First 22 rifle for an 8 year old?

[crabo]

I took a friend and his 8 year old son to a 22 fun match. It is the 1/2 size shilouettes at 40-100 meters. It is a run what you brung and is just for fun.

They allow the youngsters to shot off of sandbags. My friend's boy loved watching the chickens fall and he wants his own rifle. He is not a big boy and as I watched him shoot his dad's 77/22, I noticed he was on the butt and I know his sight picture through the scope could not be good.

His dad has a Glenfield bolt action and I suggested that he get another stock that we could cut down and when he out grows it, put the original stock on it. I bought a friend of mine a crickett for his boys, and it worked great. I really think the youth sized rifle would be the best deal, because if you cut the stock off, the barrel is still full length throwing the balance off.

I found a great site for youth guns

http://www.ocshooters.com/Gen/kidshooting/youth-firearms.htm

Any recommendations or advice I can pass on?

Thanks,

Crabo

[ktw]

I put together a TC Contender Carbine for my kids; short buttstock, 18" 22lr barrel, red dot sight. Works great and can be easily changed into something else useful as they get bigger. The red dot has a very generous range of eye relief for kids of various sizes.

Interactive targets are also a great idea for young kids. I have a full set of the 5th scale 22lr silhouettes that my kids enjoy shooting from the bench. Animal crackers and charcoal briquettes are also good.

-ktw

[Sprue]

For auto:

I might suggest a Ruger 10/22 with a youth stock. As you know there are more aftermarket accessories made for this model than any other, hands down. Anything you may want will be available.

You might might also look at the Ruger 10/22 compact model. Its a little shorter both bbl and butt stock I think. If you want new.

For Bolt:

I would suggest the CZ 452 model with a youth stock. This rifle can be had rather cheap and its a real shooter. The long bbl version in this model is exceptionally accurate and is priced under 300. Great bang for the buck!

Otherwise, go to the local used stores and pick one up on the cheap and cut the butt stock.

[Molly]

I bought a "Davy Cricket" for my grandson when he was born, and put one of those little SKS scopes on it. I had so much fun getting it sighted in that I went back and bought another for myself. Now the ungrateful twerp not only outshoots me (gotta build up his confidence, right?), but he can hear the squirrels better than I can too! And now both my granddaughters are complaining "Well, where's MY rifle, Grandpa?

Yeah, they'll outgrow the Crickets in time, but they'll never outgrow what they learn from them. And they'll never outgrow knowing that Grandpa wanted to share good times with them. 'Taint the cost or the accuracy of the gun so much. At this age, none of them are going to be serious olympic competitors for a LOOOONG time. And most any .22 will shoot far better than they can at this point. A match rifle is a waste for them, and would be far too heavy for them to hold and shoot. I want to brag on them when they hit a pop can at 25 yards, so they'll ENJOY shooting. And I don't want to cry when they forget to zip up the case and the rifle slides out onto the gravel.

Molly

[James C. Snodgrass]

Crickets are dandy, I bought it for my oldest when she was 5 and she is 11 next week and shoots Big Bore IHMSA now and has a lot of very nice guns but still gets a big kick out of the cricket. I mounted a red dot on it and it is very accurate with proper ammo. I've shot bowling pins at 200 meters with it goofing off once. Surprised the hell out of me this nearly tiny rifle is as good as it is. The only fly in the ointment is it can be a pain to load especially for dads and granddads with big fingers.:-D

[runfiverun]

those crickets are great, i cut down a winchester for my kids
and as they got older i either put on or took off a slip-on pad until they got big enough.
then got them a new one.
and passed the little win to my younger brother for his kids.

[RP]

got both my boys 22 one was a chipmonk could not find another but I got a davy cricket same guns to the look name is about the only diff. Both shoot as well as any long gun and it takes time to reload saving in ammo and gives them the filling of doing something besides bang bang bang. No my boys are 17 and 19 and they got grew the guns but now they get them out and carry them around saying how good a rifle it is and how fun they are to still shoot.

