Revolver for a kid?

L

Lomshek

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Does anyone have a recommended DA/SA .22 LR revolver for a child to learn on? I have a son who will be 7 and would like to find him a revolver with a short enough trigger reach and small grip to learn on. Four inch barrel, steel and adjustable sights would be preferred (not an S&W airweight). The S&W P22 will just about fit him now but I don't want him to start with a semi-auto. He has already begun with a short stocked .22 rifle and I'm looking for a first handgun to learn good trigger control.
Thanks for any help!
 
Small .22 revolver?

I'm recalling a .22/32 Kit Gun I had for a while back during the late 1960s. It had a four-inch barrel and square butt frame, and was a little darlin' to shoot. Unfortunately, it didn't fit with my perceived "needs" at the time and I let it go in favor of another Model 34, with RB and a two inch barrel.

If you could locate one in four-inch, it would be a great starter revolver for a kid with small hands. Very high quality, and extremely accurate. Such an item would cost significant money nowadays, but when have first class goods come cheap?

I haven't handled one, S&W lists their model 317 .22 J-frame with three inch barrel. See:
http://www.firearms.smith-wesson.com/store/index.php3?cat=293595&start=10&sw_activeTab=1
Whups! Sorry - - I see you say you don't WANT the airweight. Well, maybe you'll locate a now-discontinued Kit Gun.

Best of luck to you AND the budding shooter.
Johnny
 
Given he's 7, weight and ballance may be a consideration as well. Some revolvers can get pretty nose heavy. Specificly, the K frame Smiths or Ruger single six's ( at 35-41 oz) might be a bit heavy for him to hold up ( although both are EXCELLENT guns.)
IMHO, it would be real hard to beat either a S&W mod 63, 34 or older 22/32 in 4". Everything you asked for in a nice 25 oz package. Furthermore, the grips are small and the pull fairly short. You'll also be able to select from a HUGE selection of grips to get it to fit just right. The downside is that since these models are no longer made , you can expect to pay $300-$450 for a nice used one. On the up side, it would be a lifetime gun that would hold it's value pretty well if cared for. IF $300+is too steap you might look for a 3" Charter Arms Pathfinder. It keeps he adjustable sights and is VERY close in size/weight to the J framed S&W 34/63's . I have one ( in stainless) and have to say it's not all that far in fit finish and accuracy as compared to my S&W 63. Price was about 1/2 though.
Lastly the Ruger Bearcats are very nice little (lifetime) revolvers but have fixed sights and not that much cheaper than the S&W's in my experience .

p.s. Since you've selected a revolver to start him (SMART!), consider feeding it subsonic and or short ammo to get him started. ( Aguila makes a good one cheap) The smaller lighter guns will jump more with bulk HS LR.
hth
 
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Thanks for the suggestions!

Does anyone have recommended web sites for quality discontinued revolvers like these. Price is less of a factor than having a handgun that his kids can learn on as well. I plan on having a smith lighten the trigger so it will be as manageable as possible. I'll get my dealer looking as well.

Roger!
 
Taurus 94. They are great for a beginning shooter. There aren't a lot of H&Rs 999s around anymore. The Taurus 94 is THE 22 lr today. The ability to mate it with a 85 from Taurus in 38 Special in the future is a plus.
 
So what's the difference tween all those smiths - 18, 34, 63, 22/32?

I've been looking lately at .22 revos, and the Comanche 22 and Taurus 94 both keep coming up in searches for cheapies, price-wise. They're both 9 shot, nice-looking, double action revolvers in .22 - the Taurus 94 seems to have more bbl length choices. I'd have to think that the Taurus, being a company I've heard of, *may* have better quality and a better warranty, between the two, but I'm not totally sure of that either. That Ruger Bearcat is a cutie, I'll admit, if SA is your game and you don't mind putting money in the pockets of a gun-ban-bandwagon company. The 317 smith is a nice little gun, but pricey of course as all new smiths are.

http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=25660168

http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=25630711

http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=25532416

http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=25771651

http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=25665875

http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=25502925

http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=25455292
 
Heritage, RSA Commanches and Taurus are all the cheapies in price. The Heritages I have tried have literally fallen apart. I rate them down in the POJ class. The RSA Commanches are in need of work right out of the box. Their triggers don't always reset and they are pretty cruddy in the action. If you don't mind cleaning them up, polishing up their stainless and tinkering with them, they make a OK revolver. The only ammunition I have found that they shoot reliably is CCI Mini Mags. They don't like cheap Wal-Mart brick 22s. The Taurus 94s are smooth, reliable, warranteed and shoot as well as S&Ws 617.
 
