My grandson is small for his age and my 10/22 is too heavy for him. The little chipmunk type rifle looks too much like a toy. Is there anything between that you would suggest. I have an extra 10/22 (3 yrs old, unfired) that will probably go for a trade.

Thanks
Jim

My son started a year older than that with a Henry Youth Model lever action. I like the exposed hammer so I could tell at a glance if it was cocked, and for a first "hunting" gun as well as plinker, it seems safer to me than a semi-auto. It was also inexpensive enough that I didn't care later when it got banged around on his ATV.

Savage rascal has an 11in LOP and a rear peep sight, standard.

It's a single shot bolt.

Henry has a lever 22 youth model with a 13", but you can work on that if need be.

I wish I would have got either compared to the Rossi crap combo I did get.

CZ Scout is a dandy first 22 if you can find one.

bought a Zastava Remngton model five youth rifle for my grandson. 5 shot magazine, and a single shot follower.

16 inch barrel. amazing accuracy for a "cheap" gun.

These would be my two choices. I bought my 8 yr old a Zastava "youth" .22 and even my 5 yr old daughter can shoot it pretty well.

A good bud got a Chipmunk for his grand daughter. He got me to work on the trigger, which was too hard for her to pull.

IMHO, a piece of junk.

Go with the Ruger or CZ. Handle them and check for weight, trigger pull, etc.

DF

Just discovered Browning is making a small version of their BL-22, csalled the Micro Midas.
LOP 12", only weighs 4 lb, 8 oz, with a over all length of 31 1/2".
Sounds about kid size to me



http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?fid=005B&cid=024&tid=115

Saw one of the Brownings - it is SMALL!!!!!!!! Cool rifle!

Another vote for the Savage Rascal. I bought one for the kids, and it is great. The front sight is the weak point though. Worth replaceing or altering.

Thanks guys

I just got back to this thread and find several viable suggestions.

I hung a soda can off the side of a big Pine today and the 8yr old sure riddled it with my old Daisey BB gun. The Daisey was a gift to me about 1946,47 and it still works fine appearing to have lost none of it's original power.

Of the make/model suggestions made to me I will be looking at the Savage first.

Deeply appreciated
Jim

Now, that's nice...!

DF

Jim,

Yes both are good choices, with a Huge edge going to the CZ Scout.

BUT if your 10-22 is too heavy for him, both of these will be too heavy also. Being a rimfire junkie and having two kids... i tried several. The Crickett can not hold a candle to the Savage Rascal (have the Rascal, had the Crickett). Unlike the Crickett...the Rascal has a safety, feed ramp, real scope bases (avail. thru Savage), a much better trigger, and a better receiver sight. The regional mart (Bi-mart) has Rascal's for $139.

jerry

That Browning lever sure looks good, and while more expensive than the Henry, definitely has better quality - blued receiver instead of a painted cover, etc.

Yeah, if I could swing it, I'd get the Browning lever gun.

So many of those cheap kiddy guns have terrible triggers, the last thing a young shooter needs. The BLR's I've handled have great triggers.

The Chipmunk I post on earlier had a terrible, very hard trigger. I was asked to work on it and helped it some. It's the design that makes the trigger so bad, not a lot that can be done. So, stay away from those cheaply made rifles with triggers that can't really be fixed.

DF

BLR

They are nice... to my eye anyway! here they run about $450 last i looked.

They've had them for awhile, was trying to talk my boy into getting one a couple of years ago (he has some gun money from selling some of 'his' older 22's). Answer was 'why? I can't see buying any guns as I can just shoot all of yours"!

Jerry

Is that Browning drilled for some scope bases? We find the 10/22's a little big for some of the younger Hunter Ed Crowd.

I bought a Chipmunk for my son.
My late father, chief engineer over 150 engineers and draftsmen and a gun designer came down on my ass.
"That gun has a firing pin galling the bolt. It was designed by an amateur. Take it back"

My wife took it back.

When I was a kid I had a Daisy made .22lr with a stock that adjusted to get longer as I grew. Too bad they don't make them anymore. Mine is still going after many tens of thousands of rounds, I use it as a snake gun.
Here's a used one though.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=429161716

The Daisy is not a $300 gun. I bought one used at a gun show for $55 when my son was 11. That was twenty years ago. today they should run $125-$150. K Mart closed the rifles out for $50 about 1990. I think Daisy did not have the right licenses for manufacturing rim fires and had to dump them.

Your Dad nailed that one.

The Chipmumk is very poorly designed.

DF

Grooved for scope mounts.

Dirtfarmer & all,

Even though I very much agree with you, I have to stand up for the Chipmunk (possibly because it was originally designed/built in my valley/region, about 25 or so years ago!!! as the Rogue Rifles 'Chipmunk' {in the rogue valley of oregon}). The Keystone crickett (and now their 'Chipmunk' model) are a cheaper copy of the Chipmunk (albeit same design).

