My Daughter wants a rifle

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BrewCityProp

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Took her to a family shooting event so she could learn safety. (The instructors thought she did very well and practiced safely and listened)

She now wants her own rifle, she is nearly 10 and small for her age.

Should I go air-gun or .22

anyone have youth models to reccommend?

Cheers
 
My son just turned 7 and absolutely loves his Crickett. They come in all colors, including camo and pink. You can get it for under $100 at Gander Mountain.

--Len.
 
Hey Brew,
My daughter just turned 10 this spring and I took her to the range also and she loved it. I let her shoot my ruger 10/22 and it was way too big. I picked up a used marlin 15y single shot bolt action 22 and she liked the function of it but it is still a little too heavy with the wood stock for her.
My solution was to buy her a crickett rifle. I bought it a wally world for just under $100. It is blue steel and has a black synth. stock. It is probably a little short for her but the safety and the weight are ideal for a first gun.
My daughter is on the small side for her age too but she is a damn good shot. If the gun is not a surprise take your daughter to the store and have her hold the crickett and the savage youth models and see which she likes.
Mine liked both but the crickett was a better buy. And don't fall into the trap that just because the gun is for a girl you have to get the pink stock.
I just could not stomach buying a pepto bismal pink gun.
I am glad my daughter felt the same way and picked the black stock.
Have fun!!!
 
I bought my oldest son an air gun at age 11.

He had a .22 a couple years later.
He learned the basics with the air gun and then moved on to shooting my Ruger 10/22, and other guns, before getting his own.
 
.22

One that will handle shorts and LR would be nice.

My daughter is 23 now. She is my favorite range partner. I'm happy for you, it's special to have the girls take part in your interests.

Tom
 
I started my daughters on an airgun, mostly because it was easiest to set up a range in my basement. We then went to a .22 about 6 months later. Every now and then I pull out the air rifle for fun. Its a Gamo from Wal Mart. Not the cheapest they sell, but cheap enough that I never regretted it. My oldest seemed to lose interest but my now 17 year old, loves to shoot everything I own, hunting rifles, handguns, AR, even the 44Mag revolver, and every now and then, the old air gun.
 
A .22 is safer.

I didn't own an airgun until I was in my thirties. My father wouldn't allow it when I was a kid. Rifles, shotguns and handguns were alright, but no airguns. His thinking makes sense. Kids will sometimes do stupid stuff with a "toy" (even though it's not) they would never do with a "real" gun. Get her a nice bolt action .22LR.

The Cricket is a good youth gun due to it's small stock. I prefer to buy a fullsized, wood stocked, used .22 and then do a drill/cut job on it so they can grow with it. When they're old enough for the complete stock, they're old enough for a new .22 and pass the cut one down to another new shooter.
 
I bought my oldest son (9) a savage cub last year. It is a single shot like the cricket and is suprisingly accurate. The first gun I got him was a daisy red rider, but it was dangerous in that he had to work hard to cock it, and there was no telling where it was pointing. Sometimes he shoot my Winchester 67, but that is a bit big for him still, and the savage fits him better.
 
id go 22 with a henry, marlin , savage, cz, cricket, or chipmunk youth. if you get the marlin, cz. or savage, you can replace the kid stock, with an adult one later.
 
