Whats out there whats your recommendation?

Ruger 10/22.

Hard to beat. Maybe a Marlin 60.

Marlin 39a or Winchester lowwall.

Short story: A guy came into the store one Saturday morning and wanted to buy a 10-22 for his young lad. I tried rather strongly to dissuade him and to buy a bolt-action instead. But he insisted and went home with a nice Ruger.

Monday he was back, asking to trade the 10-22 on the bolt action I had recommended. I asked why.

"Well, I took him out Saturday afternoon for his first shooting lesson. On his third shot, he managed to hit the pop can I had set out, and he immediately swung around and yelled 'I hit it Dad!' And there I was staring down the muzzle of that rifle with seven rounds ready to go, and my boy quivering with excitement - finger tight on the trigger. Where's that bolt gun?"

H&R single shot....

Who's the "new shooter?" how will the gun be used? not enough info...

should have thought the kid safety first and muzzle control.

Anything but an autoloader is actually a good choice.

That would have been the long version of the story. He HAD, but the excitement of shooting and actually hitting that can overcame any teaching the kid had received.

And my point is that it very well might happen to anyone else.

With a 10/22 or other semi a kid will learn to go pow pow and not learn shoot, Were as with a SS they will learn to hit what they aim at.

How big and how old is the shooter? Male or female? Training for self defense, plinking, hunting or all three?

We really need a few more details to make a good suggestion.

There's nothing ever wrong with a magazine-fed, bolt action .22 for a new shooter. My choice: CZ 452 of whatever variety floats your boat.

For Christmas bought a 10-22 for my 15 yr old grandson. Love it! No regrets.

Age of new shooter and price range?

Very young shooter 5-7yrs--Chipmunk
7-12yrs---CZ Scout
12-15yrs---Marlin 39
16+ --- CZ 452
If you want them to lean to shoot and not waste ammo get a bolt or a lever.
Any of the old Winchester single shots make a great 1st rifle that can be handed down for generations.

Very sound advice. We see too many "spray and pray" artists and not enough marksmen.

I agree....... remember guns last a life time,,,don't skimp

I have a half dozen different 22s. The one that I use the most is my 77/22. Its the one that just 'feels' the best to pick up and shoot. Not the cheapest option out there, but a really nice rifle.

Nothing wrong with a Henry lever action .22. I bought my son one when he was about six. It's an accurate little rifle and it was just right for his size at the time.

I'm gettin my youngest one of those....^^^^^^^

To the OP:
I have a Marlin Model 15YN I could make you a deal on. Shoot me a PM if interested.

I preach this as well, but after a while you figure out its like telling 16 year olds to wear a rubber... you just dont sound very fun saying it.

Started with Crickets for the twin grandsons, will move them up to the Remington #4 rolling block in the next year then maybe the Mossberg 351C in another year or so.

OC put some thought in that rotation!

7-8 year old range, not an auto loader.
Looking for a good quality gun that will be handed down to his son.

Savage makes a 22 with peep sites called the Rascal that has a way better trigger than a Chipmunk. Was definitely in the running when I purchased a 22 for my 2 children last year.

They shoot air rifles in 4H and at home so we have had a decent amount of training. So I ended up last year buying a semi-auto Marlin 795, I believe it is. Installed peeps and it is a whale of a shooter. Then I purchased a S&W AR 15/22 with peeps for them with the idea that we will all be going to an Appleseed shoot together soon. The 15/22 is nice with an expandable stock so the kids or adults can make good use of the rifle and they are both real shooters.

I agree a semi is not ideal, but I had started them on air rifles and then some bolt action 17s prior to going this route. Not saying it's right or wrong, just what we did. YMMV.

I bought my oldest nephew a little Savage / Stevens single shot that looks like and works like mini Rolling Block Rifle when he was 3. Of course he didn't get to shoot it until he was 7 years old. Told him I would get him a 10-22 when he hit a running Jack Rabbit with it. Didn't take long for him to become a very good shot with that added incentive!
Anyhow, he just turned 21 & graduated from College & that little single shot is still one of his favorites after all these years. He's a really good kid & is one of the safest hunters I know. Great times & Great Memories watching him grow up.

I think the rifle was called the "Little Sure Shot" or something like that. I don't know if they even make them anymore, but it was a great small sized & lightweight learning tool for a little fellow. He's now 6' & weighs 280 and was one heck of a High School & College Nose Gaurd / Center Football player .

I got my 5 yr. old GS started on a Chipmunk and a couple of years of learning safety and how to shoot, and after I had let him fire my 10-22, I purchased him a Browning lever action. That quickly became his favorite .22.

A little Browning BL 22 is a fine little gun for a young person. Short lever throw.

And very accurate, also.

Any thing still made in America?

My 7 year old loves her hot pink Savage Rascal.

if you aren't stuck on new a rossi 22 pump is a great little gun.
they also made a 22 mag in the trombone. have had one or the other for 45 yrs and they are still a hoot.

Really poor choice for a new shooter. Semi-autos teach the old "keep shooting until the target falls or you run out of ammo" technique, instead of making each shot count. Plus, the factory trigger is pretty crappy.

To the OP: Go with a bolt action or single shot, with open sights. Work into a scope as the shooter improves.

