.22LR

[hillsdown]

A friend of mine in Louisiana is looking for a 22 for his 12 year old son , for a hobby as well as to earn a merit badge in Boy Scouts .

Can you please offer suggestions for the best one for him and best place to get it at a reasonable price.

Thank you .

 

[Anonymous]

Any bolt action 22 or break action single shot. The semi auto lead to bad habits if too early.

 

[Anonymous]

Rossi sells a cheap break action single shot for about 140 new. With interchangeable shotgun barrel. 410 or 20g.
Bass pro, gander carry them I think. Good way to start with good habits.

 

[Alan]

I agree with hook, bolt action for the first .22 is a must and will teach him how to think about a weapon in his hands. Although, I don't think a single shot is neccassily the way to go. A .22 with a 4 or 5 round magizine would be my choice for a young person starting out.

 

[hillsdown]

Thanks guys !

 

[highgrit]

Academy sporting goods is hard to beat for price. And stay away from a Marlin single shot bolt action .22LR youth gun. Because you can't unload the chamber with the safety on.

 

[dun]

I started a neighbors daughter with a 10/22. Just loaded one round at a time in the magazine.

 

[hillsdown]

They got a Ruger Mark 3, the target competition model. Cannot find amo for it now , have tried quite a few sporting good stores . Any suggestions .

Thanks so much for your help fellas ! :tiphat:

 

[Ryder]

I started a neighbors daughter with a 10/22. Just loaded one round at a time in the magazine.

Excellent suggestion.
It doesn't take long for a single shot to be so frustrating that it takes the fun out of shooting. Then the kid is usually stuck with the single shot for a long time.

 

[Alan]

I started a neighbors daughter with a 10/22. Just loaded one round at a time in the magazine.

Excellent suggestion.
It doesn't take long for a single shot to be so frustrating that it takes the fun out of shooting. Then the kid is usually stuck with the single shot for a long time.

My only problem with the 10/22, any semi auto, for a new youngster with a weapon is he/she pulls the trigger and has another one in the chamber ready to fire. For a new person with a weapon it's an accident waiting to happen. Finger on the trigger with round in the chamber, all that's needed is a little pressure on the trigger, with luck the barrel is pointed in a harmless direction. With a bolt action they have to physically load the round and therefore should know it's in the chamber. But I agree a single shot would get old fast.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I would not go with a semi auto for a first gun. My first was a single shot bolt action marlin, and I would recommend that, but IMO any lever or bolt action would work.

 

[Caustic Burno]

See if you can find a Savage bolt action with an accutrigger.

 

[dun]

I started a neighbors daughter with a 10/22. Just loaded one round at a time in the magazine.

Excellent suggestion.
It doesn't take long for a single shot to be so frustrating that it takes the fun out of shooting. Then the kid is usually stuck with the single shot for a long time.

My only problem with the 10/22, any semi auto, for a new youngster with a weapon is he/she pulls the trigger and has another one in the chamber ready to fire. For a new person with a weapon it's an accident waiting to happen. Finger on the trigger with round in the chamber, all that's needed is a little pressure on the trigger, with luck the barrel is pointed in a harmless direction. With a bolt action they have to physically load the round and therefore should know it's in the chamber. But I agree a single shot would get old fast.

With only one round in a magazine they still have to load the next round (remove empty magazine, insert new magazine, retract bolt and release) before it will fire again. Don;t understand how that is less safe then a bolt action or single shot. But maybe I'm missing something

 

[Alan]

Dun, it all boils down to the parenting. My thoughts is how long before the youngster slips a few extra rounds in the magizine. But if the parent is insistent on one round at a time and is vigilant on watching to insure one round at a time, so it's up to the parent to have 100% of control 100% of the time. It's just my opinion and the parents decision.

Edited to add, bolt action gets rid of the rapid fire possibility the kid is sure to discover.

 

[Caustic Burno]

They got a Ruger Mark 3, the target competition model. Cannot find amo for it now , have tried quite a few sporting good stores . Any suggestions .

Thanks so much for your help fellas ! :tiphat:

Go to gunbroker.com

I have seen the Ruger Target barrels be very finiky about certain brand's of ammo.
I think they won't even chamber CCI stinger's if I remember correctly.
With today's 22 lr prices that could get expensive in finding the brand it likes.

 

[dun]

They got a Ruger Mark 3, the target competition model. Cannot find amo for it now , have tried quite a few sporting good stores . Any suggestions .

Thanks so much for your help fellas ! :tiphat:

Go to gunbroker.com

I have seen the Ruger Target barrels be very finiky about certain brand's of ammo.
I think they won't even chamber CCI stinger's if I remember correctly.
With today's 22 lr prices that could get expensive in finding the brand it likes.

All target barrels/chambers are sort of finicky. Turns out there are several standard target chambers. I haven;t found one yet that won;t gobble up Remington Yellowjackets. Not sure if that is even made anymore but I have a couple of cases of them so I'm not concerned about it. I've also found that more 22s in general don;t like CCI then any other brand of ammo.

 

[Limomike]

I agree with Dun's suggestion on getting a semi-auto and loading just one round in the magazine. He is going to grow up faster than you think, and will eventually not use a single shot, and want a semi. I taught my son on a Browning lever action .22 but it all still boils down to safety and responsibility, no matter what weapon you are teaching them to use.

 

[Alan]

I was under the impression they wanted a .22 long rifle but the ruger mark 3 target is a semi auto handgun. Ruger has a mark 2 rifle but only in .22-250 and .223. But I seem to live in the state of confusion.

 

[Dave]

My kids started with a J C Higgins single shot. I really like that particular gun for beginners because the saftey automatically went on every time you open the bolt. After they learned to shoot and grew a little older I allowed them to use the 10-22. But there were times when I would come home and they were down back shooting with the 10-22. I know that with the amount of time between the first shot and the tenth shot that there wasn't a lot of aiming going on. In fact they somehow broke off the back sight and it didn't stop them at all. They were just pointing in the general direction and waggling their finger. They all grew to be pretty fair shots and pretty good hunters. But back then they sure went through a lot of 22 ammo.

 

[hillsdown]

I guess I misunderstood too Alan . Now they are just trying to find 22 LR amo in Louisiana.

Thanks for the responses everyone . :tiphat: