Looking for a 22 rifle for my 12 year old son

Quote Originally Posted by Win94.32 View Post
Agreed. Can't go wrong with a 10/22. One of the more reliable .22 cal semis I ever used.

Not so, a lot of things can and do go wrong with 10/22 rifles. I don't have anything against them but they do show excessive wear, with high usage, over steel framed rimfire rifles. Their magazines will also give problems with high use.

Yes, there are some out there that just keep plugging along and I fully appreciate that.

Other than that, the basic rifle is a low end product, designed for quick and easy sale and as per normal Ruger concepts a very good value for the price.

To get a 10/22 to shoot better than "plinker grade" can get very expensive and if you're looking for better performance, that should be taken into account and maybe look at the next level up, if you're looking for a long term purchase.

The last ten or so 10/22 rifles that I've seen at gunshows, as carry ins, were sloppy and worn out. Their owners declared them all to be reliable and accurate. One of them couldn't lock the magazine in place. The owner claimed it was a cheap easy fix. I find the same to be true with a lot of used Ruger 10/22 rifles.

OP, if you choose a Ruger 10/22, IMHO it should be a new, off the shelf, in the box rifle.
 
Fark'in 10-22 crowd.
Need a new gun fur me sun............10-22
Need a new shewtzgunz furr me wifee.............10-22
Daughter needs ahh new pedal bike..............10-22
Mudder'in law needs a new shuvvil pour les gardinzs..............10-22
Neffew needs a new Das Auto................10-22

.................ovrec..............
 
kamlooky said:
Fark'in 10-22 crowd.
Need a new gun fur me sun............10-22
Need a new shewtzgunz furr me wifee.............10-22
Daughter needs ahh new pedal bike..............10-22
Mudder'in law needs a new shuvvil pour les gardinzs..............10-22
Neffew needs a new Das Auto................10-22

.................ovrec..............
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Luke, keep in mind the 10/22 is a very reliable and great for plinking firearm, at a very affordable price.

Most people will not spend another $300 on a higher end rifle, especially a rimfire. To them it's just not worth it.

When they get something that works very well, for a reasonable length of time, as long as it's properly maintained, they're believers in miracles.

Most don't shoot a lot and the rifles will outlast them. For the folks that go out every weekend and shoot a couple of bricks?????

That's why they pump the model.
 
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So much "open endedness" in OP's question? "Best" for what? If "shooting" involves going to a range and plunking at targets being over-watched by a range boss, then I suppose the answer would be very different than if the young fellow is going to be out thinning out gophers in the pasture behind the barn. Has he been shooting at sparrows and magpies with a pellet gun since he was 8, or is this going to be his first "shooting on his own" experience? Is this going to be an understudy rifle for a few years, until he goes deer hunting with a larger cartridge?

The first .22 I used was my Dad's Cooey 60 - a bolt action. The first .22 that I bought (in my early 20's) was a Nylon 76, then traded that for a Ruger 10/22. My son's first .22 was a bolt action single shot Lakefield, which turns out also to be his son's first .22. It is now outgrown by both - my son had my 10/22 for several years, but it is back with me now - he has a lot more fun with an aperture sighted Win 9422 in the gopher patch, and his son just handed back the old Lakefield, and left with a CZ Silhouette, with a Meuller 4.5-14x40 scope on it. For my own use, besides the 10/22 that now wears an aperture sight set, I have a very nice Cooey 39, a Husqvarna 155A, a Ruger 77/22 22 Mag, a Ruger 96/22 22 Mag, and a Nylon 66, besides the .22 barrel in the Savage 24C. My grandkids with me at the shooting table use all of them - when they go for a walk, they take a manual action - bolt or hammer, and almost always a single shot.

My latest two purchases were both .22's, but a world apart -second last was a Schultz and Larsen single shot Model 61 "free rifle" - 15 pounds of unbelievable "goodness", the "old school" way (or at least as good as 1960 was!!) Last one is the opposite - a CZ Scout with the single shot loading platform plus a couple for 5 round mags. Probably should have bought this one 20 years ago - doing it this way, I am sure I get to pay 2 or 3 times what they used to cost, but I could not afford them at the time. And previous poster is correct - not many folks will cough up $1,000 or more for even one .22 and scope, so the "hands-on" experience can be very different...
 
