Boys first rifle

The one that fits his size or close to it would be best, as all above sound fine.
Being comfortable with the gun is important to learning cheek welds, and proper holds.

I shortend Marlin Youth rifles wooden stock length and proportion. Both are still heavily used, 20 some odd years later.

would go with the rem 33 great little rifle, they shot very good and are simple as dirt. the 33s have a locking lug and the bolt handle for strength. make shore its not a smooth bore gun they made them for small bird shot.

How old is your son? Just like caribou said, they are all good functional guns but the most important thing for a little kid is to get something that fits them and is light enough for them to comfortable shoulder. If your son is real small, like 8 years old or so I would get him a savage Rascal. If he is a little older than that I would go through the ones you posted above and find one with the shortest over all length, shortest length of pull, decent sights and a light trigger. Kids don't have good hand strength and they will struggle with a trigger that is more than a few lbs. Another plus for the savage rascal since it comes with an adjustable accutrigger.

troy fairweather said:

would go with the rem 33 great little rifle, they shot very good and are simple as dirt. the 33s have a locking lug and the bolt handle for strength. make shore its not a smooth bore gun they made them for small bird shot.

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I would suggest a single shot bolt action, if available. I don't know any of those you listed. As for the 22 birdshot barrels, the one I have is labeled as a Routledge bore, and is quite obviously not a 22 RIFLE by looking at the large hole in the muzzle. It's a Winchester 62 or 67 or 69, I can't remember.

Both our boys started early with a single shot "Chipmunk" .22lr.

Great little rifles. Well made, and they are scaled/sized for small kids and fit them properly, allowing them to learn properly.

Not sure they are still making them these days though. Although the "Crickets" are basically the same thing.

Paul Harrell has a great vid on the subject of "a child's first gun".

andym79 said:

Hi guys, I am looking to get my eldest his first rifle for Christmas.

I want to get him a simple single shoot bolt action 22 to teach him the basic of shooting open sights.

The choices at my local gunshop in the bargain section are as follows:

Winchester Cooey 39
Savage 3B
Mossberg 25A
Remington 33
Winchester 320

I would be grateful if anyone could comment on any of the above, pros and cons

Which is the best of those?

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My first firearm was the Savage: gifted to me by my grandad and my uncle. I can't say anything about the others, as it's the only .22 that I own but over the years I've put thousands of rounds through that thing without the slightest issue. No telling how many rabbits have ended their lives with the sound of a .22 caliber slug exiting that muzzle. The fit was fine, but I'm sure I wouldn't have known the difference really. Pa put a Barska 3x9 on there and I could hardly miss. Granted, I had plenty of practice with irons too. My little brother and I used to "snipe" grasshoppers with our bb guns but that's another story. I'm sure that whatever you get him will be cherished and he'll appreciate all the memories of shooting with dad.

It seems, as you state, that any good single shot bolt action rifle would fill the bill nicely. That being said, it was with fondness that I saw the Savage 3B on your list. That's what my dad first gave me. And that same gun is what I gave my (now 23 yr old son) for his first gun.

I don't know the other guns on the list, and although I happen to have a personal attachment to the 3B, I can't say that it would be more or less appropriate than any of the other guns listed.

Sniping grass hoppers with the red Ryder was a favorite pass time of mine lol

Lotsa good suggestions so far and I will echo the importance of fit.... as in it's uncomfortable and awkward for smaller kids to be struggling with adult size rifles. Depending on age & size if a small scale rifle is needed check out the previously mentioned Savage Rascal single shot 22LR.. Got one a year or so ago for one of my step-grand daughters. She has since moved up to my CZ-455 .22 but she still asks me to bring the Rascal when we go shooting. Funny part is that I and a few other grandfatherly types also have a lot of fun with it. It's a real good shooter, even has the Savage Accutrigger and has an aperture sight that's also good for older eyes. Here she is enjoying it even though she's outgrowing it. But that's OK, as she has a little sister. Which is also why I got the pink stock model, but they come in several other stock colors, or the synthetic stocks can easily be spray painted, and IIRC a wood stock version is also available.

If there is any real question, take your kid to the gun store where they have several of the above and let him pick it out.

BTW, I like this one: https://www.savagearms.com/firearms/rimfire/single-shot/rascal-hardwood

The receiver sight is great, (particularly if he has any vision problems like I did).

