New air rifle for the kids? What's hot and what's not?

[gwilder]

Daisy 853 Avanti. This is the cadet training rifle. Trigger is ok, but can be improved if you want. Cocking effort is slightly less than an equivalent break barrel (490fps). Zero recoil.
Single Stroke Pnuematic .177
Wood stock with spacers to adjust for length of pull.
Diopter sights.
High quality barrel.

Daisy 953 TargetPro. This is the entry level version of the above rifle. Regular price is around $110, which is about half of the above.
Synthetic stock without spacers.
Open sights. Cheap scope included in box.
Basic quality barrel. Accuracy is still close to the above rifle.

When your kid can shoot better than this rifle, you'll be well over $1000 to get something more accurate (in an air rifle).

 

[Jager]

I got my boys red Ryder's for Christmas one year...they work but have a terrible trigger and require a bit more cocking force than I expected.

What my dad got me when I was a kid was a daisy 840 (renamed grizzly?). His reasoning was it had an action most similar to a "real" gun. It would shoot bb's as a repeater or pellets as a single shot. You could work the 'bolt' and it has a trigger safety. Cocking effort was less than his springer.
Many a pop can met their demise to that gun.
Check it out if you don't mind plastic.

 

[Bearc]

Daisy 853 Avanti. This is the cadet training rifle. Trigger is ok, but can be improved if you want. Cocking effort is slightly less than an equivalent break barrel (490fps). Zero recoil.
Single Stroke Pnuematic .177
Wood stock with spacers to adjust for length of pull.
Diopter sights.
High quality barrel.

Daisy 953 TargetPro. This is the entry level version of the above rifle. Regular price is around $110, which is about half of the above.
Synthetic stock without spacers.
Open sights. Cheap scope included in box.
Basic quality barrel. Accuracy is still close to the above rifle.

When your kid can shoot better than this rifle, you'll be well over $1000 to get something more accurate (in an air rifle).

Daisy 953 with scope (3-9 X 32) was on sale at TSC for $65 last week. Hard to beat. Single pump underlever rifle, Very accurate. It will be on sale again. CO2 no good outside in cold weather. (I can supply a chart about how CO2 falls off pressure when cold). NOW.....the most accurate BB gun is the Daisy Avanti Champion 499. A couple good choices in my mind.

Bearc

 

[Newfoundlandrover]

Either a Daisy Red Rider or Daisy Cub. Anything else and you're opening yourself up for a potential injury. A $50 bill well spent until the basic safety rules have been learned.