Best youth rifle for beginner kid?

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I have two little girls. They are 8yo and 6yo. The 8yo is mature enough to pay attention and learn how to shoot, safely. Last night, we were watching hunting shows on tv and she asked me if she could shoot a deer next year.

I almost cried, y'all!

So, I'm ready to teach her the basics and take her to the range. Which rifle should I buy to start her on (and use again in a year or two for my younger daughter)?

If any of y'all live near Pittsboro and want to sell me a youth model rifle, lemme know!
 
CZ 457 Scout. It’s a youth sized .22lr with iron sight and single shot adaptor. Was great is that you can swap out the youth stock for a full sized stock as the shooter grows. Also it’s receiver is dovetail grooved so out can later mount a scope. Plus the muzzle is threaded if you want to play quietly.
 
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For a first time shooter, hard to beat a cricket 22lr. There are many versions and mainly geared towards smaller frames, but in the end all, single shots for safety. If you want to get double use out of it (them and you) a 10/22 would be good as well and can be single shot or multi-rounds. That said, the 10/22 will cost more than the cricket.
 
tod0987 said:
For a first time shooter, hard to beat a cricket 22lr. There are many versions and mainly geared towards smaller frames, but in the end all, single shots for safety. If you want to get double use out of it (them and you) a 10/22 would be good as well and can be single shot or multi-rounds. That said, the 10/22 will cost more than the cricket.
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Hmmm... Good point. I already have a 10/22 takedown, but I didn't even consider it...
 
The M&P15-22 is actually very easy for small people to lean to shoot.
Adjustable stock. Light recoil.
A red dot and using front and rear sight eliminates thre need to correct for cheek height. I'm very much a novice with rifles. My daughter shorts mine too. That's house I figured out using the rear sight to co witness helped a lot.
Anyway. Just my $0.02.


Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
 
NCFubar said:
CZ 457 Scout. It’s a youth sized .22lr with iron sight and single shot adaptor. Was great is that you can swap out the youth stock for a full sized stock as the shooter grows. Also it’s receiver is dovetail grooved so out can later mount a scope. Plus the muzzle is threaded if you want to play quietly.
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That looks awesome, but the websites say it's around $500, and that's more than is like to spend.
 
Alabamacoastie said:
Hmmm... Good point. I already have a 10/22 takedown, but I didn't even consider it...
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I've never messed with a take down version but have standard 10/22s. There are OEM wooden stocks that can be had for cheap and cut down to fit their length of pull and thinned at the butt to fit their shoulders. Spray it pink to get the more interested. I think I bought a wooden stock years back for $20 or less.
 
When my grandson was a little guy I bought him a Henry .22 youth model lever action.

He’s now finishing his first year at NCSU and still likes and shoots the Henry. He’s 6’2” and says he still likes the size of the rifle and that it’s “handy”.

His high school senior sister likes to shoot it also. When they were younger she was the best shooter.
 
If ya want to go red dot. For the price I'm pretty impressed with the Bushnell TRS-26 a trijacon MRO knock off. I think I paid $120ish on a sale. The dot isn't as crisp as a Vortex Venom but the field of view is bigger. I've bought a couple and put them on AR pistols and took off the venoms due to the larger field of view.
 
Alabamacoastie said:
That looks awesome, but the websites say it's around $500, and that's more than is like to spend.
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Street price is about $400 if you hit a great deal ... $425 is more the norm. It may sound like a lot but the iron sights are excellent and the stock trigger is very good for factory one and is adjustable. The factory hammer forged barrel is accurate and will last a lifetime ... so both your daughters can be trained on it and then grow with them ... or become a suppressor host for you. I look at it as buy once cry once ... or the cost over the years you’ll get out of it will be one of the best deals of any firearm you’ll own.

I might be prejudice ... I have a 452, three 455 and waiting on a 457.
 
The Ruger American Rimfire is nice if you’re looking for 22LR. You can start with a compact stock and then swap to a full-size at some point. Only ~$35 or so.
 
