Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Youth sized 22s

My daughter and her family are visiting. She asked me how old she was the first time she shot a gun, and I told her probably four or five. I guess that meant my son-in-law won their argument over if my granddaughter is old enough to start shooting. Now I've been asked to teach her how.

Unfortunately, the gun my kids learned with has moved on down the road. (I gave it to a friend in the military when he wanted to teach his kids to shoot.)

Now I'm in the market. What's the best youth sized 22 out there today? Wal-Mart has the cricket on clearance for 97 bucks, but the one I had before didn't seem very accurate, which made shooting it less than enjoyable. Is there something better available? Thanks for your help.

Thinking there is a Ruger American that has interchangeable portion of the butt. The compact has a 12.5" lop & for 20 bucks you buy an additional butt that changes the LOP to 13.75".

More money than a Cricket, but a gun that you or the grandkid can still use after growing up.

CZ Scout.

It comes with a single shot "adapter" that can be replaced with a 5-10 round magazine later on.

I bought one for ME! Then had a 1" pad installed on the butt, to increase the LOP.

Plus installed a Leupold 4X rimfire scope.

Great little accurate bolt action rifle!

Virgil B.

My grand kids love the T/C Hotshot I found at the LGS. Even though their uncle bought them each a Henry youth lever action, they still go for that little T/C. A bit hard to find now though.

I taught my son with a Chipmunk (very similar to a Cricket) and it was accurate enough for having some fun and getting him started. I blew up balloons, stapled the end to a target board and had him shoot them; fun and immediate response. Then you go on to tin cans, clay targets etc. For young kids, this is more fun than punching holes in paper or trying to shoot small groups. That can come later. I think my son was 6 yrs old when I started him. Oh, and put a scope on it. You want them to have fun and some success.

ps, I glass bedded the action and free-floated the barrel. It was a quick and easy job and - - - it's what I do to most of my rifles.

Yep,best choice overall. You can add a full-sized stock when the youth grows into it, swap barrels if you want another chambering, it's like a Contender, only it's a repeating boltgun, (if you use the 5-10 round magazines).

Henry has a couple great optionis.
CZ does too.
I like the old Marlin 15Y if you can find one......although finding pretty much anything now days without being robbed on price is difficult.

Ruger American is a great choice.

How little, if little little 6yo or so, cricket, or the tc option would be good choices. I went with a cricket with a reddot on it. Youth stocks can still be a little long for kids 9-10yo. My son now shoots a henry youth lever. Its tons of fun.

Thank you all for the input. We went and checked out a cz yesterday. It's really too big for her for probably another four or five years at least. Can't find any of the others in stock nearby, but did find a savage rascal locally. This will be strictly a range gun for teaching gun safety and handling, and basic marksmanship.

P. S. The crickett we looked at, had a manual cocking knob, that once loaded and cocked, had no way to unload without pulling the trigger and easing the knob forward. Not sure that's a good idea in a kid's gun.

I ended up buying my 5 year old boy a Savage Rascal for his 5th bday and it's a good little gun. He used a borrowed Cricket for about 6 months prior and we weren't that enamored with it.

The Savage with a Simmons scope is minute of clay pigeon at 50 yards every shot. I haven't shot serious groups with it. It is so tiny I doubt I could perform with it anyway, but it is perfect for the little guy.

agree on th e manual coking on kids gun. I always avoid those in older guns for that reason.

ruger american is a great choice

Of the really small rifles hands down the savage rascal.

Couldn't agree more. For small kids it's the clear winner. The cz and ruger are to heavy for them to manipulate well.

Take a look at rock island armory m14y, solid gun for about $109

we have never had an issue uncocking our cricket. Really no difference than letting a hammer down on a shotgun, etc.

Looks slick, couldn't tell by its pic, does it have a grooved reciever also?

I went a different direction with my daughter. I traded for a stainless 10/22 and then bought a pink Tapco adjustable stock for an AR style setup. My daughter started shooting it when she was 4. She just turned 12 and she has probably run 2,500+ rounds through that gun. She has also killed 11 deer with 11 shots in the last 4 years with a .243 and when people ask where she learned to shoot so well, I point to the .22.......

I never had an issue with the one I used for my kids. But my granddaughter is the type that when she sees an adult do something, she thinks she can do it, too. I'm not willing to take any chances.