Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Chipmunk vs. Crickett... Which is Best?

I am getting a little guy his first 22 rifle. He’s very small framed and only 6 so I am going with a simple and small one. Does anyone have experience with the Chipmunk and Crickett brand single shot rifles? Is one better quality than the other?

Thanks!

I can't speak to the Cricket since I have never owned one. As for the Chipmunk, I purchase one many, many years ago (maybe 1980 or so) and that thing was built like a swiss watch and it was extremely accurate. Now I think "Chipmunk" that I knew went out of business and was later reopened under new management so they may not be the same today.

A note on the Chipmunk, years ago dealers could not keep them on the shelves here in SW Virginia because coon hunters were purchasing them as fast as they could get them. Their small size and light weight was just what a coon hunter wanted.

buy the savage rascal

Both the Chipmonk and Cricket lines are now made by Keystone Arms which I believe bought the Chipmunk makers out over 10 years ago...

They are both well made little rifles.

The problem with the Crickett, is there is no feed ramp to funnel in the cartridge. For a 5-6 year old with limited coordination, it is a pain in the AZZ to load. The same holds for adults with fat fingers..

Advantage-Savage Rascal.

Only experience I have is with the cricket, my sons did well with it, the keystone guys are good to go to. Another one to look at is henry mini bolt

Thanks. I’ll check out the Savage and Henry as well.

the new cricketts now have a floating feed ramp instslled

if you wanna buy just one 22lr for them go cz-455 scout. then later buy him an adult sized stock and barrel as the same stock/barrels from the fullsize cz 455 fit the scout.
good luck,
Big Ed

The Savage Rascal is a much better gun IMHO. Or, find a used Savage Cub. I bought 2 Cubs for my boys when they were young. I still use the Cub with 22 CB's for rabbits around the house.

Yeah, the newer Cricketts have a feed ramp. I've got one in 22lr and you can see in the pic below the red bit is the underside of the feed ramp. Also have one in 22mag and it does not have the feed ramp. For sure the ramps make it easier to load. Kids are big now so I set these up as super light 2 barrel pack rifle. Switched out the one screw that holds the barrel for a thumbscrew so it can pop on and off really quick. Also added the Crickett stock extender which adds a couple inches to the length of pull so it's way easier to shoot for an adult.

Have you considered the Ruger American Predator?

Small enough for a young child...but one that he can grow into as well.

I can’t speak on the Savage, but I bought my daughter a pink cricket and it’s dead nuts accurate. I liked it so much that when I ran across a good deal on a crickett, I bought it for myself. I don’t care that it’s pink too. It’s an excellent truck gun due to its short length.

+1 on the Savage Rascal. I bought one for #1 granddaughter last year.

Good to know. Thx.

Few years ago I spent a few months comparing them and purchased the Savage Rascal for my grandson. You said, "He’s very small framed and only 6." He will be able to handle the Rascal just fine. It was much easier for him to use than a Red Rider BB gun. I needed to remember that little guys don't always keep safety foremost in their minds. He quickly learned the simple Rascal mechanics of loading and shooting.

Have had a Chipmunk for around 40 years that my kids, and now grandkids started with. Still solid and accurate. Curious that I have never seen a used one for sale.
Anschutz made a "kids" 22 a few years ago that was impressive. My buddy eventually made me return it.
Like most of my opinions, my info is outdated by decades!

Yes, the older Chipmunk rifles were made like expensive rifles with walnut stocks. I think they got priced out of competition.

keystone is making the 722 of theirs in a compact model, but I agree that is an expensive option for a kid and I'm sure has a little longer lop than a cricket/chipmunk, would have to ask.

+1

DF

I agree. First gun I bought for my son was a Henry mini-bolt. While trim, and accurate, feeding it was a pain. I didn't do enough pre-purchase research. My buddy had a Rascal and what a difference.

I started my daughter on a rascal (comes in pink) at 6yo. In a year she tried the MP 15-22 with RDS and hasn’t shot the rascal since.

