Single shot .22 to teach 2 grandkids to shoot

[warren5421]

Talking to my brother about needing a single shot .22 to teach my grandson age 6 and grand-daughter age 5 to shot a rifle. He said give him a minute, he comes back on the phone and siad he had our uncles .22 that his kids didn't want. It is a Mossberg 320KA that looks like new. Now I have to go to Springfield, Ohio and get it, might have to get a second gun safe. ;-)

[uscra112]

I started 'em on a Marlin 15Y, with a 4x scope on it. Turned out to be so handy and accurate that I still use it 15 years later. The Mossberg is a bit bigger but ought to work fine. I made a point of using good ammo, which I"m sure gave them encouragement. One is still a regular shooter, although he's become a Glock/AR15 fanatic and doesn't hunt.

[NyFirefighter357]

I started them out on single shot Remington 33's. I have converted one to a Marbles Bullseye sight with the corresponding height fiber optic sight. I shoot it now more than the kids.
I learned how to shoot with this J.G. Anschutz KARABINER

https://i.imgur.com/oEvMcCi.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xBoFluf.jpg?1

[oldhenry]

That 320KA is a good gun. I have a 340BA & 340BB which are very similar. As uscra112 stated: they are not light.

My 1st. .22 was a Winchester 67 single shot (very safe as the cocking piece must be manually operated). My cousin had a Remington 510: also a single shot. The Remington 510 is a much better rifle.

I taught my son with an Ithaca 49: I shortened the stock. He's teaching his grandson to shoot with it now. It's a falling block single shot with exposed hammer that must be manually cocked.

I taught two of my granddaughters with a Mossberg 142-A. The 142A (& 142K) are carbines (18" bbl.).They have them now & are excellent shots

[Gtek]

My first shot was over a pillow case that had a garbage ball full of dirt in it laying on a green wool Army blanket. The rifle a Winchester 67 that was purchased for my father as a kid, first safety and then sight picture instructions. Dad has been gone a while but that day on that scratchy blanket burned in between these ears fifty and change ago. Learned some later teaching youngins, they will hang longer and more excitement with things that pop and or disperse starting out. A box of Saltines with some pins and a piece of cardboard was always a hit, then moved to a balloon out there on them at the end. Any single shot and the time with young minds is rarely ever a negative, good on you. Cherish the time, I bet they will several times from then!

[Rich/WIS]

Might consider other rifles that are detachable magazine types and load one at a time. Also there are aftermarket single shot adapters available for the more popular models if you want to get fancy. Started my kids with an Anschutz Achiever that had spacers in the butt stock to adjust length of pull and it shoots like an Anschutz. Got it cheap in the mid 80's at the Canadian R&G in Germany. Have a couple of grand kids that will be using it next.

[pietro]

Might consider other rifles that are detachable magazine types and load one at a time.




+1

After all, who's the knowledgeable person/adult in that situation ?

I started all 3 of my kids at about age 7 with a Ruger 10/22 - that I NEVER allowed them to see the magazine being removed/replaced (until they were a LOT older).

I simply told them (in turn) that it was an auto-ejecting single-shot, and that they had to lock the bolt back (I showed them how) before loading a single round into the barrel before snapping the bolt back into battery, loading the chamber.



Worked like a charm :bigsmyl2: .... they didn't find it difficult, once I guided them on how to manipulate the bolt.


The stock length didn't matter very much, since at that young age I didn't allow them to do much more than pull the trigger & load.

.

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[MarkP]

I started my kids out with Cricket rifles; I bought them at Dick's (back when the sold guns) I bought them and kept them in the safe for a few yrs and started my daughter out at age 5. My son who is 2 yrs younger shot her rifle a few times when he was 4 or so. He got his when he turned 5. I did not let them have both rifles out at the same time until they were almost too big for the crickets. These have a very short stock and are perfect size for young shooters.

[303Guy]

When my grand nephew was 9, I got hold of a Lithgow Slazenger single shot and shortened and skimmed the barrel and fitted an over-barrel suppressor. When he was tired he would walk with the muzzle end running on the grass. Very accurate little carbine and he shot it like a pro. Now he's all grown up like so I tried to get it off him - I'll just have to do a duplicate with one of my others. :mrgreen:

https://i.postimg.cc/gJbwPYSv/Caleb_s_Rifle_002.jpg (https://postimg.cc/B8NZTGG6)

Hours of rubbing boiled linseed oil on that stock.

These things don't even have an ejector! But they used ordinance steel and that stuff is tough! I cut the barrel with a hacksaw and it was hard going. Machines beautifully though.

P.S. His young sister now also shoots with it. There never was any chance of me getting it. :mrgreen::mrgreen:

[303Guy]

https://i.imgur.com/xBoFluf.jpg?1
Seeing this, I'm tempted to rework the stock of a Slazenger. Actually, I have one with a broken stock ..... There's that something about that old rifle.

