I hope to get my little boy shooting this summer. He has a BB gun, but it is too long for him, so we have had less than satisfactory results. I will probably buy him another one and trim the stock back. However, this post is about a .22. Here are my options and my current thought process.

1) Buy one of the little Savage youth models. Pros: They seem like solid little rifles, easy to use safety, etc. Con: Someday he will outgrow it and I hate the idea of buying him something that is just going to end up sitting in the back of the safe someday.

2) A couple of years ago, I got a great deal on an older Ruger 77/22. I put it up with the plan that I would give it to him at some point. It is excellent mechanically, and shoots nice, but has been carried a good bit and the stock has quite a few dings. I could cut this stock so he can use it now and get a new stock from Midway for when he gets bigger. Pros: He could use the same rifle forever (hopefully this is one he gets attached to). Cons: I've never cut a stock, so I could mess this up!

The cost is about even on this one.

What do you think?

Personally,I would get a new CZ 452 Scout while they are still available.

WITUfan,

You don't say how old he is? Fit is very important, but I am not keen on the 77/22 idea if he is 10 or under (kind of depends on the Kid though) as weight is a big factor if you want Him to be able to shoot offhand.

Don't worry about outgrowing a youth sized gun as there is a market for used ones or it can be a loaner for friends with small kids, etc.. Look at it as an investment in His shooting enjoyment and skill. My boy is 12 now and due to his Dad being 'into' guns and finding guns that fit him at different intervals we have been through a Crickett (4 to 7), a Savage Cub (8 to 10) and a CZ Scout and 'Compact' Ruger 10-22 (11 up). He's to the point that he can usually hit an egg at 50 yards one out of about every seven shots or thereabouts offhand (without a bit of practice I can not do much better).

Jerry

My son is about to be seven. I was so hung up thinking about length of pull that I clearly haven't given enough thought to the overall weight of the rifle. Thanks Jerrywoodswalker.

Don't forget Thomson Center Contenders.
A myriad of barrels and stock selections...only downfall is single shot, but that might be good for a youngster.
I'm having a .22 barrel being done for my sons T/C
When done he'll have a .22lr
A .357 maximum for Indiana deer and a 6x45 for Kentucky deer and coyotes too.

I got my son a Henry Lever Action Youth model. With the exposed hammer, I can see its status easily in the field. I told him not to chamber a round or eject the empty one after he fired until he was ready to shoot again. If he did have a live round chambered, I would just have him shoot a stump or something and leave the empy case in the chamber. It has a short barrel, easing offhand shooting and is easy to operate. He has now graduated to bigger rifles, but this one will go to his kids later in life.

+2 on the CZ Scout.

The rifle comes with a single-shot "adapter" which can later be changed out to a 5 or 10 round magazine.

And, a 1" pad can be added to increase LOP as he grows.

I'm 60 and bought one of these for the "little boy" in ME!

It's one quick handling little gun, and my favorite "porch" gun.

Virgil B.

Can you really outgrow a short, light little rifle?

Excellent choice! Mine as well.

Actually if i was outfitting a youngster with a .22LR boltgun that could last a lifetime, I'd get the kid a CZ 452 American w/ a 16.1" bbl, along with an extra "CZ Scout" youth stock and a single-shot magazene adapter (or two) that block a 452/453 magazenes rendering them singleshooters when the adapter is installed, but it immediately can be removed making the rifle a repeater again.

Also by installing the CZ Scout stock, its youth-size but without any permanent modifications, the barreled action can be used in the Scout stock when the youngun's small, but later can be put back into the adult walnut 452/453 stock with the kid has grown into it!

Probably more complicated (and expensive) than you wanted?

+ 1 more for the CZ Scout if it fits your boy. If not I believe their are other youth models that weigh a little less, such as the cricket, Rossi, or T/C Hot Shot. Looked at them all and went for the Scout because of the reasons mentioned above and couldn't be happier.