"So what's the difference tween all those smiths - 18, 34, 63, 22/32?"

The 17's and 18's are built on the mid sized K frame ( a la 38/357 frame.) So were the "K-22's" that came before.
617 is a stainless full lugged follow up to the 17

The 34 is a small j frame in blue
the 63 is a 34 small/ J frame in stainless
22/32 is an earlier/pre 34 for the most part.



FWIW, I know that many of the Taurus 94's built in the early to mid 90's had a reputation of some real QA and accuracy problems. Not sure I'd take a chance on a used one without a chance to test fire it. Some were great , some were junk. Also FWIW, I started out as a Taurus fan when $ was tight. However,of the 5 Tausus revolvers I've owned ( all 38/357's) from that period, 2 were great, one spent 1/2 it's life at the factory for repair of a bad barrel install, one wore out prematurely and one blew up in my hand. I lost $ on every one when I traded up to S&W /Rugers.
Can't say anything good or bad about current production.
 
OK, so, to summarize for us feeble-minded:

-K22, 17, 18, and 617 ===> BIG

-22/32, 34, 63, and 317 ===> LITTLE

Got it.

As for the Taurus 94, yes I've heard that about spottiness of quality in them, and in fact, their website does not show that they 94 is even made anymore - I'll have to assume their website is correct and that they're discontinued. Don't know whether the discontinuance was due to poor sales, in turn due to the bad reputation for quality, or not. Apparently, their only .22 now is based on the "Tracker" frame, which I gather is similar in size to a K frame smith - bigger. But I am in fact quite leery about gettin a 94 because of what I've read here on TFL about their quality problems in the .22s, even though I have and am very pleased so far, with my 2 Taurus revolvers.

I know NOTHING about the Comanches except that they're inexpensive and plentiful on the online auctions.

As for what I'm looking for, I really don't care whether it's SA or DA, but I do kinda like the 8 or 9 shot capacity over the 6-shooters - I mean, why the heck not. And it seems that the .22s offered in a smallish frame with 8 or 9 shots are DA, not SA, so that's fine also.
 
All the advice is appreciated!!!

We are going to check out the small frame S&W's to see what we like the fit/feel of. Might go with an airweight 3" as long as we start off with CB's or shorts to keep the recoil down. I definitely want to get something I can train my grandkids with 20 years from now. I've never regretted buying quality.
I'll post pics once we get shooting!!!

Roger :)
 
My Dad taught me to shoot a pistol with a S&W Airweight. Don't remember the model. I was 6. I didn't have any problem with the size or recoil that I can remember and it was a ton of fun. Shot up all the 22 Short he had laying around and started on some new LR when he finally got too bored and cold to put up with me and made me quit for the night :)
 
Smith & Wesson Model 34...

...fits your described criteria perfectly. Had a square butt 4" nickel years back, and the thing shot as good (and likely better than) I could manage. Put a lot of fricasseed tree rat (squirrel) on the table with that pistol. I've seen NIB 34s advertised for as much as $500+, but with a little looking, you can probably find a clean, mechanically sound, used specimen for around $300.

IMHO, all other small frame DA .22 revolvers wish they were Smith 34 Kit Guns, but don't come close. I'm...

OutAtTheEdge
 
I know NOTHING about the Comanches except that they're inexpensive and plentiful on the online auctions.
Click to expand...
That in itself should be a good indication about the overall quality of them.

K frame Smiths (17-18 - K22) have been around for a long time, and I can't even begin to guess at how many have been made. You don't see them very often, and when you do, they usually fetch a pretty penny. Even a dinged up one (17 - 18 -K22) sells for more used than it probably was when new.


but I do kinda like the 8 or 9 shot capacity over the 6-shooters - I mean, why the heck not
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Biggest drawback to something other than 6 shots is that it may get in the way of becoming very proficient with a 6 shot centerfire down the road. It's (IMHO) a non-issue shooting S/A. It's a show stopper for good D/A techniques though.
 
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