Cntrmass;
I believe that the Henry line is all made in the USA, at least they certainly advertise it as such.

The Savage rimfire line is made in Canada, so that's closer than some other offshore spots.

Depending upon the new shooter, some kids like the idea of getting an older firearm that's in good shape as it already has a certain panache.

Up here we still are able to find lots of Cooey, Winchester and Lakefield Arms rimfires in decent shape.

We somehow see less used Marlins in my part of the world, but some of them shoot quite well.

Anyway, good luck on your quest whichever way you decide and all the best to you in the upcoming week.

Regards,
Dwayne

If your going to be there when ever they have the gun you could treat an auto as a single shot. Just load one round at time into the magazine. You could just give him 1 round at a time and wait till he shoots to give him another.

I like the TC Classic 22. It's not expensive, and extremely well made.

9422

An old Marlin Mountie would be a top choice. Then I would find a second buttstock and cut it down to fit the young shooter.

When they grow into the original stock, swap them out.

An ACCURATE bolt action with iron sights would be my recommendation. That is a gun that can grow with the new shooter.

Regarding an auto-loader, one other consideration is that their operation is more complicated than a bolt action's. A few years ago a buddy of mine asked me for a recommendation for a .22, and I said, on a limited budget, a Savage bolt action would be my recommendation. Well, he ended up buying a Savage autoloader instead of a bolt action, I think because he thought it would be more fun to have a semi-auto, but he has had a lot of trouble with it because he has had trouble getting it adjusted properly (a bolt action would have been more fun considering the problems he's had). I know the 10/22 doesn't have that type of problem, but I would still recommend a .22 bolt action for a new shooter.

If money is no object, there are a number of good accurate bolt action .22s. Anschutz, Cooper, and Kimber get good reviews, and .22s are available from NULA too, but for a new shooter I would lean toward a CZ 452/453/455 as a great "mid-priced" .22 option or a Savage as a "budget" option.

Important - be sure to get one that has a stock that is the right length for the new shooter (or be able to make adjustments). If stock fit is an issue, a AR-style rifle with adjustable stock in .22 LR configuration would be a good option if it was used as a single shot by the new shooter.

That would certainly have to be a top contender!!!

Yep, and yep, and yep!


Hard to beat a CZ Scout for a youth-.22, or more fancy-advanced CZ .22 in a bolt gun.

My favorite .22 IS the Ruger 10/22!

But I know my pops was glad I didn't learn to shoot with a semi-auto. Still remember the [discussion].

Dewayne ,and all thanks for such a nice post!
Lots to consider.

My kids shoot a Savage Rascal bolt action .22 (actually, I shoot it as we'll). The small stock allows them to hold it correctly.

Savage Rascal (formerly known as the Cub).

Have a 10/22 on standby.



Travis

Sounds like a really sharp kid.


Travis

A winnie 9422
my first gun and what i learned to shoot with. plenty of capacity, accurate, and the ability to shoot rapidly if need be.
Can also be properly maintained by a youth because the mechanism is simple.
OH and classy!
my old girl..

I wrote a piece once on this subject. Besides the bolt or other manually-worked action for safety and marksmanship, I recommended a low-power scope instead of iron sights.

Iron sights are hard to learn and hard to shoot, making for a discouraging and frustrating experience for a new shooter. Bad.

The average rifle shooter today will use a scope for 99.99% of ALL his shooting. Iron sights aren't even installed on most rifles, and are considered as emergency backups on rifles that do have them.

Scopes are instinctive, even for a kid. Put the cross on the target and squeeze. One focal plane and nothing to align even before you sight on the target.

Go with the instinctive, simple sight system that he'll use for the rest of his life. Get him a decent 4X scope.

I guess that is why they have only sold a gajillion of them.

And is a reason why we have a bunch of spray and pray shooters in this world.

A semi-auto for a first time shooter is a terrible idea.

And that is the guns' fault?

A bad trigger and relatively inaccurate gun does not contribute to good shooting. Add in the safety factors already mentioned, and you have a poor choice for a new shooter. There are many better options out there. I like the 10/22 and other semi-autos, but not for a new shooter.

Let me guess, you bought your kid a 10/22 as a first gun, and you're trying to defend your purchase?

FIRST guns in our family are single shots.
Even shot guns
My son's tiny plastic 22 is a tack driver.

I sent him to fetch a rifle one day and he returned with his..
no problem.
I dropped a woodchuck at 110 yards, stepped off, with it. It took two shots to get the wind, but the second was a solid head shot.

Your guess is wrong.

Rugers are not relatively inaccurate, ask all the small game taken with them.

YMMV, but when considering value, reliability, and accuracy they are hard to beat.

And they can function as a single shot. All you have to do is just load one bullet at a time.

Rugers 10/22s are not particularly accurate in factory garb, especially in comparison to some of the match chambered bolt rifles out there (ala CZ). They lack match chambers - which makes for better feeding of a wide variety of ammo, at the detriment of accuracy. There is likely a model or two that are accurate, but your basic off the shelf sporter weight 10/22 isn't going to light matches at 50 yards. With some mods they can become wonderfully fun, but I've not been in the least bit impressed with the off shelf versions.