Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns First pellet rifle for 8 yr old dude

Looks like they all had a great time!!!

DF, is this isn't a Happy Face I don't know what is!



Beautiful 20 gauge you have there.

Great Job young man.

Yeah he was pretty happy. Seems his Mom and Dad bought in better than I thought. They could see how much it meant to him.

So, slow progress is still progress.

DF

Your grandson is gonna remember this Christmas for a long time! Nicely handled by you and by his folks!

I think you’re right. I was amazed how well his parents went along. And they even shot the shotguns.

Although my daughter was raised a good part of her youth on a good sized cattle farm, she was never interested in horses, tractors, cows, etc. and I never pushed her. Could you believe I could raise a daughter to adulthood with her never shooting a gun. Well it happened.

So, at age 40, she shoots a shotgun. And seemed to enjoy it. Go figure.

DF

Here's the 28 ga. Merkel I let them shoot. They didn't know much about the gun; I didn't tell them. May have made them nervous.

DF

Love the wood! Looks like English Walnut? What type of finish does it have?

Gotta tell us the history that would have scared them? lol

I think Merkel uses Turkish walnut. Not sure. Someone may want to chime in on that.

They may have been a bit squirmish shooting a gun that was worth a good chunk of change. Of course I’d never burden them with that. Just enjoy it for what it is.

SIL had shot the 1100 20 ga, definitely in a different league.

Amazingly, daughter and SIL said the 28 ga kicked more than the 20 ga 1100. The 28 isn’t that light. Just goes to show how efficiently a gas gun handles recoil compared to a fixed breech gun.

DF

Looks like a great time. I'm coming late to this discussion, but if the air rifle being used is a relatively low velocity model, say around 500-600 fps, relatively light pellets are a good match for the gun as they shoot more efficiently and are easier on the spring. The heavier pellets will work OK but they wear out the spring faster.

I use Crosman Premium wadcutters in my Beeman R7 (a low velocity rifle) and they weigh 7.4 grains. Heavy .177 pellets, like 10 grains, are better suited to a more powerful air rifle.

In my .177 Beeman R9, which is somewhat more powerful than an R7, I like RWS Meisterkugeln pellets which are an 8.2 grain wadcutter or H&N Field Target Trophy which weigh 8.66 grains and have a rounded nose.

If you don't care about spring wear or efficiency you can disregard all this.

Thanks for that info. I’m ever learning about a subject I’m not that educated about.

I doubt it’ll get enough use to make a difference.

Thanks to all for the help and support. You guys are great.

DF

You are a great man too DF!

Unfortunately when I was born both of my grandfathers had passed. If I were to have a grandfather, I would very much want one like you. In my estimation, you are a wonderful man in every conceivable way, your grandson is a very fortunate young man.

If you do order the Air Arms Diabolo Field Heavy 10.3 gr. pellets, let us know how they worked in your grandson's new rifle.

Wishing you and your family an exceptional, healthy, and joyous 2024!

Cheers ~

Thanks, KB.

And the whole crew for all the help.

DF

Great thread. Realized around Christmas that I completely skipped over pellet guns for my 11 year old. Went straight from bb’s to a 10/22. lol

Am thinking he needs something like this for his birthday.

A .22 would be better, but considering I barely got a pellet rifle slipped thru, it was the best that could be done. At least he was able to take it home and can shoot it in his Old Metairie back yard.

He had been to a bud’s camp across Lake Ponchartrain and his bud’s Dad let him shoot an AR clone .22. He hit the targets, got the bug to shoot.

Baby steps, but at least in the right direction.

DF

The beauty of the pellet rifle, he can shoot it more places which means more practice.

And the trigger isn't bad. It's two stage with a long first stage, very manageable second. My 8 yr old shot it pretty well.

I was generally pretty pleased with the little Ruger. Bud's had the best price, in the $70+ range. Of course a bit more with tax and shipping.

Let us know what you decide.

DF

Congrats to you and looks like a happy shooting family! Now that you got the foot the door this Christmas, what's planned for NEXT Christmas? 10/22? 410?

Agree with the ability to shoot more. I’ve been meaning to set up some kind of bb/pellet trap in the corner of the back yard. Oldest is responsible enough that I’d let him shoot back there with only partial supervision and would let the 7 year old shoot as long as his brother was keeping an eye on him. Hell, I could definitely use the freehand practice, need to buy something for myself. Have wanted a Beeman R7 for a while….

As far as boy #1, birthday isn’t until May so plenty of time. May order one of these once the wallet recovers from Christmas and hide it away.

Yeah, those credit cards do get pretty hot this time of year. Gotta let them cool a bit.

DF

That's a great question.

Not sure; will have to give it some thought.

DF

Edited to add, ya think a bolt gun may be better for a beginner than a 10-22? Nothing wrong with the 10-22, I have a couple. But a single shot bolt gun is what I started with, a Winchester 67, still have mine. But the stock may be a bit long and I don't want to cut it. Probably be better to just get one for him.

What do you guys recommend?

DF

Lots of people seem to think a semi auto is unsafe for kids but I disagree. My thought is make everything as fun as possible and nothing is more fun than a 10/22. Both of mine started with a single shot cricket then moved to a 10/22.

I explained to them that we don’t do mag dumps and we’re aiming carefully and making every shot count. They rarely even ask if they can “rapid fire”.

Worked great for my oldest and just got my 7yo a 10/22 compact for Christmas.

https://ruger.com/products/1022Compact/specSheets/31114.html

Plus the fact that you can modify it and build it up together as time goes by makes it really cool. My oldest got a magpul stock for his for Christmas. Well move on to trigger parts, bolt releases, etc over the spring/summer.

Add in some gongs, spinners, kyl racks, and a lot of 22 ammo and I’ll be very confident in their abilities come deer season.