Ideas for starter rifle for a young child
- Thread starter banger
- Start date
I highly recommend a Savage Rascal. It’s relatively inexpensive to buy, is light weight and easy to handle for off hand shooting and because it’s a single shot, you can teach safety and sight alignment fundamentals without rushing.
Joe Amorosi
CGN Regular
- Location
- Not Where I Thought I Was....
I learned on one of those old single shot bolt action Eatonia (Cooey?) .22's
Cheap gun, cheap ammo and a great way to become familiar with how guns work
Tons 'o fun. That kid will never sell that rifle and use it to teach their kid and grandkids with it
Cheap gun, cheap ammo and a great way to become familiar with how guns work
Tons 'o fun. That kid will never sell that rifle and use it to teach their kid and grandkids with it
Cricket .22
My daughter loves her Rascal. She’s first shot my Ruger 10/22 Takedown at 5 years old. At six I bought her the rascal for Christmas. She’s been shooting 2 years now and loves it. In couple weeks she’s off to Ottawa to try a rimfire competition for first time (still up in air if she going to shoot the rascal or try my b22 in the LSS MDT chassis with all the spacers removed (still too long and way to heavy for her but it’s all bench rest and prone so weight less a concern).
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I recommend the CZ Scout. I had a 452 scout growing up and still use it sometimes today but it is quite small for me now. The quality is very good. It can take a scope easily if one so desired. It is #### on open, so no manual cocking knob, which I think is better as most other adult sized rifles do not use a cocking knob so they will be used to other rifles quicker. The manual safety blocks the striker, not just the trigger as on the savage. It comes with a magazine plug so it can be a single shot or later on you can put in regular magazines if you felt they were ready. As well it can be the same model as the parents/teachers rifle, which in my opinion gives some confidence. My father tried to make sure all the firearms he taught me to shoot on were of either the same model or action as the ones he used, which for me gave me some confidence. It also holds its value quite well if they lose interest, though more expensive than the other options.
Depends how young and respective physical capability.
We settled out on a CZ Scout for my daughter, but she was 9, tall for age, and able to handle the weight. I started her on air rifles at 6, and we stuck with that until she could handle a nicer youth rifle. She still shoots air and recently started with our local club focused on ISSF 10m.
Nothing inherently wrong with a rascal, cricket, etc, but they look cheap, feel cheap, and are cheap. But then air is less expensive again, teaches the same fundamentals, and is possibly more accessible depending on locals laws and your living situation.
Best advice I received when I asked a similar question was to involve my daughter in the process and listen to her input. Keeping them interested is the primary goal when they’re young, and letting them have input goes a long way.
Have fun!
We settled out on a CZ Scout for my daughter, but she was 9, tall for age, and able to handle the weight. I started her on air rifles at 6, and we stuck with that until she could handle a nicer youth rifle. She still shoots air and recently started with our local club focused on ISSF 10m.
Nothing inherently wrong with a rascal, cricket, etc, but they look cheap, feel cheap, and are cheap. But then air is less expensive again, teaches the same fundamentals, and is possibly more accessible depending on locals laws and your living situation.
Best advice I received when I asked a similar question was to involve my daughter in the process and listen to her input. Keeping them interested is the primary goal when they’re young, and letting them have input goes a long way.
Have fun!
