Jump to content
SASS Wire Forum

What kind of beginner rifle for 6 year old?


Recommended Posts

I think the 6 year old grandson is just a little young for a full blown 22, so I am thinking of some kind of beginner's air rifle. I guess it can't be too long or heavy, so what does the posse recommend?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sassparilla Kid started at that age with a Chipmunk. :)

 

He has since progressed to much larger gaspipes... :lol:

 

model-10001-chipmunk-walnut-both.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are plenty of small .22 single shot rifles for little folks.

6 yo is when I taught my kids to shoot a 22 rifle.

Single shot Marlin with cut down stock. Still have it, and now the grand kids are learn'n with it.

OLG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I started out with a Benjamin pump air rifle in in.177 cal. Don't remember the model but it looks a lot like the model 392.

 

Grandpa had never seen one and thought is was the same as my cousins Daisy BB gun. Soon learned otherwise when he had me out in the barn shooting varmints. Put two holes in the roof before Grandpa realized just how powerful it was.

 

Killed a lot of squirrels, rabbits, rats, and other pests with that gun over the years.

 

BTW modern air rifles are just a powerful as 22 rifles shooting shorts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Howdy,

Henry and Browning each make youth .22 lever action rifles.

Both will sell you a full size buttstock if and when you want one.

The Henry is lighter and has a lot of plastic parts.

The Browning is more metal and a little heavier.

OR buy a ruger 10/22 and stop by most any gunshow and buy an extra stock.

Cut the stock to fit your kid.

These are left overs from project guns and should be very cheap.

Some might hesitate at handing a semi auto to a child.

You don't have to load more than one round at a time. That is simple.

Lots of good choices.

I would hesitate to buy a 'kid gun' that couldn't be upgraded later.

Best

CR

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had thought about the Chipmunks, but I thought with the air rifle in 177, they could be shot with Dad in their backyard in one of those pellet traps.

 

If you go with a 22, and use Aquila Super Colibris, a pellet trap will probably stop them, also. I shoot Colibri from my back door into a pine tree, maybe 20 feet. They don't completely penetrate the bark. I did a coup de grâce on a rat, in my house. Straight down, from waist height. There was a dent in the floor, but the Colibri did not penetrate 3/4 plywood enough to stick. Friend of mine used to shoot them in her living room. Said they made it to G in the Atlanta phone book.

 

Super Colibri out of a rifle makes hardly any noise. My pellet gun sounds like a 22 LR when it goes off.

 

And you can always use hotter loads in the 22 if you need to.

 

Buuuuut, you can find pellets and BBs at most stores. 22s - not so much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sassparilla Kid started at that age with a Chipmunk. :)

 

He has since progressed to much larger gaspipes... :lol:

 

model-10001-chipmunk-walnut-both.jpg

+1

Taught all three of my kids on the same Chipmunk. Started them with that and a Smith & Wesson 422 at about 6 years old. Gave the rifle to my mother to shoot groundhogs when she was in her mid 80's. I will use the same rifle to teach my grandkids in a couple of years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seamus, that is danged cool!

 

The things have good eye appeal... to my eye, anyway, they look like a baby Winchester Model 70. :)

 

11706159_1.jpg?v=8CE9459BF98A1F0

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The little single shot chipmunk really is the best choice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I learned on a Crosman Model 180.

 

I can't tell you how many hundreds of pounds (yes, I mean hundreds of pounds, it was my constant companion while I was growing up and my allowance went towards feeding it pretty much exclusively) of pellets has went through ours.

 

It's a .22 caliber, Co2 powered, single shot pellet rifle. The stock's only got about a 10 or 11 inch LOP so it's a good size for kids. It's a little tight for an adult but usable. It has a conventional bolt action for loading the pellets, then you charge it by pulling on a knob immediately to the rear and underneath the 'action'. Safety is on the front of the trigger guard in rotates 180 degrees, although at 90 degrees, it is fully engaged.

 

The advantages are that the manual of arms is pretty much the same as any bolt gun except for having to cock it after working the bolt and loading a pellet. With it being a single shot, it also makes the kid concentrate on each shot instead of just cranking and yanking.

 

They are accurate, too. We routinely killed Coke cans at 30-35 yards and I fired a 2" 50 yard group with it when I was a kid (prone). We've hunted squirrel with it, too. We broke it back out about a year ago and the first two shots I fired out of it were about 1 inch apart at 25 yards shooting from a standing rest (resting the gun on the top step of the pool ladder).

 

Right now it's at Precision Pellet being completely refurbished and restored. Ricks' going to go through the action looking for wear, resealing it, rebluing the barrel and gas tube and refinishing the stock.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Daisy Red Rider BB Gun......"Just make sure you dont shoot your eye out!" :D Later when they're 10yrs I would get them a .22LR( I had a Remington 22 viper at that age) You can also trash the Daisy by then and get a Beeman single shot break barrel action w/ a 1,000 fps velocity (just supervise the shooting time!....I shot my dads window out his truck and also all his nice clay pots(I was young and didnt know!) Then at 12yrs old I got my first shotgun!! and it was a 12ga!...However my father made sure it was a old single shot break barrel w/ almost no padded but stock at all! This thing kicked like a mule and would bruise the hell outta my shoulder after just a dozen shots( which was what my father intended on)....No long days of fun filled shooting, just the hard core realization of the power I was wielding at hand!....It sunk in pretty damn good! and when I turned 16yrs old I was given my first nice 12ga, it was a Remington 870 magnum express chambered in 3" and had a super nice butt pad so you could shoot trap and skeet all day comfortably! I received my first handgun at 18yrs old(my father kept it under lock and key until I was 21yr old) when he handed it over and I kept it on my night stand from then on( Ruger P85 chambered in 9mm) So there's a rundown of ages and firearms for you, P.S. I attended and graduated youth gun training courses around the same age I received my first 22 riffle, so make sure you do the same for your children! :D Also I attended and passed a course on CCW so I could obtain a CCW permit even thou I live in AZ where u can conceal carry legally! This was not only to gain skills but to prove that I am a good citizen( you must be fingerprinted by the FBI to attain one! I can also purchase firearms w/no waiting period!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BB guns are good but If you decide on a 22 go for the chipmunk. I say that after tutoring a bunch of grandsons on a Henry mini-bolt. The Henry eiither had an oversize chamber, excess headspace, or both because it would spit a little gas back using the Colibre ammo. A borrowed chipmunk never did that and the munk has a superior sight in the peep it comes with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks to all the pards here.

 

I went with a couple of Henry 22 lever actions. I said a couple because I have 4 grandsons old enough for 22s.

 

I did like the Ruger bolt action but the lack of youth option I could find made that a difficult choice.

 

I looked at the Savage Rascal, and to brutally honest that looks like a great rifle at $149. The thing that surprised me the most was the trigger. That trigger seemed surprising good on youth rifle. I have other rifles I wish had that trigger!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.