Youth Rifle

[WyldeShot]

My son, soon to be 8, really likes going to the range with me. I let him shoot anytime he wants. However, he is not strong enough to hold up even my smallest rifle, which is a old Steven's single shot. I am looking at getting him either a Savage Rascal or Crickett. Does anyone have experience or an opinion on either one of these?

Yes, he has his own eye and ear protection already and knows that both have to be worn when at the range.

 

[17 squirrel]

Buy the Rascal, it has the option to use a magazine and it has a self cocking bolt.. Those two options place it far and ahead than any other KIDS training rifle. Plus it's KIDs sized.. Not youth size, KIDs sized.
That's from a dad who bought two Chipmonks. No magazine and no self cocking bolt. A few hundred times of cocking the bolt and your fingers will be raw. The Savage is the way to go.. Also search youth and kids rifles here and read away. Good Luck.

Plus if you scope the rifle down the road, its really difficult to cock the rifle after a scope has been mounted.

 

[Scuba591]

+1 for the rascal. My daughter started at 8. It is a very easy rifle and a great size.

 

[bobjones223]

Ok.....I am going to be THAT GUY that we all hate!

Get him a 10/22 with and adjustable stock and a carbon fiber barrel and he will enjoy it the rest of his life....they come in at about 4.25-4.5 pounds. I know it is a little heavier than the others but he won't outgrow it like the other...later in life he will still have it and can share with his kids.

 

[17 squirrel]

Ok.....I am going to be THAT GUY that we all hate!

Get him a 10/22 with and adjustable stock and a carbon fiber barrel and he will enjoy it the rest of his life....they come in at about 4.25-4.5 pounds. I know it is a little heavier than the others but he won't outgrow it like the other...later in life he will still have it and can share with his kids.

Because every kid needs a $ 600.00 + rifle to learn to shoot..

A 10-22 is not a kids rifle in any shape or form, it can easily be a youth rifle.
Why would you give a " kid " a rifle that they can't hold up and shoot it standing or prone ??
With giving a " kid " a rifle to heavy you are doing a huge disservice to the child.
OP like you have already stated, if its to heavy for the child to hold up. It's to heavy to learn with.. It's a training rifle, not a lifelong love affair.
A Rascal can easily be tossed in the back of the safe, and be brought back out 25 years later to give a grandchild.

 

[WyldeShot]

Ok.....I am going to be THAT GUY that we all hate!

Get him a 10/22 with and adjustable stock and a carbon fiber barrel and he will enjoy it the rest of his life....they come in at about 4.25-4.5 pounds. I know it is a little heavier than the others but he won't outgrow it like the other...later in life he will still have it and can share with his kids.

I have a several 10/22 rifles. A couple being very light and short but they are still too big for him. I'm going to build him an AR for when he gets a little bigger. I'll also use the Rascal or Crickett for my daughter once she is old enough.

 

[paperboy]

I would agree with the Rascal. It has a nice peep sight, I think it is very important to be accurate with open sights and as the shooter masters marksmanship they can always be introduced to shooting with a scope.......

 

[curraheeguns]

I bought my boy a Thompson Center Hot Shot and he loves it. He has been shooting it off a bag since he was 5.

Of coarse I had it threaded and have a TM suppressor on it also so he doesn't even have to wear ears. It's nice to instruct him without having to yell and worry about if heh heard me or not.

 

[sweendogie]

Rascal or little badger. Rascal has the accutrigger though!

 

[bobjones223]

Because every kid needs a $ 600.00 + rifle to learn to shoot..

A 10-22 is not a kids rifle in any shape or form, it can easily be a youth rifle.
Why would you give a " kid " a rifle that they can't hold up and shoot it standing or prone ??
With giving a " kid " a rifle to heavy you are doing a huge disservice to the child.
OP like you have already stated, if its to heavy for the child to hold up. It's to heavy to learn with.. It's a training rifle, not a lifelong love affair.
A Rascal can easily be tossed in the back of the safe, and be brought back out 25 years later to give a grandchild.

I completely understand about the $600.00 gun for a kids gun but I am just speaking from experience.

I got my daughter a Cricket for her first gun when she was 9. We went to the range she was set up with her Cricket and I had my 10/22 and we started tacking targets. I had gone through a couple of 10 round mags and she had gone through about 6-8 rounds and looked over and said "Dad can I try yours?" I responded with "Sure". Needless to say I didn't get it back that trip. On the drive home I got "Dad i really like my gun but yours it a LOT MORE FUN TO SHOOT." So I started the mission of blending the two for something that she could handle but was "MORE FUN TO SHOOT". So yes I ended up with a $500.00 kids gun that she can shoot for the rest of her life and she LOVES IT.

We always went to the range at that age so she always had a rest. Now that she is 13 and has been using the same gun for four years any squirrel within 50 yards of her is going in the bag. I understand that everyone has there own opinion on this matter I am just speaking from personal experience and leaving up to OP to decide and NO I DID NOT DO MY DAUGHTER A "HUGE DISSERVICE" she loves that gun and will keep using it for the rest of her life!

