EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Need some input on youth rifles from those of you that have little ones that shoot.  My son will be 5 in April and got a red ryder bb gun from grandpa for Christmas and LOVES it.  The kid is a natural and was hitting in the black on a 25 yard pistol target from 20 yards right outta the box.  So I figured id look into a cricket.  After doin some research ive found that just about everyone makes a rifle for younger kids and the days of the youth rifle just having a smaller stock are gone.  Everything about the rifles is smaller for young shooters.

To be hones I wasn't impressed with what I saw on the cricket website and from reading some reviews on line about the plastic pieces.  I also don't like that you have to pull back a knob on the back of the bolt to cock most of the ones I saw.  It looks as though the savage rifle (i think its the savage ive looked at a lot today and my brain is fried) actually cocks itself when the bolt is worked.

Anyone have any recommendations and opinions on any of the brands?  Good and bad are welcomed.

Savage or Marlin. Or if you want a really nice one ruger 77/22.

Just looked at the ruger 77/22 and that to me appears to be a full size gun with a smaller stock.  im referring to chipmunk, cricket, little rascal etc.  with length of pull less than 12 for kids.

stay away from Rossi...

Ruger made a small run of youth guns. Check gun broker and guns America. Best shooting 22 in my mind.

i cut the varrel and stock down on a 10/22 for my grandson of 7 just recently,couldnt keep him off of mine ;D any of the old remington bolts are goood candidates for that kinda surgery and very good guns to boot. they cock on closing or opening depends on model as its tough on little guys pullin the cockin piece back on the 1s metioned by you. the mew ruger americans are a great gun for the money but the LOP is 12 1/2 for the compact

Both my boys got a cricket at 5.  I think the cricket is a great first gun, I am a fan of single shots.  Ruger also makes a 10/22 with a collapsible stock that fits any size.


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Rascal man it feeds way better than a crickett ,no knob to pullback and it has a accu trigger

Hav u checked into the chipmunk .22s? They a lil pricey, but is a bolt action. Instead of buying me a chipmunk, my dad cut the stock and barrel down on an old rem bolt action .22 and put a williams peep sight on it and brazed the front sight back on. From whitetail down to tree rats, if it walked our neck of the woods, i could drop it in its track at 7yrs old. I can call my dad n c what the model was if u would like, BUT before cutting anything down. Check the atf regs and cross check the youth sized rifles with the regs. Regs say (if im not mistaken) barrel can be no shorter than 16" and stock possibly the same or no less than 12" or what even the length of an ar style collapseable stock is. If youth models are allowed to be shorter, then you may can get by with chopping it down yourself and staying legal, as long as you dont go no shorter than the shortest youth rifle on the open market.

I'll just say one thing.... That wen I was 9 years old I had a cricket and that knob that you have to pull back saved me from shooting myself and other numerous things that most defenatley didn't need to be shot at. At that young I would think more about safety than fun but it still needs to be fun. I'm not much I a gun person myself but I thought that cricket was the coolest thing in the world. I had a marlin lever action too that I really liked still hav both guns

I looked at a cricket for my daughter but decided on a savage cub. It shoots shorts, longs and lr. It has accutrigger and I mounted a 4x scope on it. It has been a great little rifle. She has killed several squirrels and I tote it coon hunting.

bought the cricket for my son when he was about 5....pain in the rear to load and single shot are the two disadvantages. The advantages are it's extremely light, very accurate (consistently shooting squirrels at 40-50 yards with open sights), very safe, and cheap. For the price, I thought it was a great tool for him to learn the fundamentals of shooting with besides a BB gun.


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Thanks guys.  Im definitely lookin for a single shot, bolt gun.  Ive though about modifying a full size one for him but id rather have one that's made for little ones.  Kid I have no intention of letting him run around with a rifle unsupervised.  My concern with the cricket is from what ive read is there are a lot of plastic pieces, for a hundred bucks I guess you cant complain, however I still have my first rifle and would like him to be able to say the same in 30 years, so I was kinda looking for input as far as that goes.

They make a break over barrel single shot 22-17hmr . Very small and easy to use

Check out the savage cub. Single shot, bolt action and will fit him

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/672/products_id/25426/Youth+Guns/Savage-Stevens%2060202%20315%2022S/L/LR%20YOUTH/

Ditto on the Cricket.  It's short, light, single shot, and safer than almost anything else out there.  And it's accurate.  Nobody wants to shoot when they can't hit anything.

Look at the Ruger American 22. My buddy just picked one up and it is a pretty sweet set up for a 22.

 http://www.ruger.com/products/americanRimfire/index.html?utm_source=gunsandgeartv.com&utm_medium=200x100banner&utm_term=Sept2013

Savage cub is a very nice first timers kid rifle. Can't go wrong with this one.

I would recommend a rem 700 I shot the one my grandpa bought my dad when he was a kid and my 2 boys have shot there first deer and hogs with it to it's been put to good use and now I'm searching for another for my kids but in a higher caliber I'm getting them 30-06 in rem 700 with muzzle brakers so they can shoot with no worries

Thanks guys, I looked at a cricket and I wasn't impressed.  It looks like it should cost a hundred bucks.  Now I just need to see if I can find a shop around that has a savage so I can compare.

Alapaha, I think a Remington 700 is a little more than a 5 year old needs to learn how to shoot.  however my son does have one already, however its taller than he is and chambered in 30-06, My dad killed his first deer with it, I killed my first with it and god willing so will lil man..