[725]

Henry sells a single shot for kids. I bought one for my kids and they liked it. Very deliberate procedure to load and fire. Makes looking over their shoulder (for safety) easier. Well made, too.

[Rapier]

I restored eight Remington 510s to as new, for my grand kids, gave each their own 510 when they were 9 years old, for Christmas. The 510 has an extra point for teaching/learning, it goes back on safe every time it is bolted, so must be taken off safe to fire after a single round is inserted. It is a light weight rifle, very accurate. The all original 510 that belonged to my grandfather, made in the 1930s I still have. I have 12 more, just because.

[303Guy]

The 500 series Remingtons have a beautiful balance and yes, the 510 is ideal for teaching kids. It's ideal for adults too.

[sparky45]

My first gun (at age 10) was a Remington 514 and I love it to this day (age 76).

[sparky45]

Are "over-barrel suppressors" threaded onto the barrel?

[303Guy]

Are "over-barrel suppressors" threaded onto the barrel?
For the most part, yes. There is one that threads on the rear and front of the barrel that I saw on YouTube yesterday. That rifle I showed above threads on the rear with the barrel two-thirds into the can. Others thread at the muzzle and have an O ring seal, seating onto the barrel at the rear.

[sparky45]

I'm thinking of making one that will be a slip fit with a couple of Allen's to snug it up. For my Air Rifle.

[303Guy]

Is that a springer or gas? A springer has a lot of shock. I have fitted suppressors by Loctite-ing a thread collar on. I've also glued a scope base on a springer. That Slazenger up above has a glued on scope base but it only has to be strong enough not to break off from handling. The springer had a long cylinder fitting curve so very strong.

[TyGuy]

My pops started me with a single shot Mossberg .410 but that was too much for me as a pup. He eventually got me a 10/22 and hacksawed the stock to fit me. The cut was very rough but it fit me well and I loved that rifle. Once I outgrew it I found a take-off stock at a gun show and installed it myself. That was my first “gun project.” I guess that was the start of my disease… haha.

That old sawed off stock later passed to my brother and then down to multiple little cousins. It’s been kicking around the family for decades. My 10/22 was stolen out of my closet when my house was robbed. I was young and dumb and didn’t even have the s/n recorded. No chance I’ll ever see that again

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I was going to suggest a Cricket or Chipmunk -- little rifles proportioned for little people. But those little people get bigger and the tiny guns don't work well for them anymore. I taught my daughter with a Marlin 15Y which she still has, and her daughters shoot it. Myself, I was given a Stevens 15-A at age 12, and my brother also got one of his own when he reached that age. We've both still got them, although they're seldom used anymore. The big names like Remington and Winchester made .22s, but they tended to be proportioned for adults. Even these older used single shots are getting expensive on the gun market.

300065

Mine!

DG

[jsizemore]

CZ scout. As they grow you can add a larger stock. At any time you can replace the single shot adapter for a conventional mag. 11mm dovetail rail milled into the receiver to mount a scope if you like.

[uscra112]

Sounds ideal, but do any American standard scope rings fit on that 11mm dovetail? All my .22 scopes have rings for 3/8" dovetail, which would be too small.

[pietro]

Sounds ideal, but do any American standard scope rings fit on that 11mm dovetail?

CZ, Burris & Talley.......

https://www.amazon.com/Talley-Rimfire-Rings-Scope-Mount/dp/B00DUEMORK

[uscra112]

.22 scopes are usually 3/4" tubes.

[Gone_rabid]

CZ scout. As they grow you can add a larger stock. At any time you can replace the single shot adapter for a conventional mag. 11mm dovetail rail milled into the receiver to mount a scope if you like.

Bought my oldest a cz scout. Typical great cz rifle quality. I liked its accuracy so much I bought the cz 455 tacticool which is more accurate than I could ever be.

Bought the youngest a cricket as his first because it was $90. It’s has some good features like the built in bolt lock, size and lightweight.

[ChuckS1]

My first gun (at age 10) was a Remington 514 and I love it to this day (age 76).

My first gun was a Remington 514, when I was 8, in 1963.

[pietro]

.22 scopes are usually 3/4" tubes.


FWIW, 3/4" RF scopes have been my rear view mirror for decades

I've been using 1" scopes on my .22's ever since 1" rings with RF groove clip-on fastening became available over 40 years ago.

Many 1" scopes are made specifically for .22RF's, short/lightweight and a different focal plane, - as are 1" scopes for airguns, made with special reinforcement against an airgun's reverse recoil effect.

