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Hi guys, i wana get my 5yr old daughter in shooting now that she can understand looking through sights we live in town so im thinking an air rifle to start with but they are so heavy? Eventually i would like her to come possum hunting with me so a youth 22lr would be in the future but just for now what does everyone recommend?
Cheers
I went through the same thing with my daughter and ended up buying a series of single shot .22s including the savage rascal.
Ended up with the Ruger American bolt action with the changeable rear buts.
It means as she grows we can change from the shorter but to the longer but.
I believe CZ do something similar now as well.
I went through the same thing with my daughter and ended up buying a series of single shot .22s including the savage rascal.
Ended up with the Ruger American bolt action with the changeable rear butts.
It means as she grows we can change from the shorter but to the longer butt.
I believe CZ do something similar now as well.
We started both our kids off with a 177 aur rifle , the least powerful we could find (and still have it too) and just had them plinking in the back garden at our house in suburbia.
Just plonked them on a chair with rifle resting on a fold out table.
Then started with the basics in firearms safety etc , pointing safe direction and so on and really drummed that into them first before we worried about them shooting live targets or being able to lift rifle. Then went to 22 bolt on a rest at range or bush and just moved up from there to our wee marlin papoose semi out hunting when we were confident they were safety conscious . Perfect rifle for them as super light and would hand it to them when time to shoot but we carried it ourselves.
If you can find one, I highly recommend the Thompson Centre Hot Shot break barrel single shot.
I used one of these for my kids and still have it. It is the coolest little 22 to shoot, even as an adult. They stopped making them so second hand will be your only option.
The thing I like with using a break barrel is that when it comes time for them to be walking with you carrying a firearm, you can tell at a glance that the gun is safe if the action is broken. Later they can progress to a single barrel shotgun following the same safety rules.
Attachment 160636
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBA337f9ovk
a rascal or crickett would be the way, both are small single shot b/a
issue with airguns is that they tend to kick forwards then back so migrating from air rifle to 22 is a different experience.
the 22's will even shoot 22shorts for no kick at all
Five years old is really young for shooting anything and in town you need to start with an air-rifle.
I would wait another 2 years until she has some upper body strength (7 years old?) and then find the lightest air rifle available that is not 'firearms category' classed. Start her out with this on a bi-pod.
I started with a .177 at 8 yrs old which gave me the strength for a break barrel air rifle. Ended up a .22 small-bore and .308 full-bore champion for my class in NZ.
yup, I second that air rifles are a waste of time (although I learnt on one)
An air rifle would be preferable if you were to leave them to shoot away un supervised, but until they are a bit experienced that is not a good idea, so you might as well start em off on something more enjoyable to shoot.
Then there is the price of ammo, an air rifle is the obvious winner there.
Or even something like an old bsa single shot bolt action . I have one of those buried somewhere in the safe and that is quite a light 22 and can be picked up cheap enough . the wood on my one is in perfect nick too...
If you get stuck I would consider selling you the air rifle and the BSA on the cheap if you like as we don't use them anymore.
An air rifle is not a "waste of time". At 8 years old I used to practice on my own in town for hours until I could hit the red tip off a match stick at 10 yards.Quote:
Originally Posted by 40mm
Also when I was 8 years old there is no way I would have been ready for the 'power' of a .22LR. I remember shooting my friend's prize bull in the testicles with my air rifle at 100 yards (he ran through two fences....shit I got a hiding for that :oh noes: )
i had my first air rifle at 8, was a diana. then moved to a larger bsa meteor. got my 22 when i was 12.
but the tiny 22 rifles today would have beem nicer than the airguns to learn on
I'm not sure if I agree there @40mm . If you live in a built up area such as we did and want to teach how to hold and use a rifle safely and actually shoot the thing a low power air rifle is the perfect choice in my opinion .Ours is a 177 with only around 500-600 fps so unlikely to do any serious damage to property or penetrate a fence . we used to just put plastic bottles etc up against the compost heap as targets and never had any issues with collateral damage . You should not leave the kids unsupervised for starters if they are learning and being a break barrel and being young enough that they cannot open the action is preferable in my opinion as they cannot load the rifle without you doing it for them so won't unexpectedly be popping off shots. And the extra kick and mechanical noises from an air rifle prepares them mentally for a proper rifle in future.Quote:
Originally Posted by 40mm
But that is just my personal opinion.....
A bit different if on a farm or somewhere open I guess.
Ouch! Fair call, I did enjoy shooting my .177 endlessly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hermitage
I guess I am spoilt with the .22 now.
Yeah, I get that. good pint about the back yard etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ftx325
True about the recoil thing.
The good thing about a Savage Rascal is they are so narrow through the wrist for their little hands.
The for-end is is also narrow and light. It’s not all just about length of pull.