 

[bstewrat3]

I bought the Cricket specifically because it has to be manually cocked every time. I started on an M67 Winchester and may just be a little nostalgic about the manual cocking. I have thousands of rounds through it and appreciated every one unlike on my 10/22, which as fun as it is, it is just too easy to rip through 30 rounds bouncing a can around the ground.

 

[Stang51d]

I bought the Cricket specifically because it has to be manually cocked every time. I started on an M67 Winchester and may just be a little nostalgic about the manual cocking. I have thousands of rounds through it and appreciated every one unlike on my 10/22, which as fun as it is, it is just too easy to rip through 30 rounds bouncing a can around the ground.

Thats my thoughts. The first gun I shot was a really old Springfield that cocked like the cricket. I like it that when she closes the bolt, it isn't totally ready to fire. Not saying the rascal isn't a nice piece, I bought one of those a while back because Walmart had one for $75. Can't pass that up.

 

[Hoosier45]

I still have the Marlin 15y that I learned to shoot with. I got it for Christmas when I was 6. My son learned to shoot with it. And hopefully some day his children will too.

 

[Psode27]

My wife has one in the oven right now, and I've been debating what to do myself. I hate to spend too much on the first one. I'm sure a cricket, even if not as nice as a rascal, would do the trick. In a couple of years he'll be looking for something else ( or maybe thats me talking...?).
I can't wait to see if I need to buy a rifle with a pink of blue stock though, couple more weeks to find out!

PS- my in-laws will just love that my unborn child is collecting rifles.

 

[OkieGirl]

OP, if the goal is to get him behind a rifle and give him some time at the range then the Cricket is a fine choice. It just won't be long before he out grows it but it will give him a chance to build confidence and train for safety.

As far as a long term plan, well...not sayin' it's for everyone but it has worked well for us. We have a tradition for our family, that all four of the kids have gone thru, they get their first rifle for Christmas their Fourth Grade year (about 9 years old). It's always a 22 bolt action with iron sights so that they learn the basics of safety and accuracy before they start $hopping for anything fancy. Their first year with the new rifle is usually shooting from the bench but kids grow way faster than we expect and before we know it they are walking a steel jack across the yard or making a small spinner dance at 30 yards with iron sights and a box full of ammo. Either way you go, enjoy this time with you kiddo because man it goes fast! Watching their eyes get big when they hit the target or the determination in their form as they are actually listening to you for a change and trying to do what you say so that they can get it thru the X.

 

[dnurk]

Add me in for another vote on the Rascal. The sights are decent and the trigger is quite good for a kids rifle. The biggest things I wanted my son to learn were safety (check...easy to get into a nice habit of loading, using the safety, etc.) sight alignment and sight picture (check...good sight and with a bit of white paint on the front sight post he is quite accurate off the bench) and good trigger discipline (check...the accu-trigger is a great one to learn proper trigger press and follow through.)

Also, it is small and light enough that he can carry it with him when we do our fall woods walks. I wanted him to learn good muzzle discipline and feel comfortable actually carrying a rifle around instead of just bench shooting. With a larger/heavier rifle that would not have been possible.

Yeah, eventually he'll move up to a 10/22 of his own or shoot one of mine more often, but this is "his" rifle. He will eventually give it to his kids hopefully.

 

[Lees]

My oldest has had a Marlin 795 .22 since he was 5. He used it on a sled on a bench until about age 8 and a half, when he was big enough to hold it and shoot it just fine. He's tall for his age, but not incredibly tall. He's a great shot. He's also had a Henry lever action .22 since he was 5 (a gift), and he still uses that on a sled, but at least now he can do the action by himself. He also really likes my 10/22, which has a cheap scope on it. At these young ages, to me, it's all about safety and practicing how to use the gear. I never had my own guns growing up, just shot whatever we had. I've shot since I was 5, and it was pretty much just about safety.

My middle child has been very hesitant about shooting. She's turning 6 soon, and my husband bought her a pink Crickett because she said she'd be happy to shoot it. I think he and she both wanted her to be able to hold the rifle, not just shoot it from the sled. I think she'll probably outgrow it fast, but I have another child to hand it down to, so no big deal. I'd have skipped the Crickett and went straight to a 10/22 for her, too, if the Crickett weren't so cheap, and so cute.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

My son started shooting at 8 or 9 on a 10/22 with an adjustable stock using a sandbag.
He shot for a stint with MCF&G jr rifle team. for half a season practicing with it when they moved him to an anschuetz, slung up just like an adult at age 10. They don't have kid models, or youth models. They have stock spacers.

He still shoots his 10/22 now at age 13. The stock adjusts to fit him until forever.

 

[jjtroy912]

What about a good Ole red rider bb gun? That's how I strated and now I'm on ingo

 

[Expatriated]

I bought my 8 year old the ruger american rimfire compact youth model. Wonderful gun. And if they ever want to move up to a real caliber, the ruger american rifle will be second nature for them, just a change in caliber.