[Hueyville]

To date I have helped over 800 Boy Scouts get their marksmanship badge and these days its first time half have ever touched a firearm. I have to supply the guns and ammo but don't care. Have rifles from Chimpmunk size to full size and in between. Have to use iron signets and only iron sight gun I use is an Anshutz so bought over a dozen rimfires for the kids. Make sure you start them with a rifle that fits their frame and use good ammo. One kid doesn't earn his badge or at least feel they hit something out plinking the embarrassment can turn them off from guns forever. Each troop I usually have kids who have been out with me several times, some once or twice and some its their first time. Put the older kids I know well working with the intermediate kids and I concentrate on the new kids. Even if I have to break out the Anshutz and box of Eley Tenex I make sure all kids earn their badge before we quit so they come back next year.

[truckjohn]

A magazine fed bolt action can easily be single loaded. That's how I taught my kids.

I'm not a big fan of the old unitized barrel/receiver single shot 22's like the Stevens 15 and Winchester 67. On the off chance something happens to the chamber - you're stuck. An old pinned barrel 22 (nearly every single one out there) can be dismounted, set back, and reinstalled or replaced if necessary.

I also feel like kids tend to get bored with single shot bolt action 22's as they get a little older, then you have to figure out what to do with it.

My own opinion... I was taught on a semi-auto 22, and in hindsight, it was a bad way for me to learn. I just picked up so many bad habits. I see it in my own kids - a semi auto with a mag full of bullets becomes a bullet hose. It is just so much fun to pull the trigger that stuff like aiming falls by the wayside.

What has been beneficial is starting kids off with shorter length of pull rifles and shooting off the bench with scopes at reactive targets (swinger-dingers). It gives immediate feedback and reduces the frustration and fatigue of not being able to physically hold an adult size 22 on target.

[Texas by God]

The Remington Nylon66 is the only semiautomatic .22 that I've seen that is easily used as a single shot. Just lay a cartridge like this and pull and release the handle. It even works with CB Longs; I tried it today and I had to eject them manually as expected.
As proficiency grows, put ammo in the magazine a few at a time.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220528/7f6b3ad71c009261988fb93903ac9779.jpg

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[jsizemore]

Sounds ideal, but do any American standard scope rings fit on that 11mm dovetail? All my .22 scopes have rings for 3/8" dovetail, which would be too small.

BKL Tech made/makes mounts to either/or fit 3/8"/11mm dovetail. Some have 1 piece or 2 piece mount and ring combos. If you like to shoot longer distances with your 22lr they even have cant machined into the bases. Millet windage adjustable ringes on a picatinny base will get your 3/4", 1" or larger scope rings centered on you scope. Burris signature with inserts works too. Maybe you like the Weaver look. They accommodate that too.

[FrankJD]

Keystone Crickett with walnut stock. Perfect for kids ... and adults, too!

https://i.imgur.com/RG5kF19.jpg

[303Guy]

That looks really nice. I like a short barreled 22. I even happen to have one. Not as flash as yours but it's short and I finally got it to shoot well. Plus it has a suppressor (which isn't complete yet). But it doesn't have a kid lined up for it. It's for me. I'm the kid. :mrgreen:

It's a magazine feed but I got it without the mag. I might make or fit a mag on day but I just use it as a single shot. I like a single shot for training kids. And for myself. :-D

I must say, Frank, that is the kind of gun that makes one want to go out shooting more often!

[uscra112]

Scope is mounted much too high. Kids need to be taught to get a good cheek weld.

[FrankJD]

That looks really nice. I like a short barreled 22. I even happen to have one. Not as flash as yours but it's short and I finally got it to shoot well. Plus it has a suppressor (which isn't complete yet). But it doesn't have a kid lined up for it. It's for me. I'm the kid. :mrgreen:

It's a magazine feed but I got it without the mag. I might make or fit a mag on day but I just use it as a single shot. I like a single shot for training kids. And for myself. :-D

I must say, Frank, that is the kind of gun that makes one want to go out shooting more often!


I've used it for pest control with CCI Quiets.

https://i.imgur.com/0A9EMiO.jpg

[FrankJD]

Scope is mounted much too high. Kids need to be taught to get a good cheek weld.

Maybe, maybe not. My grandkids didn't have any cheek weld issues for hitting tin cans at 50 yards. :)

[uscra112]

Chin weld, maybe?

[FrankJD]

Chin weld, maybe?

Yeah, maybe ... a bit lower with a Crickett 4x32 scope. At the mercy of the rifle's provisions for both iron and glass sights. But it ain't rocket science. ;)

https://i.imgur.com/HZU5ly2.jpg

[uscra112]

That's why I like the old 3/4" .22 scopes. Low sight line. The 15Y I bought for the grandkids now has a Weaver J-2.5 that's just right for it. (But I made 'em start with irons.) Big objectives may look cool nowadays, but who needs that much light-gathering on a .22 that kids are going to use? They aren't going to be shooting after dark as long as I'm in charge.