I started my youngest son on a green laminated Crickett. Youngest grandson will inherit that Crickett. Gave my three other grandkids their own Crickett with synthetic stocks that's painted in their favorite color. Synthetic stock ones can be found at WalMart for about $100. However today I would suggest BigWaylon suggest above on a Ruger Rimfire American Compact with a 18" bbl. It also takes your 10/22 magazines. Another good starter is the Savage Rascal.

https://www.keystonesportingarmsllc.com/crickett-rifles/
https://ruger.com/products/americanRimfire/specSheets/8305.html
https://www.savagearms.com/content?p=firearms&a=product_summary&s=13775

Another option would be a AR 15 in 5.56mm with a .22LR conversion as stated. Rossi also makes a single shot .22LR/.410 combo

https://rossiusa.com/firearms/matched-pair

CD
 
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One thing I didn’t like about the cricket. There is no feed ramp for the shell. My fat fingers had a heck of a time squeezing into the chamber to load a round each time for my son. Once he was able, he loaded them but we dropped almost as many as we loaded. I like the single shot but the trigger is awfully heavy and he preferred shooting about anything else. A nice lever action or 10-22 that they could grow into maybe with a stock that you could change out would be better. Just load one round at a time and presto, you have a single shot rifle for safety.
 
First rifle I shot was an M1 carbine. My uncle thought it would build character and figured that a little recoil was a good thing. Once I was sufficiently accurate with that he told me to shoot the 22 to save money.
M1 carbines go for quite a bit more money these days than they did in the 70s.
 
NCFubar said:
CZ 457 Scout. It’s a youth sized .22lr with iron sight and single shot adaptor. Was great is that you can swap out the youth stock for a full sized stock as the shooter grows. Also it’s receiver is dovetail grooved so out can later mount a scope. Plus the muzzle is threaded if you want to play quietly.
Click to expand...

CZ is always the answer. :D
 
NCFubar said:
Street price is about $400 if you hit a great deal ... $425 is more the norm. It may sound like a lot but the iron sights are excellent and the stock trigger is very good for factory one and is adjustable. The factory hammer forged barrel is accurate and will last a lifetime ... so both your daughters can be trained on it and then grow with them ... or become a suppressor host for you. I look at it as buy once cry once ... or the cost over the years you’ll get out of it will be one of the best deals of any firearm you’ll own.

I might be prejudice ... I have a 452, three 455 and waiting on a 457.
Click to expand...

Buy once cry once. I probably have some CZ scope rings around if you need them too. @Alabamacoastie if you go that route let me know and I’ll check.
 
We bought our son a Savage Rascal single shot .22 and in my opinion it's a much better rifle than the Crickett. He's sporting a 10/22 now, but he's long since outgrown the Rascal
 
CZfool68 said:
CZ is always the answer. :D
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I would never have expected you to say CZ ... :p
CZfool68 said:
Buy once cry once. I probably have some CZ scope rings around if you need them too. @Alabamacoastie if you go that route let me know and I’ll check.
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Teach them irons first ... use a big target that’s easy fun and easy to see hits ... balloons or even properly set to steel. Iron sight usage to me is one of the most important skills in teaching a new shooter ... after they learn that then optics.

Oh yeah, I prefer a bolt gun and one round at a time ... I think the kid concentrates a little more and it adds that little extra range safety aspect especially with very young shooters getting excited and jumping around.
 
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I appreciate all y'alls responses and help! Shortly after starting this thread, a used crickett popped up in the BST for $75. I couldn't turn that down.

My girls have seen it and held it, and we had another talk about safety, but they haven't shot it yet... Maybe today or tomorrow...
 
Alabamacoastie said:
I appreciate all y'alls responses and help! Shortly after starting this thread, a used crickett popped up in the BST for $75. I couldn't turn that down.

My girls have seen it and held it, and we had another talk about safety, but they haven't shot it yet... Maybe today or tomorrow...
Click to expand...
Tomorrow, get the bunny.
 
Alabamacoastie said:
I appreciate all y'alls responses and help! Shortly after starting this thread, a used crickett popped up in the BST for $75. I couldn't turn that down.

My girls have seen it and held it, and we had another talk about safety, but they haven't shot it yet... Maybe today or tomorrow...
Click to expand...
Forgot to mention that there are two models of the Crickett. Those with a lock and those without it. Don't lose the key! Oldest son, lost the key to my oldest grandson's :(. Others I bought without the lock.

CD
 
Combat Diver said:
Forgot to mention that there are two models of the Crickett. Those with a lock and those without it. Don't lose the key! Oldest son, lost the key to my oldest grandson's :(. Others I bought without the lock.