[hydraulic]

I bought a Marlin model15yn, I think they called it a Maverik or some such thing, years ago, for the first grandson. Single shot with a bushnell scope. The second grandson inherited it and they are both in Iraq, now, and the third grandson has the rifle. He is 10 and it won't be long before he will have to have a 10-22, but I now have a granddaughter who wants to shoot with grandpa so she will use it. The oldest grandson provided a great granddaughter before he left so I think there will be use for that little rifle long after I'm gone.

[Boerrancher]

I got my oldest boy one of those little Davey Cricket rifles. I started him out with CB caps. I was shocked at how accurate that little rifle was a 25 yds with the CB caps. We haven't shot anything in it other than CB caps so I can't tell you all how it shoots anything else. I will tell you though that the little cricket of my son's will shoot a squirrel in the head every time at 25 yards with the CB caps.

Best Wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[fatnhappy]

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/lhsjfk3t/100_1194.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/lhsjfk3t/100_1195.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/lhsjfk3t/100_1176.jpg


that's an "armscorp" youth rifle my son got from his grandfather for his 7th birthday. It's all steel and a decent trigger. I've been impressed with it so far.
It's made in the philipinnes.

[AZ-Stew]

In the early 80s I bought a Remington bolt action rifle with a detatchable box magazine. I cut the stock down to kid size on both ends, removed the barrel and shortened it to 18 inches, used Plastic Wood to build a Monte Carlo hump on the stock so the kids could align their eyes with the scope. I also installed the single-shot option parts that came with it. It's kinda ugly, but I trained my three kids with it and it presently sits in my safe, having already trained one grandkid, waiting for the other four grandkids to become old enough to use it.

Resale value? Who cares? Value to the education of future generations: Priceless!

Regards,

Stew

[JIMinPHX]

I'm a pretty big fan of the chipmunk.

http://www.roguerifle.com/images/Gunblast-com.htm

[TCFAN]

My grandson came down for a 1 week visit about 2 weeks ago.We decided that he needed his own 22 rifle. So we went to wal mart and I bought him a Henry lever action.

I thought that he might need the youth model but he is pretty good size for his age[10 yrs.] and the regular size rifle fit pretty good.

He took to this rifle like a duck to water.Went through 2 of the 550 bulk packs that wal mart sells in know time.

I wanted to put peep sights and a lyman 17-A front sight on it but he wanted a scope so I put a Simmons 22 mag on it.

Anyway he was one happy kid and the rifle shot real good for what it is.He can hit the 1/5 scale rams at 100 yards using a rest most of the time.

And I was real happy too.....Couple of photos below.....Terry

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive got a chipmunk deluxe with walnut and cut checkering that has stock figure that a guy would die to have on his deer rifle. Its not only pretty but a tack driver too. It was given to me at a shoot for my grandsons. Very cool gun and even grandpa loves shooting it.

[Boerrancher]

I love to see kids shooting. It does my heart good to know that there will be another generation of shooters.

[Molly]

Just a thought to pass along for all you guys who, like me, enjoy teaching their grandkids to shoot: There are a LOT of kids out there who don't have living parents or grandparents to tutor them. And if they do, the parents or grandparents often don't have the skills or interest for the job.

I've had a hobby of picking up cheap used 22's at gun shows for years. Then I clean them up, apply some steel wool and cold blue, and a little semi-gloss stock finish. Nothing fancy, but enough to make them look nice.

The kids are not hard to find: Your local church youth groups are an inexhaustable supply, especially when they find out they can invite their friends too. Limit your outings to 3 to 5 kids at a time, depending on their ages and maturity. Get the parents to sign off (Written permission, releasing you from liability), and give the kids some basic safety instructions before turning them loose on pop cans. I teach them about trigger pull, sight allignment, and the like, but there are three safety rules that are enforced rigorously!
1. The gun is to be pointed THAT way at all times. Period. No exceptions, no excuses.
2. Any violation of rule one means you're through for the day. Period.
3. The second violation of rule one - ever! - means you are through. Period.

