Looking for input on which " First rifle" to get for my 5 year old grandson.
Do I opt for a Cricket like the one I purchased for my great granddaughter or something else.
Should I get one that is drilled and tapped for a scope?
I'm not sure what's out there now.

Maybe I could get Mimms to loan ne his 22LR double?. . . Oops! I forgot. This is for my grandson, not me!
Thank you in advance for your input.

Should be a single shot for safety and learning discipline.

I had a problem with a Cricket ... pierced rims.

A Contender is not a good option, the lever is too stiff for a child.

Not sure what that leaves...Ithaca made a single shot lever action at one time, that might be the answer.

If it doesn't HAVE to be new, I would opt for a classic like a Winchester 67 or Remington 33, 511, 514 or the like. Then he would have SOMETHING. With that said...I got my daughter a Savage Cub as it has short length of pull and fit her better. CZ Scout would be an option also if it doesn't have to be a single shot. I would have been happen with any of them when I was a kid. My first was a Page Lewis Single Shot. Of course I still have it but have not shot it in years.

Savage Rascal is hands down the best new youth .22 on the market.
No plunger to for little fingers to try to cock.
Comes drilled and tapped.
Has the accutrigger
The only flaw I find with it is the drop at comb is way too low, but it's easy enough to add a cheek piece.

If you can find a CZ Woodchuck they are great guns, except for the backwards safety.

I got one for my youngest son for his 5th birthday and it has served him well. Its his trapline gun now.

Stevens Favorite is the classic boy's 22 but at 5, he probably doesn't have the finger strength to cock it. Also the older ones need a bit of work (replace the action pins and screws) to work with modern high speed 22lr ammo.

I would agree with Russ Gould. The Ithaca model 49 saddlegun is a great gun for a begining youth. My reasons for thinking that are twofold. (1) safety---It is a single shot (fake tubular magazine) lever action. But working the lever only ejects the shell it does not cock it. Once cocked if you decide not to shoot, work the lever and it is unloaded and safe. (2) It has an easily removed butt and it does not require a great deal of woodworking skills nor tools to make a short butt that fits the youth---keeping the original for when youth gets bigger. The rifle is on the heavy side at 5.5 pounds which is both good and bad.
They are no longer manufactured and some of the used ones were higher priced than I would have expected.
They also made a 49R which was a repeater.

Kids start out so small and quickly that it makes sense to have an adjustable buttstock, rather than having them struggle with a too-long stock or cutting down a stock, which renders it useless after a yer or so.

The Ruger Precision rimfire makes a lot of sense since it has the adjustable length of pull, can be used as a single-shot, and is accurate enough to be interesting after they grow up.

Clarence

Find a CZ 452 American.
One of the finest 22lr rifles ever made!!
Made as a propper rifle...

It will be a lifetime rifle for him!!

Maybe have it rust blued and whittle a nice piece of walnut stock in your spare time.


Add a single shot magazine if you want.

marlin 915y youth model . this is a very well made firearm and the price is really good for what you get
joe

I agree with Russ on the Stevens. A single shot is the safest for a 1st rifle. I bought one for my son years ago + he had no trouble with it but he was 10 at the time.

I forgot, Stevens did make a modern version of the Favorite, called the model 30. Also, if you can find one, Varner made a very high grade version of the same thing "Varner Favorite". I don't know how many they made but my guess it was in the hundreds only. They stopped making them some years ago and put the tooling and parts up for sale.

CZ 452 actions can be had with a single shot blocked Mag. I had one for the Scout and used it on the American. Sold someone the American and they wanted the single shot block for their kid.

Another vote for a CZ452 - I started shooting with one as a boy and bought one for my first rifle.

I've currently got a walnut with stainless barrel combo like the on in this pic: https://gunhub.com.au/best-bol...rifles-in-australia/

I'd go stainless if possible so you know it'll definitely stand the test of time as your grandson grows up.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
Looking for input on which " First rifle" to get for my 5 year old grandson.

One must answer the question....."What is it you expect a 5-yr.-old to learn from this gun/shooting experience. The answer to that should determine what gun to use for the training...….possibly a co2 powered pellet gun is more appropriate.

We all have our own family "rules" concerning firearms. Mine starts with age 10 for a .22. I bought a Martini Cadet from SKB a few years ago + set it aside for my grandson. He was 9 at the time + I told him he had to wait until he was 10. He kinda rolled his eyes + sweetly said, "Well, I'm ALMOST 10."

Awwwwww, grandpa! My grandkids shoot Crickets-one in brown and one in pink. Two of them(twin 7 year olds) have been shooting for two years. We have them currently shooting at age 7 and one other at 6. They all love it and the Crickets fit them perfectly. Also, they are single shot and you have to manually cock the rifle to shoot. Makes them take conscious steps in order to shoot the rifle. They are open sights, but easy to get on target with fiber optic front sights.

Rusty, I'll second the CZ suggestion. Start him with quality, and a blued and walnut-stocked rifle in hopes he gets that bug.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
Looking for input on which " First rifle" to get for my 5 year old grandson.
Do I opt for a Cricket like the one I purchased for my great granddaughter or something else.
Should I get one that is drilled and tapped for a scope?
I'm not sure what's out there now.

Maybe I could get Mimms to loan ne his 22LR double?. . . Oops! I forgot. This is for my grandson, not me!
Thank you in advance for your input.

Man! Rusty, if Mimms loaned me that .22 lr double rifle I just might forget where he lives to bring it back!
...……………...……………….

CZ Scout worked great for my kids.

I used what we had and that was a Win. m-63, I shot about everything with it, including deer. it always worked for me..later on I graduated to the 25-35 Win. SRC. for deer and elk, then the 250 Savage. After I left home and became a gun nut I used the all at one time or another, love the 30-06, 7x57, 338, 9.3x62 and a number of others. Ive only wounded two bucks in my long life, one with the 30-06 and black market WW2 military ammo, the other with my beloved 25-35 trying to make it into something it wasn't. lessons learned and never repeated..

5 years old? Get a good BB gun.

I like the Rossi Youth .410/22RF Combo. Synthetic stock, nice and short to suit kids but can still be used by an adult at a pinch. Swap barrels for the two different cartridges and a great set of hi-glow open sights on the 22RF barrel. Single shot with transfer bar hammer is a safer option.

About to purchase one for my 8 year old grandson just for the .410 capability, he has sat with me in my two-seater duck blind for the last 3 years and is ready to shoot (no room in his dad's 'coffin' blind).
He shoots his dads 22RF and suppressed 223. Most 410 shotguns, even other so called youth models, are still too long in the stock for kids, the Rossi seems ideal for them, did try one out in the shop on my grandson and it fitted well.