I recently acquired a 10/22 with the intentions of setting it up for my daughter. She lacks alittle being ready but was curious what setups yall have used in the past as for optics.
I've considered a red dot to help simplify things but also considered a low powered small scope to help her learn about eye relief and such.
Please share you experience and knowledge on what worked best for yall and why. Thanks

The Leupold VX-1 2-7x32 is a decent and inexpensive rimfire scope. That would be my suggestion.

Leupold vx-1 or vortex crossfire, both have pretty good lifetime warranties... if your kids are like mine you willl probably need them

2.5x Leupold

This. Light, bright, and easy to get behind. They fit perfectly on the top rail of the 10/22.

I have several of these on 10/22's:

Weaver Classic Rimfire 4x28

Tough as nails, good glass and reasonably priced. They are about perfect for a rimfire unless your only goal is to try and shoot tiny groups at longer ranges.

+1 on the Weaver 4X.

Go with a 4x or less fixed scope. I have three of the 2-7 Leupold rimfire models and two of them shift POI when the magnification is changed.

It's important you get a scope that's easy to "get behind" when it's going to be used for kids.

Aimpoint, adjustable LOP, and a bipod makes it pretty easy for them.

Not to mention pink zebra....

3-9 Tasco World Class

Just put a weaver rv 9 on a 10 22 I just put together. I shot other 22's at the same time that had Burris and Leupold 4x scopes , the rv9 was way way better in the rimfire application. I am very very happy with the weaver rv 9. Imo if you want a nice rimfire scope it needs to be AO because of the much shorter distances.

+2 on the 4x Weaver.

Depends on the kid. Not just age but their ability. Some kids (and adults) struggle with even the most forgiving magnification.

Tasco sells some insanely cheap red dots that hold up for a long, long time.



Travis

Started my daughter at 8 with a SS 1-4 classic on my 10/22.
Built her own last year and put a Clearidge 3-9 on it.
She is now 11 and gravitates to my integrally suppressed 10/22 with a SS 1-4 and the CX4 Storm with a Sig Romeo5.

My two kids didn't get optics on their .22's until they became proficient with iron sights. I don't believe in doing everything the old way but I do believe in this. I don't remember what optic was mounted when they started, they are grown, but the two rifles now wear a Clearidge Rimfire 3-9 and a Vortex Diamondback 2-7 Rimfire. I like both.

Can I ask why you did that?




Travis

Great idea, you need to walk before you can run.

Scoping a .22 is optional, many reasons why.

Example a skunk from 25 ft....................

You can't kill a skunk from 25' with a scope?

Just trying to understand the motivation here.



Travis

Can't say I agree. Youngest was 6 (pic above) first time out. Little 22 plate rack, 4 outta 5 first go and the miss was because she tried "the little bitty one, Daddy"

I say make it easy peasy outta the gate....because, it phuqqin is.

They can learn open sights and all that jazz later. Don't mind early comfidence.

I like for my youngsters to start out on open sights. The concept carries over to when they are ready for handguns. As to optics, I think my (or my granddaughter's) 10-22 has a 3-9AO .22 scope on it. It is in her father's safe and I haven't seen it for a while. The guy has a few shortcomings, one of which is that he doesn't have enough guns. No matter, as that leaves room in his safe for several of mine and I don't need to haul them back and forth.

Best,

Jack

Why?



Dave

Smart Dave:

Why not.

Seriously.

Why?




Dave

I have been shooting a .22 rifle for around 50 years,
and have had no reason for a scope for most of those
years.

My first shooting was on gophers, pasture shooting, they
had a bounty on gopher tails. 5 cents per tail, that
money came in handy around the 4th of July for fireworks.

A .22 rifle is a tool for many farm types, rodents,
blackbirds in the crop.

I have never shot a .22 at a target.

Live and learn.

I have a cricket for her with the little ring and post sight, not sure the correct terms but wanted to get her setup for the 10/22. Thanks for all the responses. I guess I'm with Dave on this, why not put an optic and make it easy. I don't shoot anything except a shotgun without an optic and have a few red dots on them. I'm a lot more accurate with optics!!!

For starters, iron sights are always a good option but a Burris Fast Fire III will probably help with accuracy/speed. Much easier to use and more forgiving than any scope, plus it's light weight.



