Good youth bolt .22?

In my experience, the Rascal is too small for an 8 year-old. I'd look at something more like the Marlin 795. Nice and light, so they can actually carry it. Only downside is it's semi.
 
I have a Savage Mk1GY with accutrigger. Single shot with youth length cheap wood stock. 18 inch barrel with 36 inch over all length. One of my favorites as it’s almost as accurate as my all time faves CZ 452 Scouts.
 
I ended up with a blue savage rascal. I made a red dot base out of an old rail for it, and mounted an extra TRS-25 I had laying around. My 5 year old was first to the range with it yesterday, he loved it! Great and safe youth rifle from my limited experience thus far. My 3 year old is too young to shoot (obviously) but my 8 year old gets next dibs on a range trip.
 
Just to play Devil's advocate, have you looked at high velocity air rifles?

You can get a good (1200 FPS) combo with a scope for about $250 new.
 
Jmcc said:
Just to play Devil's advocate, have you looked at high velocity air rifles?

You can get a good (1200 FPS) combo with a scope for about $250 new.
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No you can't... you can buy a mass produced Springer for that, but springer's have many quirks and jump like a bugger... likely to frustrate a young shooter and making it more difficult to shoot accurately. A PCP is an option, but at a much higher price point, multi-pump Pneumatic pistols and rifles can be very accurate, but not many kids can pump them up. CO2 guns are a low powered inexpensive option, but unless they are regulated ($$$), they have shifting POI. For kids, IMO a .22 rimfire is the best option.
 
+1 for the savage mark II. I have the troy Landry fvsr it is a great little rifle 5 or 10 round mags. Im not crazy about the mag release otherwise it is THE .22lr bolt gun. Fits my 9 year old well and I love shooting it as well. Mine is scoped with a vortex crossfire II
 
platnumbob said:
I am looking for a bolt action (or lever) .22 that wont break the bank but will be decent for getting my young kids into shooting with supervision. Obviously a short LOP is required. My oldest is currently 8, so I am leaning towards a single shot .22 or something a bit slower on the reload. I would also like to be able to mount a red dot on it to start - oldest is having a bit of trouble with irons but will get there eventually.

Any thoughts on the best options?
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The Savage Rascal, for a host of reasons:

One consideration might be with function. Would you like it to function like a full-size firearm, or would you prefer it to have a different manual of arms? I prefer that the training rifle work as exactly as possible to the full-size firearm. The Crickett and the Henry require the user to #### the striker as a separate step (presumably for 'safety'); the Rascal - on the other hand - works just like your rifle. The Crickett also comes with an extra, buit-in, lock-out device (presumably for 'safety'); it's easily activated - even by accident - but you need an Ace-type key to unlock it. Another consideration might be with the rifle's size, weight, trigger weight, and and length-of-pull. The Rascal, at ~10.5" LOP, fits kids who wouldn't be able to use a rifle with a longer LOP. The Rascal's Accutrigger enables a trigger pull that matches a full-size rifle, rather than being artificially heavy (presumably for 'safety'), as are the triggers on some of the other options.

With regard to the wood vs. synthetic (and blued vs, stainless) question, I'll ask you this: "When should a youth learn to care for his/her firearm?" There's no better time than the present, I think. The increased care demanded by wood and blued carbon steel will teach the youth lessons that he/she needs to learn. Having learned those lessons early, he'll/she'll take those (valuable) experiences with him/her as he/she grows.

All that said, I think that the 10.5" LOP, walnut-stocked Savage Rascal is probably the single best off-the-shelf option for the very smallest shooters.

<https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1832509-22lr-for-youth-suggestions-and-thoughts-please?p=15682929&viewfull=1#post15682929>
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Savage Rascal
<https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1521307-Savage-Rascal>

Who's cut down a rimfire stock for a youth?
<https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1525497-Who-s-cut-down-a-rimfire-stock-for-a-youth>

"Daddy Gun" Recommendation
<https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1565437-quot-Daddy-Gun-quot-Recommendation>

Best .22 for youth initiation?
<https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1723316-Best-22-for-youth-initiation>

.22lr for youth suggestions and thoughts please
<https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1832509-22lr-for-youth-suggestions-and-thoughts-please>
 
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