What's your favorite rifle for kids?

May 28, 2019, 11:48 AM

I took two of my boys shooting this past weekend for the first time. Their Grandpa and I helped them shoot a 10/22 and an AR with .22lr BCG. They're ages 5 1/2 and almost 4. They both did very well, listened to instructions and were safe. The 4 year old seemed a bit little still but had fun.

Both the rifles were too big for them. I'd like to pick up something with a shorter length of pull and a smaller grip. The cricket of course was my first thought but wanted to check with the braintrust to see if any of you had a better suggestion. Was also thinking about a Ruger American Rimfire but I'm not sure if it can be shortened enough or not.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

May 28, 2019, 12:17 PM

dusty3030

I made a mistake by buying a little single shot Savage. My boy outgrew it too fast to really get any use out of it.

I'd get a 10/22 compact and a couple of Red Ryder bb guns. The 10/22 compact length of pull is only 1" longer than a Crickett.
When they start to outgrow the 10/22 you can swap in a different stock insert and they can keep it for life.

https://ruger.com/products/102...pecSheets/31114.html

May 28, 2019, 12:45 PM

ArtieS

Check out some of the ar15-22 variants. With a collapsing stock they can have a very short lop. I have had some little kids shoot my 9mm ar with the stock at minimum and they love it. They like the cool factor too.

"I vowed to myself to fight against evil more completely and more wholeheartedly than I ever did before. . . . That’s the only way to pay back part of that vast debt, to live up to and try to fulfill that tremendous obligation."

Alfred Hornik, Sunday, December 2, 1945 to his family, on his continuing duty to others for surviving WW II.

May 28, 2019, 01:02 PM

RogueJSK

S&W M&P 15-22. Very lightweight, and the collapsible AR stock can be adjusted down small enough for younger shooters, but they won't outgrow it like a Cricket or other Youth Model rifle.

May 28, 2019, 01:25 PM

Pale Horse

I bought my son a Cricket and don’t regret it. He’s had it for over four years and can still shoot it even though it’s a bit small and he prefers his Henry Golden Boy or S&W M&P .22 now. My only complaint with the gun is that the internal lock position sucks and is activated by just setting the rifle on it. If you buy one make sure you keep the keys for the lock with the rifle and always take them to the range.

When I bought it he could shoulder the AR but it wasn’t comfortable for him to hold for an entire range session. He played as a starting offensive and defensive linemen in tackle football so he wasn’t small or weak for his age.

So he outgrew it now but I think four years of use for the 150 or so bucks I paid is a pretty good deal. Plus he’s not the last kid I plan on knowing. When he has kids it will work for them too.

“Everybody wants a Sig in the sheets but a Glock on the streets.” -bionic218 04-02-2014

May 28, 2019, 01:39 PM

myrottiety

quote:
Originally posted by x0225095:
I dropped some coin on a cz 452 scout.

Its now called the 457 scout.

great little rifle if you're going to shoot it some....my 12 year old still likes his.

The 457 Scout in on my list as soon as my Son is a little older. That it comes threaded put it to the top of my list.

Train how you intend to Fight

Remember - Training is not sparring. Sparring is not fighting. Fighting is not combat.

I'm gonna vote for the funniest frog with the loudest croak on the highest log.

May 28, 2019, 03:54 PM

WARPIG602

Both my boys started on the 455 Scout. They have been repalced by the 457 which in my opinion is a tad better but Im too invested inthe 455 series to make the switch now.

Shoot me an email if you end up going with the 457' s I may be able to get you a deal on a pair of them.

________________________________

May 28, 2019, 05:57 PM

Rinehart

In our family in days past we always gave kids lever-actions and bolt action rifles first- It's so easy for them to blow through a magazine/tube magazine with a semi-auto.
The idea was to work on their shooting habits and safety training first-

May 28, 2019, 07:12 PM

sasquatch28

Savage Rascal is a great first rifle. It is small, but I find it to be light and simple enough that a kid can learn about safe handling of a firearm. I make it a practice for my oldest to handle all aspects of safe handling, from getting the rifle out of the safe, opening and checking for an empty chamber, maintining muzzle disciplne, putting the rifle in a case for the trip to the range, etc. It has an accutrigger too, and is a fine shooter.

May 28, 2019, 07:41 PM

kimberkid

I started my youngest daughter Abby and 5 granddaughters on the same Cricket, then a 10-22 if thier interest lasted ... unfortunately all would rather do hair & nails with Abby and 3 have moved but none have ever really caught the bug.
However I've got a 2 year old grandson that likes to go out with grandpa to shoot dingers & pop balloons with my Marlin 39A so I may have one coming up!

If you really want something you'll find a way ...
... if you don't you'll find an excuse.

I'm really not a "kid" anymore ... but I haven't grown up yet either

________________________________________

-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --

May 29, 2019, 12:05 PM

RNshooter

https://www.keystonesportingar...e-replacement-stock/

I am starting my 6 yr old on a 22LR Cricket. It will move into the above stock when he outgrows the pink one (Hey, it was free).
My real problem is that he got to put a magazine through an Uzi in full-auto and now thinks that we should have one of those! We are both trying to convince his mother

Bruce

"The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams

“It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free."
-Niccolo Machiavelli

The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken

May 29, 2019, 12:18 PM

benny6

I have a 10/22 with the Magpul stock. Remove all the spacers and its great for small kids. Insert spacers as they grow.

You can insert cheek risers for optics too.

Here's my son shooting our 10/22 in the BX22

Tony.

Owner, TonyBen, LLC, Type-07 FFL
www.tonybenm14.com (Site under construction).
e-mail: tonyben@tonybenm14.com

May 29, 2019, 12:58 PM

Sig209

quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
S&W M&P 15-22. Very lightweight, and the collapsible AR stock can be adjusted down small enough for younger shooters, but they won't outgrow it like a Cricket or other Youth Model rifle.

agree 100%

it's definitely more than a 'kids plinker' though it can fill that role well

----------------------------

Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.

May 29, 2019, 02:13 PM

CPD SIG

At first, I was in agreement with everyone- start off with a .22
I like my Ruger 10/22, 10/77's are nice too.

Then JHE888 comes along.
I gotta say, I'm thinking the same as him. Go BIG or go home!

______________________________________________________________________
"When its time to shoot, shoot. Dont talk!"

“What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It’s not good at much else.” —Author Tom Clancy