The safety instruction always includes a big ripe red tomato popped with a .22 HSHP by way of emphasis. Some of the kids eyes get REALLY big when you ask them if they'd like for that to happen to them, or to their friends.

If a kid shows some enthusiasm and talent, and demonstrates some common sense, his or her parent(s) will be given the .22 rifle, with the understanding that it is to belong to the youngster when they come of age. The especially talented / interested kids are invited to learn reloading, bullet casting, and the rest.

I've been doing this for years. And the return on my investment would make a wall street guru turn green with envy! I once spend about 15 minutes showing a visiting youngster the mechanical process of loading ammunition (a 38 Special dummy round). I din't think much about it at the time, but something like 20 years later, I learned that my15 minutes had blossomed into a basement full of the latest reloading gear in the country, and a gun collection that made ME turn green with envy.

Give it a try. You'll like it!

Regards,
Molly

[crabo]

I took a group of 28 men and their sons on a sporting clays/ skeet shooting day. We had a men's meeting at our church on Saturday morning, starting with breakfast at 6:30. After the meeting I had a short lesson on gun safety and range etiquette. Then we went to the range.

Several years later, some of those guys are still shooting clays, and some haven't shot it since, but it was a big deal to them. I had a regular group of 4 that we would meet once a month and shoot sporting clays.

Crabo

[725]

I bought my kids a Henry single shot with open sights. My daughter loves it. My boy likes the 10/22. The small single shot Henry comes in two versions, open sight and scope mount. All well made and perfect for kids to learn on. Social life has a higher priority for them than shooting, but at least they have been exposed. Who knows, they may come around.

[BPCR Bill]

I have an old Remington Model 12 pump 22 gallery that I just passed on to my oldest grandson for his eleventh birthday. He's the only one that has shown an interest in guns so far and he loves going shooting with me. He realy likes shooting my Ruger #1 22 Hornet too. But he ain't getting that for a long time! He's signed up for the NRA Basic Rifle course this summer and maybe I can generate some interest in getting on our clubs Junior Rifle Team. Remember folks, there are ways for these kids to get scholarships in the shooting sports as well, either through your local clubs or the American Legion.

Regards,
Bill

[Throckmorton]

we went a different route and started the grandson with what I had..a 10-22.
Now before ya get ur panties in a bunch,he's sandbagged into a bench so muzzle control is very controlled,and we supervise him every second.
A friend sent me an extra stock he'd be experimenting with,to cut down.that was very nice of im and I"ll pass it along later.
My main point is,the hits really started when we got him a red dot scope.No eye relief to have to stretch his head for,just point and shoot.
He was not getting hits trying to figure out iron sights,and getting hits keeps their interest high.

If I had it to do over again,it would be with a bolt gun to slow him down,the ammo costs are killiing me !! ;) but it's sure great seeing him shoot. !!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/Throckmorton/Feb2010waaaaaaaaaybetterwiththeRedD.jpg

[shooterg]

Started my daughter out at 7 with a Chipmunk. I liked it because it reminded me of the Springfield 15Y I started with, plus it had a peep sight(good early training for service rifle shooting!). The Cricketts are OK, but I wonder how the plastic cocking piece will hold up over time. If she was that age now, I'd start her with the Savage Cub, it too has a peep sight, but much easier for a small person to cock/unload on their own safely, as it cocks with the rotation of the bolt like a repeater. When she started, I had to cock the Chipmunk for her. Different strokes for different folks, but I've never started a kid with anything other than a single shot - like 'em to learn basics before we turn 'em on to rapid fire.
The first rifle will always be a treasure, so get something you know you'll keep.
My daughter will have her first child in November and the 23 year old Chipmunk is waiting for it's new owner !