I hadn't thought about the CZ. I do love my 452, so I am not sure why that one hadn't occurred to me. Thanks for all the advice. I definitely think I should just buy a youth model rather than shorten the Ruger. Now, I just have to figure out which one!

My vote is for the Cricket. Great light rifle with safity in mind. You can buy for about $100.00 new. When done with it sell it off. Upgrade again. My Grandaughter loves the cricket with scope. She is ready for semi-auto now. I ruined her letting her shoot my Mark 2 target with Eotec.

Another vote for the CZ 452 scout. Excellent quality. Perfect starter and beyond size.

+1,000 on the CZ 452 scout. my 8 yo lil boy is scary accurate with his. when santa brought his CZ home it started an addiction as i've acquired 4 more CZ 452 american's in various calibers since then.
whitearrow

I went a little different route....I bought my boys a Savage Cub.
Great rifle, single shot, very accurate.
My boys hate it.....however -
They both want to shoot the 15-22 my wife bought for our anniversary.
Light weight, fully adjustable stock, accurate very easy for them to hold.
Very high 'cool' factor.


The only problem is getting it away from mom

Burt2506

Most of my friends who trained their kids on autoloaders regretted it. They said the kids just blasted away. I trained my two on a Daisy bolt action with an adjustable stock. After replacing the trigger spring with one from a ballpoint pen, they both were able to shoot tight groups easily.

It's called the Rascal now but I agree completely.

Savage all the way.


Travis

That has more to do with coaching than the weapon.


Travis

That won't happen.


Travis

The TC Hot Shot is another I'd recommend highly. Set up exactly as the Encore/Contender and weighs only 3#. Comes with ghost ring sights and also drilled and tapped. Includes stock spacers as well for growing pains.
My son's is surprisingly accurate. With a cheap Tasco red dot it got my attention.

buy the cz and not look back. I bought the kids one last year and it is as accurate as any of my cz rimfires.

Buy the correct tool for the job at hand. If he outgrows it, move it along to someone else who can use it.

I bought my kids a Marlin 15Y. Stock size was correct but it still weighed a bit too much. The cricket or savage youth 22s are lighter and are probably a better starter gun.

I've pretty much done this, except I put a one inch recoil pad on the CZ Scout Stock and used the CZ American Stock on a different rifle, a CZ Trainer which I call my American Trainer. For my Scout stock I had the American barrel cut to 16.5 inches and threaded for a suppressor... I have one and my Boy has one except that his only has a one-half inch recoil pad on it. The CZ Scout Stock does require a permanent modification... The rear tang has to be inletted for the dovetailed bolt that the rear tang screw screws into, and the barrel channel has to be opened up for the larger diameter American Barrel. Over at rimfirecentral's CZ forum there are a few multipage threads of CZ Scouts that have been altered by their owners and they are not Kids, so this is one rifle that probably will not gather dust in the back of the safe.

CZ American Trainer;


The CZ Scout is an Excellent Rifle and yes I would make it a point to pick one up NOW while they are still available as the line is being discontinued; BUT it is still a pretty heavy rifle for a small kid, and I would give a serious look at the Savage Cub if you can find one or the newer version the 'Rascal'. The Cub has a better receiver sight and is grooved for rimfire scope bases while I believe the Rascal is drilled and tapped.

Having had both I can say that the Savage Cub/Rascal's receiver sight is much more robust, has a feed ramp (vs having to put the round directly in the chamber) and the Chipmunk/Crickett's scope mount puts the scope too high for any kind of cheek weld and again is not as robust as the Savage mounting system.

Jerry

I'm sold on the Savage Cub. My grandson has learned a bunch with this neat little rifle.

It's got a robust peep sight, it has a nice clean trigger (Accu-Trigger) & when Kylar has out grown the rifle, there will be another new shooter to train with it. I bought the rifle from a friend who had trained several kids with the rifle....he passed it to me and I expect the rifle will have trained many more before it gets passed on to its next gun safe.
Bob