Youth 22

[Nick87]

Absolutely, a crappy bolt isn’t any fun as they struggle with it.

Both are just as safe as the person supervising. A kid can only shoot as many as you load in the magazine.

No worries about safety end of it. I just always felt the bolt or single shot teaches a few more fundamentals of how the gun works and slows them down to focus more on the shot. It also keeps them busy while not burning up near as much ammo. To each his own.

 

[Nick87]

For that matter you could load the semi one at a time I suppose but that's a pain on most of them.

 

[Addicting]

No worries about safety end of it. I just always felt the bolt or single shot teaches a few more fundamentals of how the gun works and slows them down to focus more on the shot. It also keeps them busy while not burning up near as much ammo. To each his own.

When I get home I will post a pic of what’s left of their spinner target. They learned plenty of FUNdamentals. 22 ammo comes in boxes of 500, that is not cost prohibitive to them learning to shoot.

My kids at 10 and 12 have are transitioning to a 223 Rem 700. There has been little to no issues in the transition. The 10 year old is a stone cold killer and shooting anything I will let him. A 200 yard 4” steel is a 5 for 5 target.

 

[Nick87]

When I get home I will post a pic of what’s left of their spinner target. They learned plenty of FUNdamentals. 22 ammo comes in boxes of 500, that is not cost prohibitive to them learning to shoot.

My kids at 10 and 12 have are transitioning to a 223 Rem 700. There has been little to no issues in the transition. The 10 year old is a stone cold killer and shooting anything I will let him. A 200 yard 4” steel is a 5 for 5 target.

Happy for them.

 

[curhunter]

I would recommend a CZ 457 scout, it should last a lifetime. It comes with a single shot magazine and any 457 magazine can be used later. When the stock is outgrown a full size CZ or Boyds stock can be installed. These aren't a cheap option but a quality long term purchase. I have a keystone single shot and it works but pretty low quality overall.

 

[FairWeather]

I have a Rossi trifecta (20ga/22lr/243win), and it’s possibly the most fun rifle I own. For years my wife would only shoot our 10/22, but now she’d rather shoot this little break action. I don’t know why, but loading up this little guy one at a time is just heckin’ fun.

 

[howl]

A. If you want her to really learn to shoot find a 5m BB team. It's fun and you'll both learn a lot about marksmanship.

B. CZ makes as good a youth-stocked 22 and you'll find.

C. Edited to add cross-dominance is more common in girls. Start shooting from the dominant eye to avoid a fight over which shoulder she'll favor. T/C Contender with a youth stock from Haus of Arms makes a top shelf ambidextrous 22 and a fast twist 223 barrel makes it a deer rifle later. For cheaper, Henry makes a youth lever that is a ton of fun.

 

[Addicting]

Happy for them.

It’s seen better days.

 

[Foggy Mountain]

Absolutely, a crappy bolt isn’t any fun as they struggle with it.

Both are just as safe as the person supervising. A kid can only shoot as many as you load in the magazine.

Hmmm I don’t see anything crappy about a bolt. Quite the contrary. Most semis to me a sorta second class junk in my eyes and I mean no disrespect to you by that. The bolts teach lots more about shooting than squeezing a trigger. It’s also safer unless you load one at a time initially. Now if you mean todays bolts are junk, if mostly agree with you except one or two guns.
I also agree it’s as safe as the instructor but it’s silly to do it that way imo

 

[Visiting Hunter]

As a kid my dad got me a Henry lever 22. I was going to pick one more up and hand the one down to my boy and buy one more so they each have matching 22s. I always enjoyed the lever as a kid.

 

[Mtn-time]

I would recommend a CZ 457 scout, it should last a lifetime. It comes with a single shot magazine and any 457 magazine can be used later. When the stock is outgrown a full size CZ or Boyds stock can be installed. These aren't a cheap option but a quality long term purchase. I have a keystone single shot and it works but pretty low quality overall.

I second the CZ scout. I bought one for my youngest and it is one that would be definitely suitable to be passed down for generations.

 

[Foggy Mountain]

As a kid my dad got me a Henry lever 22. I was going to pick one more up and hand the one down to my boy and buy one more so they each have matching 22s. I always enjoyed the lever as a kid.

Henry makes some really cool guns imo and they’re build solid w good fit, finish, triggers and accuracy

 

[Addicting]

Hmmm I don’t see anything crappy about a bolt. Quite the contrary. Most semis to me a sorta second class junk in my eyes and I mean no disrespect to you by that. The bolts teach lots more about shooting than squeezing a trigger. It’s also safer unless you load one at a time initially. Now if you mean todays bolts are junk, if mostly agree with you except one or two guns.
I also agree it’s as safe as the instructor but it’s silly to do it that way imo

The consensus of the thread up to the point of that post was a cricket 22. It doesn’t get much crappier than that. The kid constantly coming up off the gun and trying to load and unload is where I didn’t like it.

I would rather them stay on the gun once I get it set up for them and concentrate on sight picture and squeezing the trigger. As they get older, more coordinated, and confident we introduced bolt actions.

To each their own, but it worked great for us.

 

[Ckleeves]

I would recommend a CZ 457 scout, it should last a lifetime. It comes with a single shot magazine and any 457 magazine can be used later. When the stock is outgrown a full size CZ or Boyds stock can be installed. These aren't a cheap option but a quality long term purchase. I have a keystone single shot and it works but pretty low quality overall.

Agreed. The 457 scout they could keep for the rest of their lives and you can easily find adult stocks, 22 wmr and 17 hmr barrels and it’s a high quality rifle with a great trigger. The accuracy of the scout is really good too, with quality ammo I have shot some pretty amazing groups at 50 yds with my kids 457.

 

[turbobrick]

The Ruger American rimfire can be had with the youth stock, and it comes with an insert that makes it more like a full size rifle, and they use 10/22 magazines. I've had two and they were both awesome, I gave one to my niece when she turned 8 to celebrate her getting to come hunting with us for the first time. She shot it great then, and it fits her great now as a tall for her age 14 year old. For reference, she shoots a standard size Savage 11 in 260rem now that she draws her own tags.

When her younger brother hit the same age, I got him a 10/22 takedown (I stumbled into the takedown for a great price, I was after a regular 10/22). I gave him one 1-shot magazine, and a couple 10s, so he could learn with the single until he was ready for more. The 10/22s are just so light and easy to handle and have an almost unlimited aftermarket, its tough to beat them for kid use.

The Tactical Solutions Owyhee is such an awesome little 22, its on the expensive side but a special rifle. Its essentially a bolt action 10/22 Takedown. Its so small and light it really feels like a toy. I also really like the Tikka T1x, its a shame that its a little big for small kids, and there aren't many small stock options.

 

[FEl0T]

I have a few youth 22lr's. My 7yo prefers my ruger precision rimfire over my cz scout and Davey Cricket.

 

[Jbotto]

I have quite the history with a few different Glenfield (Marlin) 25’s. I always figured I’d buy one for each of my kids and cut a stock down and make a single shot adapter to go along with that stock for when they just start out. Then when they grow up I’ll give them the full size stock for their rifle and a handful of the magazines. The 7round mags for these rifles have been near bullet proof for me. They can even run shorts!