Crickett accuracy?

[fatelk]

A couple years ago I bought my daughter a little pink Crickett .22 rifle. She enjoys shooting it and for close range plinking and such it is fine.

Lately she's come with me to the range and shot it from sand bags at 25yd targets, further than usual for her. The groups were not that great but I figured she's only 9. Then I let her shoot another .22 I have that I know is accurate, and she was nailing the bullseye every shot!

So I sat down with it, and the scattered groups ranged from just under an inch to over an inch and a half, depending on ammo. I thought maybe it was the cheap Chinese Crickett scope, so I put a good Leupold on it (looks funny- almost as big as the rifle), but no change.

I'm not finding any obvious problems. Scope and base are tight and solid. Barrel and crown look fine. Stock bolt is tight. Is this just how these little rifles are? anyone have one that shoots better? If this is typical accuracy for Crickett my little girl outgrew it pretty fast.

[silverado]

I have been eyeing a similar rifle...hopefully you get some helpful responses, other than mine

[jmort]

I looked at the Cricket and got my daughter the Henry single shot, Mini Youth Bolt, official gun of the USA Olympic Shooting Team. Nice quality and very accurate.

[fatelk]

I've read a couple positive things about Henry recently, sounds like they've improved quality.

I unfortunately didn't consider Henry when I bought this one, because the only Henry .22 I'd handled was a lever action that a friend bought new and had trouble with over a decade ago. I was specifically unimpressed with the quality of manufacture. It reminded me of a Daisy BB gun, way too much plastic and pot metal for a real gun.

[MBTcustom]

Where's Jim when we need him! LOL!

I have one of these little Crickett rifles, and it's a fun thing. However, the accuracy is about 2" at 50 yards. That could be because of the short sight radius. It could be because those sights freakin suck. and it could be because the gun wasn't made for a big fat Arkansas boy to be shooting it.
I'm thinking about taking a shot out AR barrel and screwing it in place to see if that makes any difference.

At the end of the day, come on! It's a $100 gun that is just plain fun to shoot. Ya can't expect a total tack driver for that cost.

[texaswoodworker]

Where's Jim when we need him! LOL!

I have one of these little Crickett rifles, and it's a fun thing. However, the accuracy is about 2" at 50 yards. That could be because of the short sight radius. It could be because those sights freakin suck. and it could be because the gun wasn't made for a big fat Arkansas boy to be shooting it.
I'm thinking about taking a shot out AR barrel and screwing it in place to see if that makes any difference.

At the end of the day, come on! It's a $100 gun that is just plain fun to shoot. Ya can't expect a total tack driver for that cost.

Buy an old Mossberg .22 and you can.

[str8shot426]

I had a cricket for a short time to introduce my two boys to shooting. The accuracy you are getting doesn't sound strange. They are not that great, but they get kids shooting and learning.

[Dryball]

I bought a Cricket for my kids and after a couple trips to the range I had similar results like the rest. I promptly traded it in for a Savage Rascal. Besides being more accurate I like the fact that it's a whole lot safer to unload.

[Lefty Red]

I bought my son a Savage Rascal. Very accurate at 25 yards.
I have shot the Henry and very accurate.

[psweigle]

I bought my son acrickett rifle and it seemed pretty accurate to me. I think the difference for us was that it was only ever shot with cci minimags and my son was made to clean it afterwards. I felt the trigger was horrable but the gun shot better than I thought a $100 gun would. I hope this helps.

[fatelk]

Thanks everyone. I guess maybe I was expecting too much. I did notice that the ammo used seemed to make a difference. The bulk-pack Winchester we were shooting first scattered around 2" groups, at 25 yards with sandbags and a scope! My 10-22 at that range (heavy barrel, bedded stock, light trigger) makes one ragged hole. After shooting it she wasn't very interested in shooting her little pink rifle anymore. We'll try some Mini-mags next time we go out. I have a bunch of old T22 also, maybe try those.

I miss the place we used to shoot before we moved. We could put old cans or blocks of wood out and plink away. The only place I have to shoot here is paper targets only.

Buy an old Mossberg .22 and you can.

Yep, have one of those too. My Grandfather gave me his old Mossberg 151 many years ago. It shoots great, but doesn't like HP bullets- round-nose only.

I seem to accumulate old .22 rifles. I have an old H&R Leatherneck too, but it's real heavy and very picky about ammo.

I guess I expected a little more out of the Crickett because I have several old cheap .22 rifles that shoot better. I'll let you all know if it does better with good ammo.

[mold maker]

I am expecting better of the 3 I've bought for my Grand Daughters that are almost mature enough to shoot. I think one was called a chipmunk.

[Jr.]

Have both a wood stock chipmunk which is very accurate and a pink plastic stock Cricket for my daughter. Not as accurate as the chipmunk but good enough to hit a flip target at 30 yds so it makes her happy which makes me happy.

[southpaw]

2" at 50 yards seems about right for the one that I have for the kids. I don't recall shooting any targets with it but will have to give it a go soon. My boy didn't much like the cricket since I had him shooting my cz first. My daughter doesn't mind shooting it. She is only 4 so its accuracy isn't much of an issue. She likes shooting it is getting better with putting the sights on what she wants to hit. We have our own range so we can shoot cans or any other reactive target (clay birds are one of our favorites).

However, if she is like my boy and can pick off dimes at 50 yards then yes, it is time for a more accurate gun.

Jerry Jr.

[fatelk]

My son likes to pull the trigger to make noise and see dirt fly. My daughter is more interested in making nice little hole as close to the bullseye as possible. Having shot the 10-22 I think she's spoiled now; no going back to the Crickett.

She has a younger sister, maybe she'll start with it in a few years. Her brothers are a bit turned off by the stock.

[starmac]

I bought one years ago to get my daughters started, then several years later their little brother. It served it's intended purpose, and I feel it was a worthwhile purchase. I never understood having to pull the hammer back to cock it on a rifle built for kids the size it is. Looking at a rascal for the grand kids, because of that, if it is more accurate, that will be an added bonus.

[tbierley]

I got my 7 year old grand daughter a Crickett and Cerakoted it pink and put Hello Kitty on it for her to get her started shooting and installed a little 4 power scope. The gun was very accurate at 35 yds with CCI lead tips it was putting holes in holes. The lower two holes were the first two shots before the scope was set.

[fouronesix]

Try different ammo and don't be afraid to clean the bore! Use a bore guide or clean from the muzzle using a 20 cal 1 pc. rod. 17 or 20 cal jag and a guide made out of a 17 HMR case.

22 rfs will sometimes foul and/or lead badly- and lose accuracy. Who knows about the inherent accuracy of any one Cricket, but NO 22 rf rifle will shoot if badly fouled or leaded. Just a thought and wouldn't hurt to try.

[wrench man]

I have the stainless/laminate Cricket, I put a cheapo Center Point scope on it, shooting Winchester 333's it's a fairly accurate little rifle!, the trigger is HORRID!, I should take it apart and touch it up.

[fatelk]

Well I took it out again to see what it could do with better ammo. I shot a few more groups at 25 yards; the best were just under 3/4" and the worst just over 1". That's a lot better than the 1.5 to 2" groups with the bulk pack ammo. I'm surprised it made that much difference.

With the good ammo it's good enough for what it is- a cheap kids rifle that's great for plinking, and teaching little ones basic gun safety and marksmanship.

Tbierley- that's great shooting; you must have got a good one!