I put a little plastic suppressor on our one to take the bark out of it. I liked the fact they cock lifting the bolt, the muscle memory and operation doesn’t have to change when migrating to a larger rifle. Most other single shots seem require manually pulling the hammer back separately.
The good thing about a Savage Rascal is they are so narrow through the wrist for their little hands.
The fore-end is is also narrow and light. It’s not all just about length of pull.
I put a little plastic suppressor on our one to take the bark out of it. I liked the fact they cock lifting the bolt, the muscle memory and operation doesn’t have to change when migrating to a larger rifle. Most other single shots seem require manually pulling the hammer back separately.
Actually, now that I think about it. We had a couple of phone books as a back stop and used to shoot down the hall for hours.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hermitage
Must have never missed the backstop as we never got in trouble for it.
we use the air rifle inside occasionally for fly swatting.....just for a laugh.
tear some small squares out of a handy towel kitchen roll around 20mm square and throw em in your mouth and chew em up a wee bit and make them into a slightly wet wad.
pop em in the air rifle and blast away at flies sitting on a hard surface at close range.
end up with a tissue wad with 6 little legs poking out the sides if you are a good enough shot ..... :thumbsup:
hours of fun until the missus walks in ..... :wtfsmilie:
I used to shoot the flies on the lounge wall when the parents were wallpapering it.
A .177 pellet through the fly, through the gib-board, through the installation, and stopped by the weather-board on the outside of the house. :D
heaps of great answers there thanks.. i might head down this weekend and get her to try and hold a few different air rifles and see if she can get her hand round the stock.
i also learnt on air rifles first and used to shoot mice on the rafters of the shed with teatree seeds haha then we moved on to shooting each other with the seeds..... good old days
i found that gluing small rifle primers on the front of 22cal pellets makes rats die instantly (and stink)
Attachment 160694
you can have this one if you can get it to you. its a diana model 16 air rifle small and light large foot for scale
cheers john
is this a real thing cos im so keen to try lol.. i just use the vaso on the back of the pellet for instant ignition.Quote:
Originally Posted by gonetropo
Greetings All,
My first rifle was a Daisy BB gun (actually a smoothbore) that a neighbor rescued from the tip. It had to be loaded from the muzzle with a knitting needle. It shot pellets ok at close range but I found that bottle brush seeds of about the same size just as well especially green. I was in heaven my own gun and an endless supply of ammo. My next rifle was a .303. When the kids were small I sandbagged my son behind my 10-22 for a few shots to get over the wonder stage. Next the stock of a Gecado single shot was cut down and fitted with an aperture sight. He and occasionally his sister used it from about age 6 on fixed targets and also running boar target shoots until he was able to use a Winchester Model 69 with its short stock. The purpose built youth rifles were not available then but are still worth getting. Once they are grown out of they can go in the cupboard for the next generation.
Regards Grandpamac.
Pleas dont burn me for saying this but at 5 years old and in town , a bolt action airsoft rifle could be an option. You could shoot it at home,learn the basics and the consequences of getting it wrong are minimal.
Yea thats actually a really good idea mate, ive always wandered about airsoft rifles, what are they realy? I thought they were just fancy bb gunsQuote:
Originally Posted by Nathanfish
Im no pro on airsoft but this is my take on it. They are weak air guns that use a peice of rubber to apply backspin on a bb to keep it flying straight and in a slightly upward curve to fight gravity. I have done a bit of research as I have 4 year old twin boys and want a soft introduction to firearms and a Tokyo marui vsr10 looks like a good option. 270ish fps with a 0.2gram plastic bb accurate out of the box to about 30m. Not cheap!! Maybe pick up two Jw15's for the price.
Got my daughter a rascal for her 4th bday.
Put a scope on it and sighted it in myself. Went through a few different types of ammo to find the one with less noise, but still accurate. (ended up being that dirty as shit remington green stuff)
Anyway, always have her shooting off a bag, and she shoots OK at targets. (10-15 shots into 50mm ish at @Rushy 's range, thanks for that again, was the last outing) Need to get her out for a hunt.....
The boy got a rascal a bit after 5, as I didn't think he was ready at 4. He's also not to bad of a shot.
I don't think there is a hard and fast rule on what kids should start with. I think it's more about knowing them, and what they can do/handle.
The rascals are great for ergonomics and surprisingly both are very accurate
Beaker you are in jeopardy of becoming the forums second Dundee with you range estimation.
Another air-rifle option;https://www.guncity.com/air-chief-22...r-rifle-362018
very quiet, no recoil, small size and they're actually accurate. bolt action too so will be very close to proper rifle operation, should make for good training
With Dundee it's all relative. Mind you, if Beaker is standing sideways that relative thing would work too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rushy
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