[Gee_Wizz01]

My Father-In-Law (my ex's Dad) gave me his 1930's Win single shot to give to my son. My son has never been interested in shooting, but when he was in Cub scouts and then boy scouts, a friend and I would take 4 or 5 boys at a time to the range and we had a blast! Some of the boys became expert shots. We used to buy a bag of balloons, blow them up and tape them to the target backers. The young kids loved to pop them with the 22s. Later on I let the boys use my 10/22, but I changed back to the single shot because we used a lot less ammo and the boys and girls concentrated on marksmanship rather than blasting. Teaching kids to shoot and have fun at same time is very rewarding. I now have a 5 month old grandson and I can't wait for him to get a little older so I'll have a shooting buddy.

G

[jsizemore]

CZ 452 scout. Cut the stock as necessary and make a recoil pad from a scrap of aluminum or plywood and a flip-flop. As the youngn' grows, you can use short pieces of thick wall PVC pipe or fender washers as spacers to increase length of pull. Pull the single shot adapter and use a standard 5 shot mag. 11mm dovetail for decent rings or bases. Timney for a good trigger if he or she wants to stick with it or use for hunting. Easy to find a buyer to ' pass it on' when they out grow it. Groups well with cheap ammo.

[thebigmac]

[COLOR="Blue"] At my age 13 my dad had a CMP mossberg 42 MB, peep sights both front & rear. I used it for squarrels & rabbits 'till I was 20. I found out my son was taking over the Kent/Queen Anne Countys rifle team. Grandson was a freashman in High school without a rifle. You can guess what happened next. Yea, he got my mossberg, and soon he beat all commers on Maryland's Eastern Shore. As he progressed through High School and continued shooting he went to our State Champion Matchs.....AND WON. What a proud grand dad I was. He kept on shooting & winning. He was spotted by some college scouts and soon was offered 3 choices for a rifle scholership. This past June (2010) he graduated, making all the family & friends very proud. This is truley a great story of a youngster getting into shooting. thebigmac COLOR]

[thebigmac]

I'm now teaching another grandson age 7. Best I could give him is my Marlin bolt gun. I put a scope on it (for ease of hitting the bullseyes). This coming week will tell if he is really interested. I certainally hope so. Need another great story.. Bigmac

[HeavyMetal]

Any bolt gun in the chipmonk class will do just fine as a first gun.

Never been a fan of auto loaders for rookie shooters no matter what the age as it tends to teach bad habits about marksmenship!

My brother bought a chipmonk for his daughter 14 years ago, she out grew in in about 4 years but it sets in the rack for the smaller kids to shoot during thankgiving get togther and is now waiting for his grandaughter to grow enough to shoot it!

Passing a "first" gun down the family tree is kinda neat!

[Multigunner]

In my opinion Eight years old is a bit too young for a .22 rimfire as a personal possession, for the vast majority of kids at least and I recognize that there are exceptions to the rule.

I'm more inclined to providing a youngster with a high quality .177, .20, or .22 Pellet Rifle first, then after they master it fully introduce them to the .22 rimfire with a properly proportioned single shot kept locked away other than when an adult is there to supervise.

This is as much due to legal concerns as safety concerns, and to prevent theft by a youngsters all too often these days irresponsible playmates.
We can judge our own kids level of honesty and responsibility but some kids they may fall in with can be little timebombs geared up on ritalyn and rap music.
A friend of a young nephew seemed like an okay kid at first but soon revealed himself as a little psycho. He'd lost both parents in a car wreck and was going off the deep end at an accelerated rate, (boosted by various supposedly anti-psychotic drugs that did far more harm than good), that his aunt and her husband couldn't deal with. He was caught killing neighborhood pets with a target bow he'd obtained from another kid. As wacked out as he was I'm sure he'd have soon progressed to sniping if a rifle had been available.
We also had an incident here some years back of two little Leopold and Loewb wanna bes sniping drivers on the interstate, at least one lady was paralysed.
The older of the two boys was mentally deficient and under control of the younger kid. That younger kid looked to be about ten and had eyes like a soul less killer, which he apparently was.