I was pretty impressed with the rascal though. She was knocking down sillywets at 50m with regularity. The peep sights were pretty easy for her.

The 15-22 isn’t a bad way to go the stock collapses down pretty short.

I do not trust a pull-cock bolt for a new young shooter, I much prefer the safety on a Savage Rascal. I fear the weak hand and wrist strength of a youngster can cause an accidental discharge.

Cz Scout great quality.Mid 3s for a Cz457

Check out the rock island armory m14y from classic firearms, 10 rd mag, push forward safety and no pulling to cock. $103

^^^^ This ^^^^

My first .22 rim-fire single shot rifle as a kid cocked like that and having to manually pull back the rather stout (for a kid) spring loaded cocking hammer before every shot soon became not only a hassle but frustrating too when it resulted in missed opportunities at live game so I started to sneak and carry it cocked when no grownups were around which was very risky unsafe.

Being very much 'into' 22 LR's, I bought and tried out for my kids and science===> a Crickett, a Savage Cub, and a Savage Rascal, in that order.

The Crickett was the least desirable of the three IMO. They have no safety, you have to pull the cocking piece to the rear to make it ready to fire, and lastly the rear mount for a scope is not very strong (the rear of the receiver is split so a conventional base or mount will not work). Also though apparently moot on newer production guns, it had no feed ramp... each round had to be placed 'in' the chamber.

The Savage Rascal has a safety, a feed ramp, better iron sights, a much better trigger that can be adjusted (or modified easily) and the receiver is drilled and tapped for (weaver) bases and IIRC is also grooved for a scope.

The Cub was the nicest of the three, but unfortunately they are discontinued and were replaced by the 'Rascal'. The upside of the Rascal is that the price is significantly lower, though except for the stock it is essentially the same rifle.

I was impressed with the accuracy of all three rifles, all shot about the same at 50 yards. For an adult they are challenging to shoot well, due to that teenie forend and the incredibly light weight.

Due to the compactness and light weight, I was holding on to the Rascal as a rifle to carry in a backpack for grouse (legal here in Oregon to shoot with a rimfire), as I can shoot it more accurately than a pistol. I would have kept the Rascal... except my nephews daughter needed it more than I.

The original Chipmunk's were made here in the Rogue Valley, Hence the Rogue Rifle Co. name on the original Chipmunk's. The owner of the rifle company unfortunately took it upon himself to unjustifiably shoot another man and found himself in prison. An outfit in Idaho bought the company and made the rifles for a few years. Later Keystone came along and started making the very same rifle and calling it the Crickett. Later they designated some of their rifles as the Chipmunk model, what they needed for that designation I do not know.

Another contender in this size and weight class is the the Henry. But I'd already had experience with the Crickett and the Henry also has a split rear receiver, so I skipped it.


In these threads someone will always come along and recommend the CZ Scout. The CZ Scout is better than any of the above rifles in my opinion, the trigger aside (I've had a couple). However it is also more than double the street price of the Rascal (here anyway). But more importantly it is a much larger rifle, If the kid is truly 'small' the Rascal may be the better fit, best to handle them to see for sure.


Jerry

Was looking at these just tonight. Keystone has nice walnut stocks, even adult sizes, and SS barrels available, quit a list of options actually. The 722s a couple of range pals have are good shooters with nice workmanship. Not sure which was which, but one just appealed more to me than the other. They make pistol versions too, for Dad (or Grandpa) of course.

Yup, kids have a lot of trouble cocking them. The COO Savage is far easier for small shooters.

I've since spoken with a sales guy at Keystone. Best I can tell, the two lines are mostly the same, but the Crickett has a polymer cocking knob and front sight, while the Chipmunk's are steel. The other difference is the stock choices available. The synthetics are restricted to the Crickett, as is (don't ask me to explain this) the adult-sized walnut.

A new item, available maybe this week, is a folding .410 made in Turkey. 18" barrel, short stock, and back-bored (apparently) to reduce recoil. Others are importing the same gun, notably Academy, but with long barrels. The salesman said the ones he's seen had very nice walnut.