Youth Rifles

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TT1900

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Hello,

Looking for some advice/input from those who have bought rifles for young children. My eldest is finally to the age & stature that I’m considering buying her a rifle. I’ve had her shooting air rifles, rested, for just over a year and she understands the basics. The CZ 457 Scout has my interest due to the reduced dimensions, iron sights, reported quality, provision of a single shot adapter, and aftermarket support - should be easy to find a full-size stock if she decides to keep it long-term. I have 2 more coming up behind her so if she loses interest or upgrades it’ll go to one of them. As such, happy to pay more for better quality as required.

Does anybody have experience with the CZ scouts? Anything I’m overlooking?

Any other recommendations/suggestions/options you’ve used and enjoyed?

Thanks,
 
I can't comment on the 457 scout, but I have the 452 scout and it is an awsome rifle. I put a slip on sissy pad on it and shoot it myself. Very accurate and fun. The only thing that might be a negative is that it is heavy.
I have also had a chipmunk which was excellent, a crickett that was a real cheapo, and a marlin 915y which is pretty good but heavy too.
You can't go wrong with a cz. Spend the extra money now and enjoy it for decades.
 
No experience with the scout but I love my 452 Varmint. Too heavy for a smaller person but the quality is there even after 5 years of many rounds down the range. As you say you can always swap out stocks and you have 2 more children that could benefit from the CZ. A different stock May be on the expensive side so you may want to keep it for the others and let he go onto something that fits better as she grows. More expensive but saves the effort of fitting a new stock if the old one is otherwise great. Smart move to go with the single shot adapter I believe it is something like $16 from some site sponsors if I remember right. Resale value is pretty good to boot.
Your daughter has a good Dad👍
 
There are features of the Rascal that make it very well-suited to young/small-framed/inexperienced shooters..but are less well-suited to experienced, larger shooters. Especially if you want to keep their interest. :) I'd suggest a scoped bolt-action gun a little bigger, no tube mags...but magazine fed. This will allow for quicker reloads, reloads that don't require the gun to be flipped over or held at a certain angle, less handling of the ammunition while actually shooting, etc. Bolt guns are easier to trouble-shoot, easier to clear rounds if there are issues, easier to clean, easier to render safe and KNOW it's safe, etc.

I'm not a fan of semis as a rule, and my experience has shown (my 3 kids, 1 nephew, 2 nieces, etc.) that semis don't do as good a job holding interest. HITTING things takes a long time to get old, and a scoped 22 and some reactive targets-you may run out of interest before they do. lol In my family, the quickest way to keep a shooting session short was to just bring paper targets. A bag of inflated balloons, clay pigeons, pop cans, etc.=on the right track.

The CZ452 Scout is/was a truly excellent little rifle, and probably the best choice still. I know very little about the CZ scouts that followed, but I imagine they're great too. If the kids are large enough to handle an average-sized 22 rifle, there are...of course...lots of options. Savage/Marlin on the economical end, CZ/Tikka/Anschutz as things move up. Lots of interesting, quality/used guns out there too. Not a huge fan of Cooey 22s in spite of how often they're recommended for kids. My kids never liked shooting the 39/75/60. Neither did I, but I did love the size of those old 39s.
 
My daughter is 9, and has been shooting a Rascal for about 2 years. She loves it, and has resisted my attempts to move her on to a repeating rifle. It is very light, which is a big draw for her. She also finds it very accurate, and the single shot element is very simple for her to manage.
 
Appreciate the input.

Weight is one of my concerns. I dislike the thought of the cheapy plastic rifles, but at the same time if that makes it more enjoyable for her and keeps her interested then it’s fit for purpose. The Henry is one I hadn’t had on my radar but it is now. That may strike a nice middle ground, though I’m not too keen on the front loading tube mag.

Ideal solution is to let her choose within preselected options I suppose.
 
I have been putting together 10/22s for myself for quite a while, not high grade/price target models but sporters with upgraded sights and low power optics.
I generally pick up a used 10/22 on the cheap and find people that are selling their factory parts since they are upgrading. It is pretty easy to find a cheap stock nobody wants and then cut down to a kids size. The synthetic stocks work perfect for this especially due to the light weight of them. I also picked up a couple of the 16.5" compact barrels a while back and was actually able to sell the long barrels I had without much of a loss. So now I have a couple of short rifles for my boys and with a turn of a screw I can swap stocks and have a rifle that fits me too. After collecting 10/22 parts for quite a while I also have a half dozen magazines which are great for loading one or two rounds a piece for the little guys. My boys don't have any trouble at all loading and unloading the magazines from the rifle or working the bolt.
I even have a stainless rifle for my wife with a stock I made for her too.

I actually bought a Rascal for my son but for some reason he found the actual grip on it to be a bit awkward, it like it has too much angle on it. He had trouble getting a good hold on it and seems to prefer the cut down 10/22 stock instead. No the 10/22 is not as accurate as the CZ but for our purposes it works well as an open sight plinker.

No doubt you will do very well with the CZ Scout if that is what you choose but figured I might give you another option. Good luck and have fun with the kids. I found it best to shoot at their speed and if they get bored or discouraged at the range it is best to pack up and get some ice cream.
 
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