Anyway under the best conditions a youngster can learn to respect firearms and handle them safely at a fairly young age, but society is going downhill fast these days.

When I was in grade school it was still not uncommon for a kid that had to walk several miles to school through wooded areas to carry a .22 rifle, and sometimes a pocket pistol. Rifles would be left in the cloak room.
There was never an incident of a school shooting in those days, much less a mass murder of students like we've seen in recent decades.


Back to the rifles themselves.
Of the available modern .22RF bolt actions the Savage rifles are of very good quality. My Savage was bought on clearance as they changed over to the newer safety trigger set up, that trigger just seems a bit odd and un necessary to me. The split trigger set up is similar to that of my IJ safety hammerless pocket revolver.
I'd prefer the old model like the one I have.

Stocks can be shortened to suit the small shooters.
I'd suggest a wooden stock since a section cut from a wooden stock can be kept and restored as the child grows. If the full length is still not called for a few spacers can be made along the way. If the rifle is later passed on to a younger sibling then the spacers or restored section can be removed to suit them.
A synthetic stock would make this more difficult to do cleanly.

A repeater BA can be used with magazine tube blocked or a spare mag modified as a loading platform, later on the repeater function can be restored if warranted.

Short barrels are handier, but longer barrels give less report that might harm young ears.
If the child can hold a longer barrel steady then the longer barrel may be a better choice.

A classic falling block or rolling block youth sized rifle makes a good conversation piece and its unusual form would appeal to most kids, giving more pride of ownership. They also hark back to frontier days and excite the imagination.

A scope should not be used in early training. One may have more difficulty in using open and peep sights in later years if they relied on optics early on.
Also the scope gives a certain psychological distancing between shooter and target, and may lead to paying less attention to the surroundings while shooting. Kids should learn early on that the unexpected may intrude on a shooting session, like wandering animals or unexpected visitors.

[corvette8n]

I've been buying any single shot bolt gun under $100.00 I can find. I clean them up and wait for the grandkids to grow into them.
I have an Outers trap and a thirty foot cellar range setup. I let the kids shoot Super Colbris. So far the 11yo and 6yo do well. The 5yo has trouble lining up the sights.

[jmsj]

Started my daughter when she was 5 years old w/ a chipmunk. Had to cut the stock down to 10 1/2" length of pull. On Sundays after Church is her shooting time. She saved her allowance, Christmas and birthday money fo two years and bought her own CZ 452 Scout rifle. My son is 6 years old, he wants to shoot but I don't feel that he listens and follows directions quite well enough to start shooting yet. Maybe this fall he'll be ready. If he is, he'll start w/ the Chipmunk.

[pietro]

I bought an old Marlin .22lR single-shot boltgun (Model 101 ? - can't recall) for $25, that I then did a "Twosaw Yout Conversion" on for a friend's Grandkids.

I used a backsaw to shorted the buttstock, and a hacksaw to shorten the barrel. :mrgreen:

It suited his kids just fine. [smilie=w:

.

[wills]

http://www.crickett.com/shop_by_brand.php?manufacturers_id=27

[shooterg]

Age to start really is dependent on the child - like a lotta older folks here, I was squirrel hunting(alone) on the family farm with Pop's old 15Y at age 6 . My daughter started just before she turned 8 'cause that's when I thought she was ready.(she had just read a book about Annie Oakley, who supposedly took her dead father's gun down from the wall and started hunting at 8).
My Pops was a WWII Marine and absolutely would NOT allow us to have a BB gun ! He'd known too many instances of kids shooting each other with 'em(you'll put yer eye out !), and said if we were old enough to shoot, it might as well be a "real" gun. We've introduced kids as young as 5 to bench shooting and they were safe, and I've seen people 50 and up I don't want to be around when they're armed!

