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.

Yes grooved receiver and threaded for a suppressor

I taught my boys on a marlin 15yn. The thing was dead on accurate. I doubt they make it anymore. The cz rocks. The rossi 22/410 is light and decent but is is a break action vs bolt.

Smith & Wesson M&P 22. Easy to shoot and collapsible stock is perfect. Mine has a red dot, which my son uses as a front sight while looking through the rear aperture. He's five and accurate to 150 yards. I have him shoot off of a Primos tripod.

In case it hasn't been mentioned, there's an article on youth rimfire in the new special issue of Rifle Magazine. Several are mentioned and it might be worth your time to check it out.

I restock Rascals with pretty wood for kids and have a bunch of experience with young kids shooting. The Crickets suck because even bigger kids have issues cocking them. I have done a bunch of Chipmunks, too. The Rascal is far better in that respect and others.

The other important point for me is never give them a semiautomatic. I absolutely love the 10-22, but not until they are old enough to maintain focus. My grandson has not shot his yet, but he turns two next week.

My boy turns 5 next week and has a Rascal in the closet he doesn’t know about yet. He’ll get it and a little plate rack I made with shooting gallery ducks and a squirrel on it for his birthday.

I really want to get a small red dot to put on it to get him started but I’m rapidly running out of time before his birthday. I think the Rascal is the best thing to come down the pike for really little kids in a long time. I wasn’t wild at all about him having to use both hands to lower the striker on a Crickett or Chipmunk.

haha...

https://www.keystonesportingarmsllc.com/product/model-722/

This. I bought one for my son a few months ago for his birthday. It’s been awesome. Walnut stock, checkered, safety works the correct way, accurate, can be upgraded as they grow, and MADE IN THE USA WITH USA PARTS! Call and y’all to them and you’ll get a person. They also have a lifetime warranty. They’re the same makers as the Cricket rifles, but these are several steps above.

I'm gonna vote Savage Rascal. Got mine almost 2 years ago because it was on sale and also had a 50 dollar rebate from Savage at the time. Needed something for the two step grand daughters to learn on. It's accurate, has good kid sized ergonomics and a nice Accutrigger. I even enjoy plinking with it as a sort of novelty gun for adults. Might even take it out squirrel hunting this fall just for kicks so I can get a photo of it with some harvested squirrels. Us old guys just love those light, easy to carry rifles, (grin).

Thank you for the link. I have not seen them before.

[quote=dassa] This will be strictly a range gun for teaching gun safety and handling, and basic marksmanship.
do yourself a HUGE looney favor and buy the CZ-455 scout...........then buy a adult sized replacement stock and optional slick threaded barrel for when the young 'un grows. put the 455 in some bags with the single shot adapter in tow and have fun and try NOT to get addicted to the accuracy of the CZ. it was futile for me but i hope you have better luck restraining yourself as i bought several more CZ rimfires after shooting my lil boys 452 scout. i will warn you one last time that CZ rimfires are addictive!!
good luck,
Big Ed

Rascals are great.

If you can find an old Savage Cub, even better.

I owned a 722 classic for a little while, nice rifles, I think what hurts them is that you can get a cz for just a hair more in most cases. I got a classic for 350 shipped and transferred so I decided to see what they were about. I really like the friction held magazine, no buttons or releases.

Pretty much the same route we went. The Scout was our first CZ, now we have several. its a great little gun

Might not be small enough, but the Browning BL-22 is a petite little lever gun. I have one, and it works well, but it does have trim dimensions. And it is VERY accurate.

I looked at the CZ’s a lot, but I could get a USA made rifle, with a walnut stock, lifetime warranty, known accuracy, and a safety that isn’t backwards to everything else in the world. The safety was very important to me, and the lesson that buying things from the US was something valuable to teach to my son. I think we got the full deluxe rifle for less than $275 shipped to my FFL.