If you have a place to shoot I like the 22. Many of the serious airguns are no lighter than the full sized 22s and are difficult for the smaller kids to cock without pointing at something it shouldn't be pointed at.
You need to make the choice based upon what works for your situation but here are a couple of my thoughts.
Bolt gun is traditional . When I was selecting a gun for a friends kid I chose a semi auto based upon a couple of things . The kid had a ton of interest but due to family situation of split custody he will likely only be shooting with me 4 or 5 days a year and possibly another couple of weekends with one of his family members at a vacation home up in the sticks of New Hampshire. I wanted a gun that would hold his interest . I needed to be able to fit him at this point yet be able to still match his expanding frame . I bought him a stainless 10/22 with the plastic stock ,replaced the stock with a old wood stock (everyone who has messed with 10/22s has at least one laying around!) that I chopped and refinished. To be even more untraditional I mounted up a red dot. I got him a plastic tool box and threw in a set of kid sized glasses and earmuffs,a boresnake and a brick of ammo. Like I said I know the semi is not the usual first rifle but this gun fits him well and he is doing well with it and learning and useing all the usual safety rules. It is not like he is just going to get turned loose with it , it will be myself,his mother,or his stepdad along with him at all times so I don't worry .
Spend some time going over the safety rules and talking about what they mean . Lead by example . Teach them to use hearing protection and to was their hands after cleaning or shooting guns. Do it for the kids!
 
Buy the girl a .22lr that will fit her for years to come. A .22 will see much more use then an air gun. A Ruger 10/22 is a great starting rifle when equipped with a lighter synthetic stock. IMHO Remember to stress the importance of safety.
 
my 7-year old daughter's first rifle was a nef single shot 22.

if i was to do it over again, i would get the same starter rifle, but quickly move her to a bolt once the basics were mastered.

i do not feel a self-feeder gives you enough control over what the shooter is doing.

my daughter learned the basics on the nef 22, then went to a bolt 223, then an ar-15, and really enjoys shooting.
 
The Rossi Matched Pair set mentioned above is a good idea.

H&R has a nice combo too and I feel the quility is better than the Rossi offering.
http://www.hr1871.com/Firearms/Combos/versaPack.aspx

If you want a real good youth bolt action rifle, IMO you can't get better than the Savage Cub for the price. http://www.savagearms.com/cub.htm
If that gun is too small for her then the Savage Mark I Youth model is slightly larger and it's a good rifle too. http://www.savagearms.com/markigy.htm

If you want to up the price range then you might like the CZ Scout. http://www.danwessonfirearms.com/product_detail.php?id=5
Some shooters like it better than the Savage rifles but I truly feel the Savage rifles are the best and accurate rimfire rifles available.
I also like the AccuTrigger a lot...
 
If she is just a little thing, I like the Crikett. It's inexpensive, you can get it in fun, girly colors (primarily Pink.), and if she tires of it, you can generally sell them off pretty easily. I mean, you might only get $65 bucks or so, but you won't have that much more invested in it, so your not losing a whole bunch. The problem with an air rifle is that A: Your going to have to pump the thing for her, which is a pain. B: It isn't like daddy's gun and C: From what I have seen, most decent air rifles are going to cost close to as much as the average Crickett.
 
My son is 10 and has a Ruger 10/22 that he loves. I bought him a single shot, but it was too hard for him to work the action. Keep in mind that thumb cocking and breaking open the action seems easy to us, but even my wife had difficulty. The semi-auto was definitely the best choice.
 
When my daughter was little, she got a lever action BB gun. When she turned 9, she got a Marlin 915YN and passed the Daisy on to her little brother. It is a good little rifle, and sometimes I sneak it out of the safe to hunt bunnies with instead of my 10/22 or shotgun. But usually when I go bunny hunting, she comes along and carries her own rifle, thank you very much daddy.

The first center fire she'll fire will be later this year. AR15 carbine, LW barrel, with a collapsible stock to be able to instantly fit the rifle to her.
 
.22LR single shot bolt action

What I learned on when I was 10 or 11 (can't remember)

I would try to get a full size though, between ages 10 and 12 she is going to grow a lot and you will ALWAYS have fun with a .22LR bolt action.
 
well... the cricket can be fun, but I'd suggest an air rifle with scope from Gamo or other inexpensive manufacturer.

I learned basic marksmanship between ages 5-15 using nothing but a red rider bb gun and a co2 powered pistol. The scopes that come on these 'varmint' guns are cheap ones, but they'll get her started. And, you won't have to ever clean the gun or worry about it squib loading.
 
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