Questions on "youth" rifles

O

OhioGuy

New member
I have a 10 year old son who I'd like to introduce to shooting. I'm in the market for a rimfire rifle myself, and I'm not sure he's big enough for the models I'd get (looking most likely at a Ruger American or CZ 455 bolt action for myself).

Some of the youth rifles almost look toddler-sized! (The "Cricket," and Savage had a "Rascal" that looked pretty small).

He shoots a classic Red Ryder ("you'll put yer eye out!") BB gun well and it's a good size for him. It's 34.5" long.

Does anyone know what .22 rifles would be comparably sized? Do I need a "youth" model rifle, or would something in the compact category work?

I'm guessing it's not the overall length, but the distance from the back of the stock to the trigger that actually matters.

Suggestions? He's 4'10" so pretty tall for his age. I'd prefer something with an action he has to work manually between shots but I won't rule anything out.

Oh...and cheap would be great :) Maybe something that would be easily found used. Surely there are people whose kids have outgrown something and are looking to sell.
 
I thought the Ruger American could be adjusted for LOP. (Length of pull)

Other than that, get what you want and put a Boyds stock on it.
 
I started my kids with single shot youth .22's when they turned 8. The Cricket was too small for them by that age. Most of them picked out a Marlin 15Y ..... One got a Savage Cub ..... and one had no interest in spending any of her money on her own gun, as there were several available that have been outgrown for her to borrow ....

They are all too big for the little guns now ...... even the youngest prefers the AR to the "Little Kids guns".....
 
IIRC Henry makes a youth model 22 lever action. I think all you need after it is outgrown is a new adult size buttstock.

The Ruger 10/22 seems to be just a bit shorter than a full sized gun but still fits me just fine and I’m 6’1”.
 
Kids grow up too fast

Surely there are people whose kids have outgrown something and are looking to sell.
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This is a good point to consider. For our Hunter Safety classes, we use Marlin and Savage youth models, in .22LR. We also have two youth model shotguns. Our situation is so much different than yours as we "always" have a new set of small kids and females. I can be more specific as you wish. ..... :)

In your case, this Youth Model will get outgrown in short order so frankly, it's a waste of money. Many of the Youth Models are bolt and single-shot. I'm not totally comfortable with recommend a Ruger 10/22 stock carbine. You will never outgrow that one and can even upgrade it later. ...... ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
Pahoo said:
This is a good point to consider. For our Hunter Safety classes, we use Marlin and Savage youth models, in .22LR. We also have two youth model shotguns. Our situation is so much different than yours as we "always" have a new set of small kids and females. I can be more specific as you wish. ..... :)

In your case, this Youth Model will get outgrown in short order so frankly, it's a waste of money. Many of the Youth Models are bolt and single-shot. I'm not totally comfortable with recommend a Ruger 10/22 stock carbine. You will never outgrow that one and can even upgrade it later. ...... ;)

Be Safe !!!
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Do you know of a model flexible enough that it could reasonably accommodate a 5'10" man and a 4'10" (temporarily, he's growing like crazy!) boy?

I have other boys who are physically much smaller but they aren't mature enough (or self aware enough) to handle such things yet.
 
If he is just 10 does he really need a 22? I went all the way to 16 with nothing more than a 12 gauge shotgun and several air rifles. And I killed a bunch of birds and squirrels with those. I am still 50+ years later a fan of air rifles and pistols and own around 10 of them. Nothing wrong with a Benjiman/Crosman pump 22.
 
RAR stock inserts are interchangeable allowing both adult and smaller users a proper length.
This is a functional and accurate platform suitable for general use.
 
ratshooter said:
If he is just 10 does he really need a 22? I went all the way to 16 with nothing more than a 12 gauge shotgun and several air rifles. And I killed a bunch of birds and squirrels with those. I am still 50+ years later a fan of air rifles and pistols and own around 10 of them. Nothing wrong with a Benjiman/Crosman pump 22.
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Honestly never thought about it. I know nothing about air guns really. Figured they were all basically oversized Red Riders.

Reading now...man, over 1000 fps on some of these?!

Helluva lot cheaper than a .22lr...

If he can learn marksmanship out to some reasonable distance then this could be plenty for now...
 
You really don’t need a 1000fps from an air rifle. Most only get that with the very lightest weight pellets. But a good pump or break barrel rifle in the 500-700fps range will do all a new shooter needs to do. And a High speed break barrel is harder to cock. An air rifle will teach all the basics of marksmanship and safe gun handling. After a few sessions he can be trusted to shoot on his own in the back yard with a safe backstop. Try that at home with a 22 rifle.

I am a huge fan of air rifles. I have killed more animals with my pump pellet guns than all my other rifles combined.

And do some more research. Air rifles are not oversized Red Riders. There are some very serious competitions shot with air rifles and some of the groups these gun are capeable of will really surprise and impress you.
 
We have a CZ Scout, Ruger American, and a youth henry leveraction. All are great first guns. All shoot 5 inside an inch at 50, the Scout has the best trigger and a single shot adapter.
 
It's really simple if you will let it be. Start him right, respect tradition, and narrow it down to a bolt-action, 22 rimfire, single-shot rifle with a wood, as in genuine wood, stock, preferably older rifle. There were a lot of them made over the years and though many were kind of cheapo, there were a lot of them of better quality. For example:

Here's a decent Remington: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/739574042

I find this Winchester fascinating: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/740285516

And there are any number of others.
 
Rossi with multiple barrels.

Rossi makes a couple of single shot guns with interchangeable barrels. I've owned a 22lr/20ga combo and a 22lr/410 combo. They are shorter guns and should make good youth guns.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
"Is this true of the wood stock also or just synthetic?"
Synthetic only(wood stocks don't have inserts).

"If he is just 10 does he really need a 22?"
I have one of the higher powered pellet rifles and a "pump up" Crossman. My 8 year old Grand Daughter can't cock either of them but she can load her little Savage bolt action 22 easily. We got 10 YO Grandson a target grade pellet rifle for 4-H competition. Guess what? He couldn't cock it w/o standing up from his shooting position.
 
We have a CZ Scout, Ruger American, and a youth henry leveraction. All are great first guns. All shoot 5 inside an inch at 50, the Scout has the best trigger and a single shot adapter.
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We went through this exercise a few years back with a nephew and a niece. The Crickets and other diminutive .22s are just too small (short) for sustained use and training by growing kids. We felt they'd outgrow them in a year or two.

The best compromise in a "youth" .22 rifle is the CZ Scout. The kids will be able to learn on it with the single-shot adapter, and then 'graduate' to a 5-rd mag later, while not outgrowing the stock. The length is ideal.

We bought two of the 452 Scout models back then, but as I understand it, those have now been discontinued/replaced by the 455 Scout. From the one 455 model I saw, it appears to be the same little rifle, but the muzzle is threaded for a rimfire can.
 
"If he is just 10 does he really need a 22?"
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What's "need" got to do with it?

We found that the .22 youth models were simpler, cheaper and more reliable than decent target airguns...... and shooting .22 rimfire silhouette matches was WAY more fun than punching paper with a BB gun/pellet rifle in 4-H .....
 
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