Bolt Action Single Shot .22 for First Rifle?

I started my youngest daughter with a Marlin 915YS. It is stainless with a wood stock. It has a feed ramp and high viability sights. Her first day shooting the NRA rim fire course she was knocking the center out of the targets in no time. It is a bit short for me but I can also shoot it if I want. It is a very nice starter gun and being her first I imagine she will keep it the rest of her life or pass it to one of her kids. Not sure what the price is these days but I think I paid around $300.

Yes, she can likely out shoot me with it on any given day and I could not be happier to say so. She is also close on trap and some handguns. :)
 
For a beginner, I usually recommend a .22 bolt action with a detachable box magazine. There are plenty around used at reasonable cost. Not everyone will agree, but here is my rationale:

.22 Rimfire - still the cheapest and easiest to get, and easy to clean. You might think scaring the bejabbers out of your 8 year old by letting him fire your .600 Nitro is fun, but one round can turn him into an anti-gunner real quick.

Bolt action - easy to operate and easy for a coach to see what is going into the gun. Use without a magazine as a single shot for a beginner. NO autoloaders, no pumps, no fancy target guns with .00003 ounce trigger pulls. This is a better choice than a single shot, since the transition from single shot to repeater is easier when they are the same gun.

Box magazine - the safest place for the magazine for a beginner is in the pocket of the instructor, or at home.

Standard size rife - Tiny guns are cute as the dickens, but a standard rifle says she or he is old enough to take responsibility and that the gun is NOT a toy. (At that age, it is very important that the beginner know and recognize that the gun is REAL gun, not a toy.) Always treat that gun just as you do your own rifles or shotguns; cleaning it and putting it away is part of emphasizing that the gun is real, not a toy.

Jim
 
Ya'll need to check out this video. . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xBxzeqrWPE

This kid is enjoying him self more then most, and he's only got a single shot bolt .22lr AND he has to cock the rifle manually for each shot.


My first gun was a single shot chipmunk bolt action.

I can't imagine anything better. The appreciation I gained for loading one shot at a time, with no other option is something that can not be measured. Also, when it came time to shoot other guns, it made them that much more amazing.

My gf still says she wants to sell her first gun, a .22lr bolt action with a magazine, because she say's she doesn't like having to work the bolt for each shot....

Oh come on I say!!! Maybe she should have started with a single shot with no mag.

There is no feeling in the world to me like loading in a single .22, closing the bolt, taking my shot, ejecting the shell, and then reaching into my pocket or nearby box for another "bullet"!:D
 
It always amazes me that there are so many people that despise the single-shot rifle.:confused:
In a plinking shoot-out of an older Remington, single-shot, bolt action, versus a 10 shot Ruger 7722, the single-shot was only a little behind the repeater for the first ten shots. By the time the Ruger's magazine was reloaded, it was behind. They both got off 20 shots in about the same amount of time.

Single-shot rifles; they deserve more respect.
 
I'm pleased to see you picking up a slow fire rifle. I've seen far too many ;people training their kids with ar22 and other "blasting" guns. What skills will that kid ever develop with one of them?

But, honestly, since you can't hunt for squirrel anymore in most places, cant hit tin cans out in the country, it seems that hanging paper plates on public ranges and banging at them is all that's left to the youth of america.

I almost feel like the .22 should be taken out of the hands of american youth and replaced with airsoft guns that they can shoot at each other and the neighborhood strays.

It makes me sad to see that when I go to my rangeI have to wait sometimes to get access to a 50 foot bench because everyone who goes there wants to shoot at 30 or less.
 
OP, I like the idea of starting out with a single shot bolt action. My Dad gave me a Remington 513 for my 7th birthday in 1961 that started me on a lifetime of shooting, hunting and handloading.

Look at the used market, there are several very good quality single shots out there. Besides the 513 I also have two Winchester model 67's, a Stevens model 15B and a Stevens 1894 Favorite. The Stevens, while not a bolt is a small falling block single shot; a lightweight, accurate little rifle to start a kid out on.
 
I went a different route with my two sons when it was time, but I'm not sure now if it was the best route. It wasn't a bad route either.
I couldn't see giving them a single shot or bolt action that shot 22lr. To me the 22lr round was intended to be used in a semi-automatic firearm. Once they had graduated to a semi, they'd not hold much interest or use for a single shot or bolt action in 22lr, that was my line of thought at the time anyway.

I wanted to give them something that they would keep and could find useful throughout their lives. So each son received a magazine fed bolt action 22wmr rifle on their 10th birthday as their first firearm of their own, which initially were treated as single shot rifles.
I own several myself and still enjoy them a great deal despite how pricey they've become to feed. I'd bet I spent as much as I did on the rifles just feeding them ammunition as they learned and enjoyed shooting them, maybe more. I know that I have since.

Each had to meet a certain level of consistent ability with iron sights before they were allowed to graduate to using an optic. They each did receive a 22lr semi-auto of their own as a later gift, but neither before they were 13 years old.
I'll admit that they had already been exposed to ones that I own before they received one of their own.

Some years back I had an uncle pass away, and I was given a Savage model 63 that had belonged to my grandfather, his father. It was beyond rough, and I brought it back to life by replacing a few small parts from Numrich as well as the stock itself, which I was surprised to find that they still had available as 'new old stock'. I also added a period correct Savage 4x scope to aid my old eyes (though not the scope that the rifle had been marketed with), and a very cool leather sling with the Savage logo embossed on it.

Earlier this year I found a Ted Williams version of the Savage model 49 lever action that brought back fond memories of myself with a couple of close friends and our adventures together in our early teens and I had to have it. The one we shared in those memories was not mine, but in essence it is now.

Both of these rifles are single shot despite the difference in their actions. Both shoot 22 short, long, and long rifle. Both load and eject empties quickly and easily, and both are virtual tack drivers with the right ammo.

I'm surprised at just how much I enjoy shooting them over all of the other options that I own.
I'm also thinking that when the day comes to introduce my future grand children to shooting, I may do things differently with them than I did with their fathers.

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I agree Pathfinder45. You hear alot about the "one shot, one kill" mentality, but then the single shot gets bashed. In the 1800's it wasn't the lever action guns that did the yoemans work on the frontier. Just how did so many international rifle competitions get won by single shots? Just how did the massive Bison herds get hunted to nearly extinction? Those old Sharps & Remington Rolling Blocks put a lot of lead downrange to great effect. My Dad also made me fumble around loading my rifle one round at a time. He always said "You may have but one good shot to take at a game animal, and you better make it good. Make it a humane kill. If you can't do that, then don't take the shot". It made me a better shooter / hunter. Along with my bolt action "repeaters", I have a few SS rifles and I still love them.
 
I'm a strong believer in osok and as rifles, in theory, a person shouldn't take a shot that would probably need a follow up shot.

A neighbor's kid got his first deer, hit it with a 30-30and it took off. He hit it three more times before he hit the spine and it fell. This happened at less than fifty yards, as best as I can tell. If you can't even make the first shot into the kill zone at less than 200 feet you have no business going hunting.
 
A very good start !!!

I want to start teaching my son to shoot.
Click to expand...
The OP is refereeing to a "Starter" rifle and obviously will step up from there as time passes. ...... :)

The single-shot bolt with open sights, is an "excellent" place to "start" and in fat, our state's requirement for Hunter Ed. I have also taught for other organization and they also require a single-shot rifle. ...... ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
I'm not sure about those fiber optic sights that will probably be on almost any starter gun. After using a set on a pellet rifle, I distinctly hated them. They are otoh, cheap to make so they are popular with the makers.

I don't think that it will be easy to transition between them and iron sights. A person should learn on iron sights before working with crosshairs and magnified scopes or a dot.
 
I would recommend a CZ bolt action. I believe they still make a Magazine well block too. It blocks the mag-well and turns the rifle into a single shot. When you feel the kid is ready you swap the block for the magazine. They make 5 and 10 round mags for their rifles, and their quality is excellent.
 
I'm not sure that a cz, a very expensive rifle, is right for a first gun. He started out wondering about the cricket.
 
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Here's the latest rifle that's been making me feel like a little boy again. 1926 Remington Model 6. Shoots like a dream, and price was right at one fitty. jd

 
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