When my boys were less than a year old I got them a gun each. For later when they can shoot. My oldest boy is now 5 and shoots his 22 using the peep sight to the best of his abilities. He can't wait to shoot a grouse. More practice I keep telling him. His little brother has a .410 youth single shot which will be used much later as they both get older. My problem is they now have a sister and I just don't know what to get for her. I figure a duplication is not necesary, as in another .22. I know time is flying by and soon they will all need larger guns, maybe a youth centerfire? Any ideas?

How about a 22 Hornet? I'm thinking of getting one for my 5yr old daughter. Right now she just shoots my Rem 597. It's sort of a spray and pray mentality for now. I've never seen anything make her smile like running 10 rounds out as fast as she can. At this point, my 3yr old son is happier just watching instead of shooting.

Another thought would be to buy a Contender and cut the stock down. Then you could just switch out barrels as the kids got older. I'm in the process of doing that now.

I forgot about the contender. A hornet would work very nice. I could shorten a stock then buy another for later as they grow. and add calibers as they grow. This is a very good Idea. Overall I was very disappointed with youth rifle selection and quality, especially the wood.

My only concern with the Contender is the exposed hammer. With a child's small hands, I'm a little worried about them having problems cocking the hammer, or more importantly, de-cocking if necesary.

Since used Contender stocks can be found on Ebay fairly cheap, I don't feel bad about carving one up. Although, the one I have is probably the nicest looking wood I've ever seen on a Contender, making it hard to start cutting it up.

I agree on the poor selection and quality of true youth guns. Most will work for teenagers or small adults. But they are just not right for the younger kids. How are we supposed to get the kids started into shooting if nobody makes a decent gun for them to use?