[shooterg]

Like someone above, started with a Springfield 15Y , the old man used on his trapline before WWII. Started the daughter at age 6 with a Chipmunk which is now "half-owned" by my grandsonsince age 7(he says) . Gave all 3 of my great nephews Crickett's before they were a year old. Much preferred the metal cocking piece on the Chipmunk. Grandson now has a slightly bigger Savage Cub which, like the Chipmunk/Crickets has an aperture sight but cocks with the bolt and has a conventional safety which I much prefer over the cocking piece on the older guns(easier/safer to unload-my opinion). Shooting one at a time definitely the way to teach - today's very thin soda cans filled with water burst nicely and demonstrate the damage that even the little rimfires can do. I have scoped the Cub for the Boy to hunt squirrels with and danged if I did not get him an S&W 15-22 that we use out back to shoot at the plate rack/whirligig/dueling tree/etc. !
Have 12 CMP Mossberg .44s, some with cutdown stocks, that we use when instructing scouts/other youth groups the basics from benches at 50 yards . The rookies are always amazed at their own improvement on the second A25/5 target - lots of fun watching 'em too !

[303Guy]

I have a thing for high mounted scopes. I have a long neck although I can shoot with lower mounts but I just prefer them higher. But for training kids, maybe a low mount is better. My great nephew did fine with the high mound I did for him but then he has a long neck like I do. Although, he started using it at nine or ten when he was overall much shorter. There was no choice with that particular gun. His step dad has a short neck and he shoots fine with it too. I think it's the chin weld that does the trick. It's what I use.

[uscra112]

How well does that chin weld do with harder-recoiling rounds like the .308 family and up? I've never had occasion to try it, and I don't think I'd want to.

Remembering that, for a short while, I had a high scope on a Ruger Mini-14. Missed a 20 yard shot on a woodchuck in the garden because I failed to hold off to compensate for the high sight line. Embarrassing! Eventually ditched the scope and went back to the irons, (with a drilled-out aperture on the rear.) Teaching to adjust hold at close ranges to compensate for a high scope just complicates the learning process for the kid, IMHO.

[303Guy]

I had a high scope on my mini 14 too. I loved it. I used to shoot silhouette with a high scoped 22 and got to know my hold under or over pretty well. I never had any issues. I worked out an ideal mid range high that would keep the projectile within 40mm (1 1/2 ") of the line of sight. That gave me a point blank range out to nearly 200m. I took into account shooting up unto trees. I think the first zero point was around 27m or perhaps 25. It was similar for the 22 but the ranges were up to 100yds. That was shooting with high velocity in the 22. So for the rams I needed to hold high on the rams and low on the pigs but dead on for the chickens. The turkeys were dead on which they need to be because of the challenging shape of the things.

Recoiling rifles had the scopes far forward! My sporterized Lee Enfield also had the have the scope high to clear the bolt. Oh, it had a long stock. I did have to be careful bot to get a halve moon eyebrow with it. So no chin weld on on 303's.

[uscra112]

What it probably boils down to is: I learned on irons, never had a scoped rifle until my Dad passed in 1997 and I got his Marlin 336, and I've built up a prejudice. Color me in as a dinosaur. At 77 I can still shoot irons, although not as well as I once did.

[GregLaROCHE]

Single shot use best way to learn firearm discipline without any mistakes. Especially with youngsters.

[warren5421]

I learned on a single shot, blond pine stock and crome barrel and lock. I had to pay for my ammo at a penney per round or .35 cents per box. Could always talk mom out of a nickel as she would get the younger brothers a nickel candy bar. Picked the gun up in June found my uncle had cut the stock for his kids to learn on. Single shot gun will also make the kids learn to shoot better, making sure the sights are on targets. After they show that they understand the use of iron sights I will start them on an assault rifle. A Marlin 1894 in .22. No scopes till 16-18 years old. What don't the people telling me go buy this gun or that one understand ti is free and comes with a great family story. The man that owned that gun had two ships shutout from under him during WWII. They get history feed to them and learn to shot.

[Rich/WIS]

Revisited the thread as my grandson will be turning 8 next year. Complication is he is left handed, but lucked into a LH Rem 581. Along with some steel 5 shot mags bought a single shot adapter for use while he is learning. Stock is adult size so have two options, cut the stock carefully and when he gets bigger add a 1" recoil pad, or cut down another stock. Have a RH 581 stock that I can cutdown and rasp in the notch for the LH bolt handle which should work for this option. Have to wait a bit for him as he's growing (like a weed) so don't want to jump the gun.

[Texas by God]

That's a great choice, Rich.
That 581 will set an accuracy bar that he will compare future .22 rifles to.

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[Dtdk]

The savage rascal has some interesting sight options fwhen using this rail from egw https://www.egwguns.com/savage-rascal-cut-for-williams-sight-picatinny-rail-scope-mount