[9.3X62AL]

Some real heart-warming stories in this thread, for sure.

I recall being a few months short of my 10th birthday when I finished my Hunter Safety Course, given at the same range site where Buckshot hosted the Tuesday Burrito Shoots. That was April 1965. The 22 I used for the firing portion of the course was some kind of single-shot bolt action that required the cocking piece to manually pulled and set after closing the bolt. That last bit--setting the cocking piece--was tiresome and difficult for a 10-year-old.

I have a Winchester Model 67 with this system in place for loading and firing. I don't think that M-67 will get adapted or fitted for use by grandkids. Magazine-fed rifles can be limited to single-shot usage very easily, and retain the ability to feed stored spares when the time arrives for repeat firing.

Just my thoughts.

[Dean D.]

My 6th birthday present was a Winchester model 67A single shot bolt action .22 rifle. This sweet lil gun is amazingly accurate and designed for children. They can still be found if you look hard enough. Almost all of the kids in my extended family have learned to shoot with this gun.

All that said, with the advent of the Chipmonk, etc... it is much easier to find a good kids gun now. I DO like the idea of a single shot for a starter gun for safety sake but that is just my own opinion.

[Marine Sgt 2111]

I started my sons off with a Chipmunk single shot .22 bolt that I bought in 1984 while I was stationed in CA. Even though his mother and I parted ways, the oldest step son thanked me the other night online (he's 27 yrs old now) for showing him how to shoot and our walks in the desert. It made me happy to think that he remembered after all these years and holds those times as a fond memory.[smilie=l:

[mroliver77]

I am surprised nobody has mentioned the NEF youth model .22. My older daughter was given one by Willbird of this group on her 12th Bday. It fit her well and was and is a good shooter. She loved shooting Colibri CB caps in it and killing gophers at our cemetery. The hammer dropping made more noise than the muzzle "blast" did. She graduated to a .223 NEF easily and whacked many woodchuck with it.
Daughter #2 started with a Cricket(pink) and is proficient with it. She turned 10 a couple days ago and shoots about every gun I have with reduced loads. It is more fun loading and helping her shoot than shooting myself. I have a Marlin 38-55 that was made in 1895 I load with a few grain of titewad powder and whatever boolit I have on hand for it. It drives tacks and she loves to shoot the old gun. I gradually up the charges and she gets used to the recoil and when she feels ready we up it some more. I have an NEF in .22 Hornet for her. I told her when she can cast the boolit and size/lube it, pick the proper load from a manual and load it herself it will be hers to shoot chucks with. She has done all the casting and loading jobs but does not feel ready to go solo (with me looking on) yet. I can hardly wait! ;)
Jay

[Combat Diver]

I started my oldest on a borrowed Stevens falling block then he got his own Marlin 60. He's an excellent shot and graduated the Special Operations Sniper Course at Ft. Bragg last year and did a tour in Iraq last year as a sniper (goes back in Sep). My youngest (17) was given a Cricket for his 4th birthday and continues to shoot with me everytime I'm home (have a range in the backyard). For those with Crickets, they do make longer adult length stocks for when they outgrow them, which you can order from the factory. My grandson is over two now and I can't wait to get him his first rifle or handgun.

[Shootn]

Several years ago I got my then 10 year old son a Rossi "Matched Pair" youth model in .22 LR/.410. The factory sights aren't the best, but that little gun will shoot. He squirrel hunts with the .410 and has shot thousands of rounds from the .22 barrel. We topped it with a compact 4X scope last year. The trigger has smoothed up to be very crisp. We love that gun.

[lefty_red]

I got a Henry Youth carbine for my two girls. It does great and is now wearing a full size stock for me! But with The Young Prince turning 7 this year, it looks like I lost it again.

