Cricket .22 kids rifle

[abunaitoo]

I have one of these.
Short stock and barrel.
Light.
Single shot.
Have to pull the cocking knob before firing.
Shoots well, even with the really cheap rear sight.
Would make a great first time training rifle for small kids.
Anyone else have any experiance/comments with these????

[Neverhome]

Ours hasn’t been fired in some years. Got it from Walmart of all places when my boys were little. Both are adults now.
Shot really well. Accurate for what it was. Tiny enough that I’ve been tempted to stuff it in a backpack for hiking or camping.
Ours has a lock on it which I lost the dang key to. I had to drill it out.

[BK7saum]

I dont have a cricket, but a chipmunk. It is pretty darn accurate with the peep. it out shoots a lot of full size 22s with open sights.

[rking22]

I have one, very accurate but difficult to shoot well due to the tiny size. Kids are grown now but I still get it out to shoot on occasion. I have bought myself one of their pistols. Not really a stretch that I like them, I really like Winchester 67 and Remington 33, both work the same way.
That pistol is accurate as well, after a bit of stoning and a spring swap on the trigger to help the shoot ability. Mine are both blued steel and walnut, well made and a load of fun.

[sureYnot]

Bought one for my son last year. Very accurate.
I have to rest the buttstock against my cheek to shoot it.
I learned on a similar rifle. A "chipmunk" iirc. Killed a ton of squirrels and rabbits with it.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

[Bazoo]

We had a pink one before our house burnt 5 years ago. It would cloverleaf at 25 yards with winchester 333 ammo. Didn't like federal bulk as well and I could shoot better than it could with that. I used to hit an empty 22 case at 25 yards with it when I could see it.

I decommissioned the lock. It never gave us any trouble.

[NyFirefighter357]

I looked at one when I was looking for a gun for my daughter. I couldn't justify buying one when I already had 2 Remington 33's & a J.G.A. Anschuetz. Since I only had $100 into the 2 Rem 33's, I customized one for her. I changed the rear sight to a Marble Arms bulleye sight and got a higher front sight to compensate.
https://www.brownells.com/rifle-part...964-53260.aspx

Rem 33

Anschuetz

[uscra112]

Not a Cricket, but a Marlin 15Y "youth" rifle still lives at my house, though the grandsons are out of college already. With a Weaver J2.5 on it I found it handy and comfortable to shoot, and using CCI SV it would cloverleaf at 35 yards (i.e. diagonally across the back yard) three times out of five from a rest. Hard to shoot it that accurately offhand; it's too light. If I live long enough, maybe there will be great-grandsons.......... Meanwhile milady (also 75 Y.O.) loves it.

[Nobade]

I have the pistol version. I needed a second .22 barrel for the Contenders so both kids could shoot at the same time. Then I found out I could buy a Crickett pistol for $100 less than a TC barrel. It's plenty accurate, I can hit a golf ball at 50 yards every time. It makes a dandy budget silhouette pistol, a poor man's Exemplar.

[tankgunner59]

I bought one for our grandson 7 years ago for getting potty trained. He quickly became proficient with the peep sight, it is very accurate. Then he saw my scoped 30-06 and wanted a scope on his gun. So I found a scope mount rail for the Cricket, it's a specialty item BTW. I bore sighted the scope and zeroed it at the range. And he became very proficient with it too. They set the peep sight at the factory, and they did a great job with this one and the one we bought our other grandson. To answer your question, yes, in my opinion they make a great first rifle. I'll have to try to find it again, but I once found a video of a guy shooting a steel target at 200 yards IIRC.
I say if you want it for your kids or grandkids get it you won't be sorry.

[BigAlofPa.]

I got one recently for 100.00 OTD. It shoots great. Picked up a 1911 too that day.

[mattw]

I have 1, both girls learned on it. Going to order the adult stock. Shoots very well, good trigger and ok sights.

[azrednek]

I bought one several years ago for grand kids. Discovered they are both southpaws so it never got much use. Like the previous posters I was rather impressed with its shot to shot accuracy via the factory sights. Back in the 70’s I taught my twins to shoot using an old Winchester single shot that operates the same as the Cricket. What I like best about the single shot youth 22’s are their ability to handle 22 shorts. Just in case a kid shoots them self in the foot or shoot me. Years ago teaching my 10 year old step daughter to shoot. After she loaded a round into the chamber and pulled the striker back. With her finger on the trigger she rapidly turned around pointing it at me to ask me a question. Fortunately a mishap did not occur. I had to bite my tongue knowing kids are kids and their attention span is short.

[Randy Bohannon]

2 granddaughters were trained with Chipmunks , they were good enough to stop a silhouette match and watch a 7 and 9 y.o. Girls call their shots and spot for each other on the .22 silhouette course. Young pros at the time could teach a few adults how to shoot a silhouette course of fire.

[pietro]

.

I bought a new Chipmunk for my then-new oldest Grandson to learn shooting as soon as he was able to hold it.

The hardest thing for him was attaining the strength/grasp to cock it.

Today, 28 years pater, he still has it - his wife has even come around to shooting it.

Before he was big enough to hold it, since it was so small (like 3lbs, IIRC), I carried it as a lightweight backpack rifle/trail gun.

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[abunaitoo]

Fantastic.....
But being a firearms instructor..............
Eye protection????
Finger off the trigger.
Loaded or not.
Treat every firearm as if it were loaded.
Sorry, but I'm all about safety and no bad habits.

[swheeler]

Fantastic.....
But being a firearms instructor..............
Eye protection????
Finger off the trigger.
Loaded or not.
Treat every firearm as if it were loaded.
Sorry, but I'm all about safety and no bad habits.

I agree 110%. This is one of the few firearms instructors that is know to me, always preaching to the choir, hope prison life treats him well.

https://youtu.be/minD6lgylOo

[JSnover]

I bought a Chipmunk years ago for my daughter and she loved it. It's an inexpensive, simple gun. Made by Keystone Arms. If I recall, the Crickett and Chipmunk were essentially the same rifle.

[pietro]

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Pretty much the same action, but the Chipmunk has a barrel reinforce contour that makes it look more like a shrunken CF rifle.

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