Which one has the best trigger? A heavy trigger, which lawyers apparently believe make a gun “safer “, can take most of the fun out of shooting and lead to learning poor trigger control.

I only have experience with one of the listed rifles,,,
That would be the Savage 3B.

I have one that I picked up for a song.

It came with after market peep sights mounted,,,
As well as the normal rear sights.

From a bench with CCI Standard Velocity ammo,,,
I can hit a dime sized spot at 25 yards,,,
Dang near every shot.

If the one you are looking at is in good shape,,,
It will probably be a decent shooter as well.

JMHO

Aarond

.

Of the ones you listed, I'd go Remington, but IMHO I would get a current production Savage MK1- they run about $225 brand new and have a lifetime warranty.

As nice as many of the guns you listed are, they are all between 30 and 100 years old and could have issues like worn extractors/ejectors/firing pins and parts could be hard to come by.

Good luck bro!

I'm going to go off of the reservation here.

Conventional wisdom says single shot, bolt gun.

But you're trying to teach ALL of the basics at once. I taught a junior rifle club for several years. We started out new shooters on bench rest with Marlin 60 semi-autos. The youngster didn't have to think about working the action or holding up the rifle. Just aligning the sights and squeezing the trigger.

when they consistently hit the 10 ring at 50 feet, from the bench, we transitioned them over to the match bolt actions. When they consistent;y hit the 10 ring with the bolt guns, we moved them from the bench to prone. When they consistently hit the 10 prone, we started teaching them the other positions.

This system cut our training time in half. Many of our kids were shooting high expert within a year.

I know this sounds backwards, but it works.

I am glad you are starting out simple. Kids need to learn to use open sights & to make every shot count. Like others have said, made sure the rifle fits and the trigger is not too heavy. Rogue rifle used to make a very good Chipmunk, but they are out of business, but if you can find one they are pretty good as is the Savage Rascall. Good luck.

Past the age of 2-3yrs old, I recommend highly against the Cricket rifles. They aren’t expensive, but they outgrow them SO fast.

I have had the pleasure of instructing kids for a long time - which means introducing them and their parents into firearms safety and marksmanship development. Kids learn and grow MUCH faster than we give them credit, and it’s irresponsible and illogical to consider handicapping them with a single shot rifle does anything to instill discipline. Single shots don’t force kids, or even encourage them, in any way to only squeeze when the sights are on target. Instruction, coaching, and consequence are what instill discipline - just like any other aspect of raising and teaching a child. If you don’t want a kid to run in the house, you don’t tie his shoelaces together so he can’t run. You tell him not to run, and apply consequences if he doesn’t listen. If you want a kid to only fire when he’s on target, the same applies. Having a repeater allows them to better work other skills than just reloading their single shot over and over. Recoil recovery, regaining sight picture, follow through, target (re)acquisition, transitions, etc. REALLY difficult to work on these without a repeater. We teach kids to crawl, walk, run, jump, climb, ride a bike, roller skate, play football, wrestle, play baseball, basketball, ice skate, read, write, etc etc etc all within a few years. Marksmanship skills don’t need to be governed just because someone thought a long time ago a single shot Rascal or Cricket was a good idea.

Having that experience, I bought my son a Savage Mark II and a Marlin 60 when he was 2, got aftermarket stocks and cut them down to fit his LOP, and added cheek risers to rise him up to the sights. A red dot scope with an integral laser pointer helps show the parent/instructor where the rifle is aiming, and it’s super easy for the kid to learn to “put the dot on the target and squeeze the trigger slowly.” Firing from bags/machine rest, of course, and Rule #1 is “don’t pick up the rifle.”

He’s 5 now, shoots an AR from shooting sticks, and has been transitioning into iron sights and into scopes, replacing his RDS for longer range shooting. He’s building his own AR this winter, and we’re working on deciding what centerfire bolt gun he’ll build this coming spring/summer (leaning towards a 243 LBC CZ or Howa).

Starting with these full size firearms, then replacing the stock temporarily, instead of buying a Cricket or Rascal which will only be useful for a couple years of their extreme youth (and arguably not very useful even then) makes a lot more sense to me. Both functionally and financially.

Another good learning semi-auto is the marlin papoose. Its compact, light, and the stock only extends to the front end of the reciever. Perfect for short arms, but still big enough for an adult to use. I still shoot mine comfortably.