Jerry

[stephen perry]

Sears sold a large amount of 22's depending on which Companies they contracted with. I have several of these. A Winchester/Sears single shot and a Hi Standard/Sears semi auto, both rifles.

For kids use a bolt either single shot or a clip rifle is a safe way to go, make each shot count. Pistols are too much for a 8-10 year old to handle. Now you macho parents that get a kick out of putting a big bore in a youths hands should you yourself go through a Boy Scout training program like I used to run. Three shots under a quarter might be more than you can handle. And how do you as an adult take instruction. How bout when I sit you on the bench for time out.

Whatever gun for a youth should be a cut down stock. Gun fit makes for an enjoyable experience for a youth. If they don' take to shooting they will let you know, don't force the shooting with a youth.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

[KCSO]

In 1982 I bought a Stevens M15 single shot for my daughter age 7. I cut the stock to a 11" lop and cut the barrel to 16 1/2". I slimmed the stock and refinished the gun and this year HER son is shooting the same rifle. I think back then I gave $20 for the rifle and spent a weekend working on it, time well spent.

[AZ-Stew]

In my opinion Eight years old is a bit too young for a .22 rimfire as a personal possession, for the vast majority of kids at least and I recognize that there are exceptions to the rule.

In general, I agree with you. I started with my son on my lap at about the age of two teaching him the parts of the rifle that would someday be his. He was born in 1976 and I bought him a "200 Years Of American Liberty" Ruger #3 in 45-70. He certainly didn't start his shooting career with it, but it got him into the safety routine and taught him that firearms in our house were only to be handled under Dad's supervision. Handling and discussion was highly encouraged, but supervision was required. If any of my kids wanted to see or handle one of the guns, I dropped whatever I was doing at the time and dealt with the curiosity.

When I cut down the .22 described in Post #11 to this thread, he was about four. We started going to the range and he learned to shoot from the bench. As a small child he developed an attachment to a blanket and carried it with him everywhere. I was anxious to break him of the habit, especially since he was getting close to school age, so I "traded" him the .22 for the blanket. Now, the rifle was still always under my control, but he took a step toward maturity when he made the decision to trade in the blanket. As Kicking Bird said in Dances With Wolves, "Good trade."



Whatever gun for a youth should be a cut down stock. Gun fit makes for an enjoyable experience for a youth. If they don' take to shooting they will let you know, don't force the shooting with a youth.
Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

If there's one thing I hate to see at the range (other than unsafe gun handling) it's a father trying to teach a small child to shoot using a rifle with an adult-length stock! Either the child has to tuck the stock under his arm pit, after which he/she (hereafter "he") can't get his cheek down onto the stock to see the sights, or the father (it's always the macho father) tries to get the child to put the rifle butt to his shoulder, in which case the stock is so long the child can't get a sight picture with his face too far from the receiver and neither arm is long enough to reach where it's supposed to go. Left arm won't reach the stock fore end and the right hand can't reach the pistol grip/trigger. The child becomes frustrated, then the stupid father starts ragging on the child about sight picture, trigger squeeze, getting his head down on the stock and every other fundamental of shooting that is impossible for the child simply because the stock is too long. The "discussions" get more heated until the father gives up in frustration and the child often ends up in tears. Neither one had fun and the child will be very reluctant to attempt shooting again, possibly until adulthood. It's a damned travesty that could be solved very simply with a saw, some sand paper and a bit of patience.

I also prefer to start youngsters with a scoped rifle. As long as the stock is prepared to give the child good eye alignment with the scope, confidence is built quickly, as hitting the target is much easier. Happy, excited, successful young shooters are easier to train because they like what they're doing. This allows other fundamentals, such as trigger squeeze and breath control, to be addressed and trained early on in the instruction. Adding the complication of aligning and properly focusing on metallic sights can be addressed later, after the fundamentals are mastered. Firearms training is not a hazing ritual. No child should have to learn iron sights first "because that's the way I learned". Let the child be successful first. It pays dividends.

