Dnaltrop
Member
Buy the .22 first for him to grow up with. My now 9 year old started at 7 with a marlin 101 and has graduated to a 1970's Charter Arms AR-7 Explorer.
Henry's making the AR-7 now, and they added a rail... once he learns real sights you can get him a red-dot or other optics. Better still they collapse, making them easy to pack around, and they Float, so when Junior slips on a rock, or you flip the canoe you don't have to dive to the bottom to retrieve it.
That aside... don't make the first rifle the super special one... though give it to him when he becomes a Legal adult, as the gun he's been using since childhood.
On his 18th birthday, take him shopping, make the decision together.
Henry's making the AR-7 now, and they added a rail... once he learns real sights you can get him a red-dot or other optics. Better still they collapse, making them easy to pack around, and they Float, so when Junior slips on a rock, or you flip the canoe you don't have to dive to the bottom to retrieve it.
That aside... don't make the first rifle the super special one... though give it to him when he becomes a Legal adult, as the gun he's been using since childhood.
On his 18th birthday, take him shopping, make the decision together.