Youth BB gun

[larryw]

My 6 1/2 year old son has been shooting his Daisy Grizzly BB gun for about 1 1/2 years. Recently, he's become frustrated because he can outshoot the gun; its accuracy isn't on par with his (we know this because of his performance with a borrowed youth 22).

Any suggestions on an accurate youth sized (11 1/2" to 12 1/2" LOP) BB gun? Would greatly prefer pneumatic pump, and do not want one that uses CO2 cartridges. I'm giving him a 22 of his own for his birthday in May, but want a BB gun for our backyard shooting sessions.

thanks,
Larry

 

[TaxPhd]

Big problem with pump guns at this age is that the kid often doesn't have the strength to pump the gun.

With that said, the Daisy Powerline series of guns have longer pump arms which would be easier to pump than say, a Crossman 760.

Why no Co2?

 

[larryw]

I was thinking about the Powerline 880, just not sure of the size. I'll head over to Big 5 or Walmart to check them out.

I don't want the CO2 simply because its another thing to keep track of/run out of. I can shake the box and know I have enough BBs, not really the case with the canister.

 

[Greg L]

I've got an old Crossman that is going on its third kid (four if you count me ) now. Many thousands of bbs out of it with no major problems. Accurate and durable.

Greg

 

[redneck]

I have a daisy powerline of some sort that was unbeleivably accurate for the cost. Thinking it was an 856 or 756 or something like that, all black 10 pumps no scope.
Very reliable with BB's. I tried some cheap pellets in it and one jammed, consequently blowing the muzzle cap and barrel out of it. They were daisy quick silver pellets (discontinued now, changed over to max speed which is better stuff) and were very short and didn't load right. After putting the thing back together it shoots fine still, and will do fine with higher quality pellets(dynamit nobel, crosman etc.).
Its very easy to pump for the first 5 or so pumps. Your son should be able to at least get the first 3 pumps without working to hard and that will get him up around 400 ft/sec if I remember right (there is a chart in the manual). Perfect for smacking cans, or paper punching.

Have you considered a pellet gun? You could get a sheridan, which is a multi pump just like the BB gun only alot higher quality. All wood and brass. I've never pumped one, but the first couple pumps probably aren't that hard. Since you can vary the power with the number of pumps, you can use the same backstop as the BB gun. And it has an all wood stock so you could cut it down to fit him. I think you can get a peep sight for it too. Thats all getting up there with the cost of a .22 though....

 

[45Badger]

I had same problem with my (now) 7 year old. He outshot the bb gun. I got him a Davy Crickett .22 for his 7th birthday, but gave it to him a few months early. He's done very well with it, and is extremely proud that he's trusted to use a real rifle. Needless to say, he is absolutely supervised in his use of the rifle. When we're at range, I don't shoot. I sit beside him, pay attention to everything he's doing. He loves the attention, and it's something we can do together (much more interesting than Pokemon cards!)

 

[Marshall]

Start with a pettet gun. I remember being a kid with a BB gun when one of my friends had a pellet gun. I wanted that dern pellet gun so bad! It shot better, looked better, killed blue jays better and everything!

Find one that fits him, the Sheridans have a long stock and are semi-tuff for my 12 years old to shoulder correctly. We have one and love it, I got it from my grandfather at age 11, 33yrs ago! Still fires like new, and very accurate. But, find him one that fits.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I'd go with a pellet gun, not a BB gun. Preferably, a spring-piston design like the RWS Model 24C, which is cut down for small fry. I have a full size RWS 24 and it's been a fine, accurate rifle.

See, e.g.:
http://www.airgunexpress.com/RWSModel24AirRifle2166100+.htm

 

[redneck]

Couple other ideas
crosman makes a carbine sized pump, 760 pumpmaster or something like that. Its about like a daisy powerline only smaller. Also accurate and reliable, I know a few people that have them.

For a springer, pellet gun. Gamo makes a small one in the 4-500fps range called the delta or something. Its should fit a small shooter pretty well. Has a black synthetic stock thats more along the lines of a synthetic stock on a regular rifle, not the clunky thin plastic of a bb gun. If I remember right it has a dovetail mount for a scope too, and comes with fiber optic sights (gamo fiber optics, are nice. I have them on another rifle). I checked one out when I got my gamo 220 hunter.
The cocking effort might be a tough call on that. My 220 launches pellets at 1000fps, and has a 50lb cocking effort. Its mostly technique, after you've shot it for awhile you don't even think about it. Get a real kick out of handing it over to one of my buddies thats always liftin weights and watch him quiver and make faces as the barrel folds half way and stops, and then tell him he should put down the dumbells and come bale some hay with me so he's not such a wimp
For some reason I can't find the little gamo catalog that came with my rifle. I kind of think the little delta rifle had a cocking effort of less than 20lbs. By placing the butt of the gun against your hip, and grabbing the barrel right behind the front sight, you can swing it down really easily. More a matter of getting the hang of it than anything else. Chances are your boy would excited enough about the improved accuracy of the gun that having to work a little harder to shoot it won't phase him any. And after a couple weeks he'll be able to beat the neighborhood bully like a rented mule