CD
Click to expand...

Ok... Here's the real reason the kids haven't shot it yet... I accidentally locked it. :oops:

When I met the seller (really nice guy), he pointed out the lock and told me not to lock it because he didn't have a key.

No big deal, I wasn't planning to lock it anyway.

That night, I was cleaning the rifle and lubing it up. When I was done, I left the bolt open and set it down on the work bench. I didn't realize that this would cause the lock to activate and hold the bolt permanently open until you unlock it with the key.

Don't worry. I already ordered a set of keys off the crickett website. $7 and free shipping. They'll be here in a few days.

I read online that I could take off the stock, remove the lock permanently, then put the stock back on... But i already ordered the keys so I'll just wait...

I wasn't going to tell anyone this story, but you brought it up, so what the heck...
 
Alabamacoastie said:
Ok... Here's the real reason the kids haven't shot it yet... I accidentally locked it. :oops:

When I met the seller (really nice guy), he pointed out the lock and told me not to lock it because he didn't have a key.

No big deal, I wasn't planning to lock it anyway.

That night, I was cleaning the rifle and lubing it up. When I was done, I left the bolt open and set it down on the work bench. I didn't realize that this would cause the lock to activate and hold the bolt permanently open until you unlock it with the key.

Don't worry. I already ordered a set of keys off the crickett website. $7 and free shipping. They'll be here in a few days.

I read online that I could take off the stock, remove the lock permanently, then put the stock back on... But i already ordered the keys so I'll just wait...

I wasn't going to tell anyone this story, but you brought it up, so what the heck...
Click to expand...
That's about what my son did too. LOL

CD
 
Alabamacoastie said:
Ok... Here's the real reason the kids haven't shot it yet... I accidentally locked it. :oops:

When I met the seller (really nice guy), he pointed out the lock and told me not to lock it because he didn't have a key.

No big deal, I wasn't planning to lock it anyway.

That night, I was cleaning the rifle and lubing it up. When I was done, I left the bolt open and set it down on the work bench. I didn't realize that this would cause the lock to activate and hold the bolt permanently open until you unlock it with the key.

Don't worry. I already ordered a set of keys off the crickett website. $7 and free shipping. They'll be here in a few days.

I read online that I could take off the stock, remove the lock permanently, then put the stock back on... But i already ordered the keys so I'll just wait...

I wasn't going to tell anyone this story, but you brought it up, so what the heck...
Click to expand...

Ha. Lock? :eek:

Just another reason the answer is almost always, CZ. :p
 
fishgutzy said:
The M&P15-22 is actually very easy for small people to lean to shoot.
Adjustable stock. Light recoil.
A red dot and using front and rear sight eliminates thre need to correct for cheek height. I'm very much a novice with rifles. My daughter shorts mine too. That's house I figured out using the rear sight to co witness helped a lot.
Anyway. Just my $0.02.


Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
^^^ This. I picked up a 15-22 for my grandkids, with the adjustable stock, it fits them pretty well and they have a blast shooting it.
 
My 20 year old daughter still wants to shoot "her rifle", a pink Cricket. She's outgrown it, shoots ARs and an M1 carbine well, but has an emotional connection with the Cricket. 1. Because its pink. 2. Cause Daddy gave it to her and spent time with her.

Get each of them their own rifle.

Excuse me a moment, got something in my eye...
 
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Didn't read through all this so apologies if I'm late to the game, but I would go with a threaded 22lr like a Savage FVSR or B22 to introduce them to shooting if you have a suppressor. Makes it so damn fun. Not for their first rifle though, too heavy.
 
I got my daughter a pink Crickett when she was six. Started her on the iron sights, and eventually put a 4x scope on it. That rifle was the reason for quite a few squirrel and rice dinners!

She’s 14 years old now, @ 5’ 8”, and her rifle of choice is my 16” 450 Bushmaster AR. She’s 115 pounds, and the 450 moves her back a foot every time she shoots it! She shrugs it off like it’s nothing.
 
I got my kids Marlins - Model 60 and 795 when they were old enough to shoot. Alot easier teaching basics when they don't have to work the action much so the semi-autos win for easy. However when they start doing magdumps they got a bolt action :D
 
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