BigBlue 94 said:

Another good learning semi-auto is the marlin papoose. Its compact, light, and the stock only extends to the front end of the reciever. Perfect for short arms, but still big enough for an adult to use. I still shoot mine comfortably.

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Gotta watch young kids with these. Those Papoose barrel nuts and barrels get hot, and are right within natural reach. I used to burn myself on my Papoose all of the time.

Varminterror said:

Gotta watch young kids with these. Those Papoose barrel nuts and barrels get hot, and are right within natural reach. I used to burn myself on my Papoose all of the time.

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Hmm never experienced that with mine, though it's never been shot enough consecutively to warm up I suppose. Now the sks on the other hand...

Great point!

J-Bar said:

Which one has the best trigger? A heavy trigger, which lawyers apparently believe make a gun “safer “, can take most of the fun out of shooting and lead to learning poor trigger control.

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Plus 1 here. The only thing that burns me out on a gun faster than a bad trigger is high recoil.
Find the one with the best combination of trigger and sights. Stocks can be shortened.

Unless he's a teenager, pretty much most rifles are going to be too heavy to shoot offhand. I learned when I was 12 to shoot from the prone position, but it's a lot more comfortable to shoot from some kind of rest. I started my own boys with an attached bi-pod, but I'm switching to a unattached tripod with a rest on top.

There are a few rifles that are a closer fit in size and weight, like the Cricket for example. But as others have mentioned, they outgrow them fast and they hold a limited interest.

When you factor in how ill-fitting most rifles are, and how you'll need to use some kind of support, your options increase. The only thing you really need to fit is the length of pull. You can fit that either by cutting the stock down or using an adjustable stock.

Centerfire rifles are better than rimfire. The ammo is more expensive, but most kids are not going to have the dedication it takes to shoot more than a couple hundred rounds a month. Most of them, far less. It's easy to get a box of .223 for less than $10, and no matter how cheap .22LR, it's not more than a few dollars cheaper. But they'll never grow beyond the point in marksmanship where a centerfire cartridge like .223 isn't useful -- not that we outgrow .22LR, but hopefully we grow beyond it's limitations. I also prefer centerfire for children because I can load lead-free primers and bullets. The lead-free varmint bullets are not expensive.

For the smallest children, I suggest an AR-15 with the nearly ubiquitous adjustable stock and one with a rifle-length gas system, or a bolt-action precision bench-rest style rifle. At near 10 pounds, it will be still with a round like .223. For older children, consider a round suitable for when their interests expand -- .224 if they have long-range opportunities, 6.5 Grendel, 7.62x39, .450 bushmaster, .300 AAC or something else suitable for deer or predators.

I would also add that if it was practical, to start kids with a suppressor. It's a real shame the law infringes in that area and makes it impractical for most kids.

Consider what's the better situation, a kid with some old .22 rimfire rifle from the junk pile, or a kid, even if he's just 5 to 7 years old, with a heavy, rock-solid, tripod-mounted centerfire rifle shooting a light bullet from a platform where the stock is fully adjustable, the ergonomics are refined, the trigger isn't crap, and the sighting system can be adapted to everything from open, aperture, red-dot, holographic, to scope. Yes, it's more money, but it's also a lot more useful for everybody.

J-Bar said:

Which one has the best trigger? A heavy trigger, which lawyers apparently believe make a gun “safer “, can take most of the fun out of shooting and lead to learning poor trigger control.

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........... How true..... good point. That just reminded me to dig out my log books. The Accutrigger on my Savage Rascal breaks at a crisp 2 lbs., 11 oz. on a Lyman digital trigger gauge. And has a nice manual safety located right behind the bolt handle. Here's a couple shots of it I had here on the computer from when I first got it; showing the sticker that was on the buttstock with some of the features and the conveniently located safety. I'd recommend anyone looking for a kid's first rifle to take a look at a Rascal, because the grown-ups wind up enjoying it as much as the kids.. .L.O.L.

I was really surprised recently, I had my nephew at my house teaching him to shoot recently with a few different guns. He has shot before but we were working on some new stuff like longer ranges and shooting offhand. He is about 10 and a big kid that plays football, but he had a real hard time getting through a whole tube on my marlin model 60 offhand. The weight was to much for him to comfortably hold out after a few tubes and we had to go back to the bench.