Point being, there was nothing in it's class... that was small enough and light enough that a young kid could shoulder and shoot offhand, until the much later arrival of the henry mini-bolt and the even later arrival of the Savage Rascal. But none of these in my opinion is in the same league as the present Savage Rascal!

jerry

personally, I'd check the trigger pull on that little Browning lever gun. I had a BL22, with beautiful blue and walnut, but I could hardly pull the trigger. it's the only one I've ever tried, so it might have been an exception.

the CZ's and Zastava's have adjustable triggers. others might be adjustable also.

It's a cute looking little gun and was a novel concept at the time. The trigger set up is a plunger in a tube that has to be pulled to release the striker. Way too much friction in the design to ever have a nice trigger pull. Good triggers are designed to eliminate as much drag and friction as possible. Looks like this one was set up with no thoughts concerning the consequences of excess friction.

DF

This week someone brought me a Winchester 60A single shot bolt action to assemble.

It shares a feature with the chipmunk, the firing pin must be pulled to cock it.

There was no galling. The firing pin pull is easy, smooth, and consistent. No metals of equal hardness rubbing.
It looks like Winchester built in the 30s what Browning designed in 1900
http://www.google.com/patents/US632094

I was raised with a Winchester 67, which looks a lot like a 60. I'm not sure what was changed, M-60 to M-67. The Blue Book says the change took place in 1934.

Those are great little guns of fine quality. Mine has a Walnut stock and the trigger is pretty good.

One of those would be a heap better for a youngster than a Chipmumk...

The Remington equivalent is also a nice gun.

DF

Our family uses the savage cub mini, which is an earlier version of the rascal.

Great sights and excellent trigger. If the rascal is anything like the cub mini it should make an excellent training rifle...

Marlin Little Buckaroo

I bought a used marlin for $50. Cut and crowned the barrel to 16 1/2", cut the forend, cut the back of the stock to 11 1/2" l.o.p. refinished the stock and duracoated the action and barrel. For around $100 you can have a nice little bolt gun.

Some of those older vintage guns, set up for kids, are hard to beat, price and quality.

DF

The CZ Scout has a lot going for it, but they screwed up when they left the grip way too fat for small hands. It should have been scaled proportionately to the rest of the rifle, IMO.

Paul

I too was faced with this delema a few years ago. However, I went a different route.

I chose the S&W 15/22.
It is light, Has an adjustable stock, and is optics ready.

Plus for my boys, the cool factor was through the roof!

Plus, dear old Dad can shoot it too.

JMO.

Burt2506

There aren't too many summer days when our cub mini doesn't get a tour around the garden.
And I'm 6'7" and 375...

It is my hands down favorite garden gun...

Cool is a matter of perspective...

Thanks again for the help guys.

Yesterday I traded a used 10/22 for a new Savage Rascal after trying it out for size for my 8yr old grandson. We brought it home, disassembled, cleaned, and coated everything except the green stock with G96. Adjusted the accu-trigger more to my liking and his little hands.

Grandson woke me a few minutes after daylight this am asking Papa to assemble it and go shooting.

After church he put a box of CCI Longs through it. The receiver sight appears to be right on at 30yds and he had no trouble adjusting to it. Recycled one at a time with no problems. The target aluminum Sprite cans (3) were well riddled by the time he finished the box. No amount of explaining convinces him that the Rascal is MY gun and he is just shooting it. He's claiming it.

Huge grin, bright wide eyes, called his mom and told her of his great shooting prowess then called an uncle at work and gave him great detail about the size, accuracy and power of a Savage Rascal and how well he could shoot it!

What a great little .22 for a beginner. Thanks for putting me onto it.

Jim

Sounds like you guys had a great time.

Cudos to a Grandpa who cares and does the right thing with his grandson. That's the making of long term memories and relationship.

DF

Dirtfarmer

Cudos appreciated. Grandpa probably had more fun than grandson.

Jim

After Wife's parents passed, she rented the house for a while. Got to be a pain, so she sold it. While I was cleaning out the storage building I found a Remington 510 single shot. The barrel is too long for most kids, but 9 yo granddaughter is already 5'. ( her dad is 6'5" ), so rather than cut it, we will live with it. As was typical of FIL's guns, finish was about gone, but it is still accurate.

I also found a really nice 511 repeater in a pawn shop a few month ago for $40. I don't know what they were thinking, but it sure suits me. I think that one is going to get aperture sights for her. The granddaughters each get a wasp waist Browning and a Marlin Mountie. One each is minty, the other used but not abused. They can sort it out.

Jack

Good job on the Rascal, but you coulda got a tiny 10/22 youth stock and singleshot mag for your Ruger at Brownell's.

My kids outgrew a Crickett after a half- brick o' ammo. It's now a truck gun for me.

I settled on the TC Hot Shot for my sons first 22. Although they are longer offered by TC they can still readily be found on GB. The Hot Shot strikes a great balance in size, cost , and quality. All in a great little package. It comes with spacers for the stock to grow with them as they do.

My son shoots a Browning 1911-22 and a S&W M&P 15-22. Both are his and he can rock them both.

Really glad I read this because I'm in the market for a trap-line gun .
I'll have to give the Little savage a look , was planning on getting a crickett -thanks for the info..

Rug3 -you made the little day/week/year..