.22 rifle suitable for kids

Suputin

Suputin

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Took my nefew shooting last weekend for the first time and he absolutely loved it. So now we are on a mission to find a rifle suitable for him to use the next time he comes to visit.

Ideally we'd like to be able to mount a scope on it as it will get used in the gopher fields and those little buggers are very difficult to see without optics.

Used would be fine if anyone has something lying around unused but at this time I am just trying to get a feel for what is available.
 
Try to find an Anschutz woodchucker, with a 3-9 tasco and on a stand, my son was shooting thumb tacks at 50 yards.
 
For the beginner, a bolt action would be considered the safest . It cannot be reloaded without a very noticeable motion. Single shot the best and then a repeater. A cooey 39 is smaller than a Cooey 75. The Lakefield Mark I or Mark II are light and with some stock shortening, can be comfortable for a child. If you are comfortable with the youngster having a semi...then the Cooey 64 comes to mind. Most of these can be found here in the EEs for around the $100-150 mark. I shoot a Lakefield Mark II as a gopher rifle as well as a Marlin 81, both with 3x9x scopes..
 
Cooey 600, .22 bolt-action, tube fed.

If he might be skittish, try him out on a box of Remington .22 Subsonic (sounds like an air rifle), then move him into the bulk .22.
 
got 2 of model 39 single shot i bought for friends son. he is 10 i think,.shot cb longs then winchester and other bulk . awesome...better than .177 air rifle he tried before.
600 might be a bit tricky cause loading mechanism although price is good. single shot or mag loaded rifle might be better choice for a young one.


one of mod 39 guns is for sale.pm sent.
 
sulisa said:
Cooey 600, .22 bolt-action, tube fed.

If he might be skittish, try him out on a box of Remington .22 Subsonic (sounds like an air rifle), then move him into the bulk .22.
Click to expand...

Do not do this without trying it first carefully. When I tried remington subsonic in my cooey, the brass failed to seal the breach and there's blowback. Nothing will make him skittish like a face full of hot gas.
 
The Savage Cub and Cub T's both great guns that self #### on closing. Triggers are great, and they have grooved receivers for scopes. We use several at the club, they seem to take a beating well too.

Cricket and Henry make starter rifles too, but I have no long term experience, just shot a couple a while back.
 
I had my nephews shooting my Sig Mosquito and my 10/22 at the age of 6.
I had my nieces shooting at age 7 with a 10/22. They didn't really care for the pistol.
 
I bought my buddies kid a cricket , Canadian tire had them on special for $100
a bit more than that usually
specially designed for kids , small and has an inbuilt safety lock in the Rifle so bolt cant be closed and bolt action , but when bolt closed still requires pulling knob on bolt to #### crickett.com/index.htm
 
Suputin said:
Took my nefew shooting last weekend for the first time and he absolutely loved it. So now we are on a mission to find a rifle suitable for him to use the next time he comes to visit.

Ideally we'd like to be able to mount a scope on it as it will get used in the gopher fields and those little buggers are very difficult to see without optics.

Used would be fine if anyone has something lying around unused but at this time I am just trying to get a feel for what is available.
Click to expand...

The first rifle I used was a Winchester Model 150...

...I think I was about 6 or 7 at the time. Of course everything was done with my dad "hovering".

I'm sure most will tell you to start with a single shot bolt-action but I'd say go for the lever-action, IMO he will have more fun with it for a longer time...

...Hell, I liked it so much, I went on a "hunt" to find and buy one in mint condition(and two others for parts) 30 years later.
 
A lever action is a no go cause we will be shooting gophers prone so it needs to be able to accept a bipod and have a scope rail for optics.

I have till next summer to figure this out so there is no hurry for right now. I will def check out the Cricket and see if maybe Bass Pro has anything. The CDN Tire near me has a decent gun selection so I will have to go in there and see what they have for kids.

We have a couple of Anschutz rifles but they are just too big and heavy for him to even hope to hold properly.

I may look at a semi as he seems to have trouble with the bolt actions and he would never be allowed to shoot unsupervised.
 
I got my son a savage cub.It came with a nice peep sight and accutrigger its a single shot which is something I wanted for him.He's able to work the bolt and load it himself..The rifle shoots great,I've since topped it with a tasco 4x9.Here he is shooting it.Not sure how old your nephew is but my son is 7 in this pic.

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I guess a lot would depend on how old and how big your nephew is. That Savage Cub posted by "Red Foreman" looks like it would be the cat's meow
for younger kids, but they won't out grow a full size .22LR any time soon. I do think a bolt action repeater is a good place to start though - maybe I'm just being nostalgic. The good thing is, you've got lots to choose from.
 
I was in a gun store the other day, and they had, I think, a Henry bolt action with a keen feature: While on a traditional bolt action, moving the bolt forward engages the firing pin spring, so there is a certain amount of effort required to slide the bolt all the way forward, and hold that pressure as you rotate the bolt down into the lock. With this Henry (I think), the bolt slid forward without any resistance - the spring engaged only by pushing down on a longer-than-normal bolt handle (rotating the bolt caused the firing pin to pull back on a cam-channel). I think very young kids would find it easier to push the bolt handle down, rather than have to hold the spring pressure forward, then down. A good design idea.
 
If you can spring for it, they come up used now and again, CZ scout is the way to go. 16 inch barrel and super accurate. I was upset my 6 year old the other day as he was missing clay pigeons at 80 yards, he was upset with me because I couldn't see the holes in them... My experience with teaching little guys to shoot is the more accurate the gun the more pleasure they get and the CZ scout can't be beat for out of the box accuracy, can mount optics, comes with irons, comes with a single shot plug(magazine) can buy 10 rounders when you need to. You should be able to find new for $400 used wont be a lot less as they are great rifles.
 
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