Once they outgrow that, I'd recommend the Bushnell AR/22 2-7x32 BDC. I liked 'em so much I actually put one on each of my 10/22s! They make these for the AR-15 as well and I really don't see any difference between those and this rimfire version (heavy for a rimfire scope) and the adjustable parallax actually goes all the way down to 10 yards which is a very nice feature.

Just shot one of mine today as a matter of fact and its the best rimfire option you can find for 2-3x the $$ IME. I paid ~$115 for mine which I thought was a deal but I just checked and you can pick on up on Amazon Prime for $94.49!!

Here's the link - [b][color:#FF0000]Bushnell AR/22 at Amazon[/color][/b]

Don't laugh, but I bought three of these some years back. They take a licking and keep on ticking...

https://swfa.com/optics/browse/riflescopes/tasco-1x30-red-dot-38mm-sight-1.html

And if your kid drops it off a cliff, you're only out $30.




Dave

Either the 2-7x28 Leupold or Weaver RV7 are nice matches size wise.

Depending on the configuration and intended use, I have 2-7x28s and 4-12x40s on my 10/22s.

I am inclined to let them start with something fun to build their interest then develop their skills from there.

Started my kids with a NEF Sportster single shot and a 1" tube red dot. The kids picked it up quick and had a blast. Other non-shooters and first timers tried it and became enthused since they were hitting things right out of the gate.

Then I added to the mix an accurate old Remington 514 with basic iron sights, my 77/22 with a NECG receiver sight and misc. scoped rifles. Definitely wanted to include the irons in the mix.

One of my kids purchased CZ452 trainer when he was old enough and the first time out was hitting pop cans at 75 yards (off the bench) with the factory irons so I don't think starting out with a red dot hurt him at all.

Let my step-grand-daughter start out with both irons and optics on the rimfires. She gravitated toward the 10/22 with a 2-7x but then found it interesting to learn she could also hit stuff without using a scope. I used to think you had to learn iron sights first cause I did in my youth. Nowadays scopes are so common that some kids are really proud that they can use irons; cause some of their friends can't. Like they've mastered some kind of ancient lost art that hardly anyone uses anymore.

The Ruger open sight is very prone to breaking off,
happened twice to me.

I have a Simmons .22 mag 4x32 scope on mine now,
nice small, cheap scope, under $40.00.

4X is all I prefer on mine.

Kind of like driving a stick...LOL!!

[quote=Farmboy1]The Ruger open sight is very prone to breaking off,
happened twice to me.

funny you say that, I had to buy a rear sight due to it being broke when I bought the rifle.
I kinda think I'm gonna put a red dot on it with all the folks saying they like the setup.
Thanks for all the input

We just scoped my teenage sons 10/22.
After seeking advice, and looking at dozens of options within a reasonable price range,
I narrowed it down to a few, then let him look over them on-line.
He chose a Burris Droptine 2X7.
After two trips to the range, I am impressed.
Very bright and clear, and seems to trac perfect.
Positive click adjustments and generous eye box.

Ordered for my son to try. He is having trouble with irons right now, but loved a Primary Arms micro on a Ruger Charger, so this is going on the pellet gun we shoot in the shop. (Single-stroke pneumatic, not a springer)

I never used one on an air rifle but they have been great on 10/22's.




Travis

I have one of the CMP used single-stroke pneumatic Daisy M853s with the spacers out for the little guy.

You need one. Cheap to shoot and accurate.

http://thecmp.org/cmp_sales/rifle_sales/air-rifles/sporter-air-rifles/

No need to do the usual paperwork either, just fill out the order form and mail it in with a check or your CC#

Dave, you asked "why" about starting the kids out on open sights.

Two things and neither are anything other than my opinion.

Tradition. I started out over seventy years ago on the only functioning gun we had, Dad's single shot Winchester .22. No new guns available to the civilian market during WWII. It was what we had and I was expected to become profficient with it. I had some big shoes to fill. Even into his eighties, Dad was as good with open sights as anyone that I ever saw use them.

Secondly, it seems to me that kids need to know how to use irons, in an emergency if the scope fails or is broken by an accident.

Once they get the idea, let them have receiver sights or optics.

My 2c and no fuss with anyone who disagrees. I do things as I like. Others are free to do as they like.

