Does anyone have some recommendations on a "budget" youth rifle in .22LR for a small youth? My daughter is now old enough and mature enough to shoot and I want to get a rifle for her. However she is quite small for her age. My Marlin 989M2 is a few inches too long for her even at bench rest but the biggest problem is she can't pull the trigger on it when a round chambered. She practiced with me in the basement dry-firing first, learning basics of gun safety, sight alignment, etc. But when we got out to the range the first time, she couldn't pull the trigger with the round loaded. I think the round in the chamber puts enough pressure on the trigger to make it a shade to hard for her right now. The old Marlins have a pretty heavy trigger. She was pretty disappointed and I want to make it up to her.
So I was looking a few models that are more modern and made for the youth shooter. Among them is the Ruger American Rimfire Compact and the Savage Mark IIGY. I'm trying to avoid models like the Crickett (looks incredibly cheap) and the Savage Rascal (would prefer multi-round capacity). I found the local Field and Stream has the Ruger in stock but they're not keen on letting youth handle firearms nor on dry firing. I haven't found anywhere with the Savage in stock. I hate to order one blind and have the same problem.
Any suggestions out there, either other models or how hard your kids found the trigger to pull?
So I was looking a few models that are more modern and made for the youth shooter. Among them is the Ruger American Rimfire Compact and the Savage Mark IIGY. I'm trying to avoid models like the Crickett (looks incredibly cheap) and the Savage Rascal (would prefer multi-round capacity). I found the local Field and Stream has the Ruger in stock but they're not keen on letting youth handle firearms nor on dry firing. I haven't found anywhere with the Savage in stock. I hate to order one blind and have the same problem.
Any suggestions out there, either other models or how hard your kids found the trigger to pull?