ryder. When he masters that, meaning he can work the action himself, keep muzzle discipline, and get rounds consistently on paper, which might take weeks or might take years, move him up to a .22 bolt gun. Don't rush it. You have precisely one chance to get this right. You can make him a Rifleman, or you can make him a Mall Ninja. Don't get this one wrong.

 

[bongfoo]

well, maybe i should state that i believe that teaching your kids the proper and safe way to handle firearms beats just keeping them loked up. ignorance is the main cause of children shooting each other. i teach my children how to safely handle firearms. when i get a new firearm the first thing i do is gather them up and have them handle it. that removes the quriosity factor. let it also be said that the first gun that he has ever fired was my SA 1911 (with a little help) so he knows what a real gun feels like as opposed to his toys. and besides, it's not just for him. if i'm paying for it i'm going to enjoy it too!!

 

[rmuzz]

ammo

I would love, love a .17 hmr... and its a sweet round that has quite a following. However you'd be paying probably in the range of $12-15/50 rounds of .17hmr vs $12-15/500 for your bulk .22 cal. The cost difference could be reinvested in more practice.

Maybe you havent felt the crunch of he economy yet, or maybe your just set on the magnum rimfire category. But its hard to beat the old .22 on affordability. Thats how I sold my girl on letting me pick up a very classy CZ452 lux yesterday Range report and pics soon. I believe they make them youth sized, but if its really for you I'd guess he could shoot an adult sized one off of some bags until he grows a bit. I think thats how I first got shooting, little hard to remember though.

 

[Wirtbowhunter]

My nephew killed his first deer with a h & r handi rifle chambered in 7mm-08 at age 8. He really wanted to go hunting with me so I spent the summer teaching him how to shoot with a marlin 25n in 22lr. Come early youth deer season he harvested a young deer and I could not have been a prouder uncle.

If it were me I'd start him with a 22lr due to ammo cost. Your other choices of 22mag and 17hmr are great choices as well if money is no object. You should be able to pick up a brick of 22 for about the cost of one box of the others.

 

[ShakyJake]

Fisrt Rifle

Hi
+1 on first rifle being a 22lr. Main reason is cost and availability of ammo and types of action. Whatever you shoot, it is available in 22lr. Find what his main interest is in a action, teach safe principles and basics and have at it. More he shoots, the better he will become and the more he will enjoy the sport. HOWEVER, I predict that before he is 12 he will probably occasionaly out shoot you. And that will be your proudest day.
Recently I had the honor of spending a year with kindergartners and a super teacher. It was a mixed class of special needs and regular children (my ward was a physical special need child). I was totally dumbfounded at their mental and physical abilities when not held back by society. They are sponges, they take in EVERYTHING. When I got down on their level they were a lot smarter than me and routinely made mincemeat of me and enjoyed doing it. It was the greatest year I have spent in many. Had to leave through the "no child left behind" rule.
TaKe CaRe
Ted

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

What Duke of Doubt said. Except, perhaps, instead of a Red Ryder, a quality airgun that shoots pellets accurately should be the first rifle. These are ubiquitious and cheap nowadays. When he's proficient on that, move up to a .22lr or .17 hmr, preferably .22 - somewhere in the 10 to 13 year range, depending upon maturity level. Every kid should spend a few years putting thousands of rounds through a .22lr before moving up. Then, a centerfire a couple years later if proficiency is shown with the rimfire.

 

[woof]

I agree on the .22lr, I'd go the Savage Mark II GY, and I'd make him start with iron sights. On the BB gun thing, I know my dad made me start with a .22 (Rem 514) and I didn't get a BB gun till later. Later on I asked him why and he said he knew I would respect the .22 but that I would clamor to take the BB gun out by myself - he saw the BB gun as the greater danger. Food for thought.

 

[Olympus]

I don't think I'd call the .17 HMR a "kiddie gun". I know I want one! You've got to look at cost of ammo. If you're going to get a rifle for a younger shooter, you have to factor in the ammount of ammo they are going to go through. Learning to shoot takes a lot of practice and .17 is just as costly as larger calibers. Go for the .22LR.

 

[bensdad]

22lr. Marlin, Mossberg, Savage, Henry all make good rimfires.

 

[bongfoo]

ok, i'm convinced. 22lr it is. as for the pellet gun. no. i can identify with Woof. my first shooter was a pellet gun. and i used to take that thing out to the creek and shoot EVERYTHING in sight! from bumble-bees to birds. kids are smart... and i think that if i get him a 22 as opposed to a bb-gun. he will respect it more knowing that it is the real thing not some toy that he can shoot in the backyard. i'm not saying that a pellet gun is a toy, by no means! they are just as deadly as a 22. it's just that child mentality of "it's JUST a BB-gun..."

 

[f8talh8red]

you should go with the mossberg 802. i picked up a mossberg 702 at the local g.i. joes for 119.00 you could prolly find an 802 for around that price. maybe cheaper depending on where your at.

 

[woodsoup]

Everyone forgot the .17 HM2's.

 

[Art Eatman]

At age seven, a Daisy Red Ryder was "mine, all mine!" and it lived in my closet. But I was shooting my grandfather's .22 rifle when we'd go visit him. I was eleven when I got my very own Marlin .22 for which I was fully responsible.

I'd get both a BB gun for around the house instruction and practice. Home-made bullet traps work just fine for BB guns. I'd also get some rifle with iron sights that fits an 8-year old. I don't see where it really matters about .17 or .22. These are the early years on a learning curve, and low-cost ammo is IMO the way to go.

 

[husker]

i just bought a Henry youth lever action new for $230 for my 8 year old. they make it in 17 to. nice little gun. art makes a good point about coast of ammo. i no when dad bought me my first 22 i bet i put 1000 rounds in the first weekend i had it