Best wishes,

Jack

I understand the tradition of starting a kid off with irons, but I'm more inclined to park the kid behind good equipment, sized to fit, to shorten the learning curve. Kids hands are much weaker than adults, hence a light trigger is very important. When you see a kid struggling to get a heavy trigger to release, you release they won't be able to learn to place there shots when their energy and focus is on getting the hammer to drop.

I've used a fixed 4x and a red dot for the kids, not sure which is best. Can't really go wrong on either. Even though "it's only a 22" that heavy bolt slamming home will kill a cheap scope in time.

I used to think that way. I am old, and damnit we had irons in boot camp!!! We hit easily at 600!!!

It turns out that people end up being better shots starting with an optic, then, after they know what they are doing with the optic, then learning irons.

Now I just take pleasure in knowing I shot expert with irons in boot camp, and none of the young Marines now can say that....

Travis I haven't been able to post for several days. When I go to this website it immediately redirects to another one but it finally stopped.

I don't exactly understand your question but after reading my post believe it could have been worded better. Growing up we didn't have scopes on any of our family rifles. They also weren't high end. The arsenal included an unsporterized SMLE .303 and 1903 A3, and a single shot bolt action .22. Don't remember who made the .22 but do remember it seemed to be very heavy. My family raised commercial cattle and hunting was an after thought to everyone but me. I bought a 700 ADL .270 when I was 13 in 1972 with my calf money. Never thought to scope it, wasn't familiar with them. Went off to college and of course the people I hung out with hunted and I was exposed to scopes. In 1981 when I graduated the first thing I did was buy a Weaver 4X with graduation gift money and life was all of the sudden much better. I scoped all the subsequent rifles I owned. When my now adult children started shooting I bought Model 60's for them and didn't scope them. My reasoning which had no scientific basis was because my impression was the people I knew that learned how to shoot with iron sights where better shots as a rule than people that learned with optics. I'd also read that somewhere. So that's what we did. I eventually put scopes on them and then upgraded the scopes a few years ago.

So that is the old way of doing things which I don't think is always the best. Because I'd always heard you should start a kid out on a pump or single shot shotgun. I started out on an ancient Montgomery Wards 16 gauge SxS. Started child number one on a Mossberg Bantam he didn't care for the recoil and it was not a fun experience. When his older sister wanted to start dove hunting I thought about it and remembered the heavy recoil of my 16 gauge and her brothers experience so I got her a youth semi-auto and it went much better. I was told by many people it was a bad idea(old fashioned way of thinking) but put a longer plug in to make it a single shot and decided it was much better than the old custom.

If this doesn't answer your question please let me know.

Thanks for the Tasco red-dot recommendation. It is exactly what the doctor ordered for the little-guy!

My daughter's setup. Old vari-x III that was laying around. She loves it. Started shooting it when she was 4. The Tapco stock was the best $105 I've spent in a long time.

I like the idea of a red dot. If not, a low magnification scope with LOTS of eye relief is the route to take. Take a look yourself and see if it's easy to get behind. Small, inexperienced kids struggle with short eye relief scopes that have an eye box that's hard to settle into.

"put the dot on the can, pull the trigger" kids love it. Easy and very forgiving.

decided to go a different route. I bought a cricket a year or so ago and decided this was best to start her with. Lop is 10 1/2 after a little trimming.

Thought it turned out pretty good after the suggested red dot was installed

Re Bushnell AR Optics Drop Zone-22 BDC Rimfire 2-7x32 with parallax adjustable down to 10 yards:

I phoned Bushnell last week asking about this specific scope and their tech guy told me that the parallax adjusts down to 20 yards. On the Bushnell web site this specific scope is not listed and the closest offering, an AR 2-7x32, has fixed parallax. Wonder if the 10 yard parallax is being discontinued and the ones on Amazon are what remains in stock?

I prefer a scope with mil-dots for my shooting but I put an Ultra-Dot optic on mine for youngsters plinking and it's been a good choice.

Phoned Bushnell again and talked to a tech specialist. He got back to me by e-mail the next day and wrote:

The AR92732 model does have a side parallax dial that starts at 10 yards.

Yeah, the little-guy loves the red-dot...



But he likes the chainsaw-shotgun combo better.....