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Whatever you do don’t get a Remington 597 , myself and three of my friends have all had one each and all three of them sucked ass. Don’t waste your money on one.
 
10/22 or Nylon 66...my son is 13 and has both.
Both have been reliable.
He started off with a Savage Rascal, then a BL22.
My daughter started with the same Rascal and is now onto the BL22.
 
I would recommend a bolt action rifle with magazine... Easier to teach, less confusion, relatively safer in the new hands... Got Savage Rascal for my kids, great when they are 7-8 yo, little short when they are 11-12...
 
bearhunter said:
I'm ok with your/his desire for a semi auto. There are lots of them out there at reasonable prices.

Why not tweak his interest in precision shooting and pick up a rifle that is capable of half inch or less groups at 50-100 yards??

I don't know of a semi auto that is capable of this but some are very accurate, including Browning BAR, Ruger 10/22 with modifications and some European offerings.

12 is a good age to start young people on accuracy before quantity.
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Totally agree more skill to develop and patience to be learned with a gun that can shoot accurately
 
Potashminer said:
So much "open endedness" in OP's question? "Best" for what? If "shooting" involves going to a range and plunking at targets being over-watched by a range boss, then I suppose the answer would be very different than if the young fellow is going to be out thinning out gophers in the pasture behind the barn. Has he been shooting at sparrows and magpies with a pellet gun since he was 8, or is this going to be his first "shooting on his own" experience? Is this going to be an understudy rifle for a few years, until he goes deer hunting with a larger cartridge?

The first .22 I used was my Dad's Cooey 60 - a bolt action. The first .22 that I bought (in my early 20's) was a Nylon 76, then traded that for a Ruger 10/22. My son's first .22 was a bolt action single shot Lakefield, which turns out also to be his son's first .22. It is now outgrown by both - my son had my 10/22 for several years, but it is back with me now - he has a lot more fun with an aperture sighted Win 9422 in the gopher patch, and his son just handed back the old Lakefield, and left with a CZ Silhouette, with a Meuller 4.5-14x40 scope on it. For my own use, besides the 10/22 that now wears an aperture sight set, I have a very nice Cooey 39, a Husqvarna 155A, a Ruger 77/22 22 Mag, a Ruger 96/22 22 Mag, and a Nylon 66, besides the .22 barrel in the Savage 24C. My grandkids with me at the shooting table use all of them - when they go for a walk, they take a manual action - bolt or hammer, and almost always a single shot.

My latest two purchases were both .22's, but a world apart -second last was a Schultz and Larsen single shot Model 61 "free rifle" - 15 pounds of unbelievable "goodness", the "old school" way (or at least as good as 1960 was!!) Last one is the opposite - a CZ Scout with the single shot loading platform plus a couple for 5 round mags. Probably should have bought this one 20 years ago - doing it this way, I am sure I get to pay 2 or 3 times what they used to cost, but I could not afford them at the time. And previous poster is correct - not many folks will cough up $1,000 or more for even one .22 and scope, so the "hands-on" experience can be very different...
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A great world of goodness typed here.
I taught my two with pellet and bb guns.
Then the old Cooey 39.
Less room for error in the early stages.

Thanks Potashminer, well typed.
 
Paul-ish said:
I want to buy my kid his first rifle.
He shoots everything I own but it's time for him to own one himself.

This will be strictly for plinking, Not hunting...
Semi auto for sure...
I already have a GSG-16 so I don't want another...

What do you guys recommend??
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10/22 with a compact stock.

I happen to have one for sale:)
 
bearhunter said:
Luke, keep in mind the 10/22 is a very reliable and great for plinking firearm, at a very affordable price.

Most people will not spend another $300 on a higher end rifle, especially a rimfire. To them it's just not worth it.

When they get something that works very well, for a reasonable length of time, as long as it's properly maintained, they're believers in miracles.

Most don't shoot a lot and the rifles will outlast them. For the folks that go out every weekend and shoot a couple of bricks?????

That's why they pump the model.
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For me, I see the 10/22 as an administrative firearm. Good to have around, but I don't enjoy them.

Lever action rimfire is fun. So is making accurate long range rimfire shots, with a bolt action rimfire.

Essentially, for me, the less power and reaction, the more drills and skill I need to make it more enjoyable.

22LR now, is about half price to 9mm reloaded.
 
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