Regards,

Stew

[Combat Diver]

When my kids were very small I would take out my XM177E1 copy and insert the .22LR conversion kit. Load one round in the mag at the beginning. The adjustable butt stock made things real easy as the grow up. A Smith M&P 15-22 would work wonderfully today.

CD

[Mk42gunner]

The first real gun I ever shot was my Dad's Winchester Model 67A. Sadly, I have it now. When I was ten, my older brother and I got a pair of Savage Model 120A's; sequentially serial numbered, no less. They were always (and stil are), harder to cock than Dad's Winchester, or Grandpa's Remington Model 41.

I like the idea of a single shot to learn on, or at least have a single shot adapter installed. No matter what kind of repeater is being used; it soon becomes second nature to work the action to chamber another round, leaving you with a loaded gun with the safety off.

I don't have a problem with starting a youngster out with a used .22, as long as it is in good shape. Most kids like to get new things, if the rifle is worn out and looks like twenty miles of bad road they won't feel like they have totake care of it. Refinish it if necessary. If you cut the stock and barrel down to fit, there is nothing wrong with using bondo or something of that nature to build up the comb of the stock to fit and painting it in a color the kid will like.

Stew makes a good point about starting with a scope, I believe somone else mentioned using a reddot sight. That is fine, but after they learn how to shoot; take the scope off and let them use iron sights for a while. Before doing the iron sight thing, show them a picture of what correctly aligned iron sights look like. I still remember putting a hole in the exact center of the Phillips 66 oil can I shot, the only problem is I was aiming at the chevron on the front of the can (I have improved since then).

Well I have rambled on enough,

Robert

[Olevern]

Just a thought to pass along for all you guys who, like me, enjoy teaching their grandkids to shoot: There are a LOT of kids out there who don't have living parents or grandparents to tutor them. And if they do, the parents or grandparents often don't have the skills or interest for the job.

I've had a hobby of picking up cheap used 22's at gun shows for years. Then I clean them up, apply some steel wool and cold blue, and a little semi-gloss stock finish. Nothing fancy, but enough to make them look nice.

The kids are not hard to find: Your local church youth groups are an inexhaustable supply, especially when they find out they can invite their friends too. Limit your outings to 3 to 5 kids at a time, depending on their ages and maturity. Get the parents to sign off (Written permission, releasing you from liability), and give the kids some basic safety instructions before turning them loose on pop cans. I teach them about trigger pull, sight allignment, and the like, but there are three safety rules that are enforced rigorously!
1. The gun is to be pointed THAT way at all times. Period. No exceptions, no excuses.
2. Any violation of rule one means you're through for the day. Period.
3. The second violation of rule one - ever! - means you are through. Period.

The safety instruction always includes a big ripe red tomato popped with a .22 HSHP by way of emphasis. Some of the kids eyes get REALLY big when you ask them if they'd like for that to happen to them, or to their friends.

If a kid shows some enthusiasm and talent, and demonstrates some common sense, his or her parent(s) will be given the .22 rifle, with the understanding that it is to belong to the youngster when they come of age. The especially talented / interested kids are invited to learn reloading, bullet casting, and the rest.


I've been doing this for years. And the return on my investment would make a wall street guru turn green with envy! I once spend about 15 minutes showing a visiting youngster the mechanical process of loading ammunition (a 38 Special dummy round). I din't think much about it at the time, but something like 20 years later, I learned that my15 minutes had blossomed into a basement full of the latest reloading gear in the country, and a gun collection that made ME turn green with envy.

Give it a try. You'll like it!

Regards,
Molly

Molly,
been doing this for over twenty years, gave three guns away to youth this past year, one 22 bolt to an 8 y.o., one Rem. 870 20ga to a 12 y.o. and a .223 Interarms mini mauser to an 11 y.o. Love taking each of them shooting and the 11 y.o. and 12 y.o. reload with me regularly.
Olevern