First gun for my daughter

[comp73]

Question for the parents out there. I'm looking to buy my daughter her first rifle for her upcoming 8th birthday. She is tall for her age, about the size of a 10 - 11 year old. She has never shot a "real" firearm, but she has been taught gun safety and been to the range with me. She does have her own BB gun which is how she learned to shoot. Right now, she is trying to claim my .270 and is also trying to convince me to build her an ar-15 with FDE MOE furniture. Did I mention she was 7? Anyway, I bugged the wife until she relented but on the condition that it be a 22LR. This worked out perfectly since that's what i wanted to get her to begin with.

My question to ya'll is should I get a SA like a ruger 10/22 or a bolt action like the marlin XT-22?

This would normally be a no brainer for me, SA all the way for a .22LR. Since it is for my kid, I wanted to get some feedback from the forum on whether or not to start her out with a bolt action, then progress her to a SA or just get the SA.

I currently do not own a .22 rifle and everything I do have is just too big for her to shoot.

Thanks,

Mark

[C-dub]

Rifle?

Go with a bolt to teach her patience.

[karder]

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer here. The Ruger is cool because there are a ton of accessories so she could spend a few birthdays tricking in out. There are some other rifles to at least give thought to as well. The Marlin 60 comes to mind. It seems almost every family has a Marlin 60 "assigned" to one of their kids. I wouldn't worry about SA vs Bolt. Just find something you like. Whatever you get, enjoy your time shooting with you daughter. It will pass too fast.

[Weg]

I started my kids with a single action .22 revolver and a bolt action .22 rifle around 6ish. If I remember right, the first centerfire rifle they shot was an SKS. I just removed the gas piston and had them work it like a straight pull bolt action, then in their mid-teens I let them start shooting my AR's. At 8, I would definitely recommend a .22.

[dalto]

My daughter who is 7 has a Bolt action cricket. My son who is 12 has a 10/22.

My experience is that they find the 10/22 more fun because you can take more shots with it but my daughter shoots more accurately because she has to load and line up each and every shot.

BTW, my daughter at 7 couldn't even come close to holding a 10/22. She isn't even really big enough to hold the cricket.

Or if you were really nice you could set her up with an M&P 15-22 with FDE MOE furniture.

[tbrown]

Or if you were really nice you could set her up with an M&P 15-22 with FDE MOE furniture.

I was going to suggest the 15-22 based on the daughter wanting an AR and the fact she's already shooting airguns and demonstrating safe gun handling. I hope.

Another option depending on budget is for comp73 to buy his daughter a Crickett or another inexpensive single shot and buy himself the 15-22. Then they can shoot 22s together and he can reward her by letting her shoot his 15-22.

[comp73]

Thanks for the replies so far. So far so good on safe gun handling skills. I drilled the eddie eagle mantra into her head at a young age so she has always had a healthy respect for firearms. She also "helps" me when I clean my guns so she's had safe direction and trigger control also drilled into her head. Budget is not a real concern other than my wife would kill me if I bought 2 MORE guns since I have gone a little crazy with the PSA lowers on sale and all. I might be able to get away with a 22 conversion. Technically, if I do that then I'm not buying another gun *for me*

I agree with the bolt action teaching patience. I did not get my first SA till I was well into my 20's and that was a pistol. The biggest draw to me in regards to the 10/22 is the mods available. I took her to a gun show and she saw an AR15 in FDE and she's wanted one ever since. I know Tapco makes an FDE kit for the 10/22 with an adjustable stock.

EDIT: added *for me* for clarification

[UpTheIrons]

My son started with a Crickett at age 7, and my daughter at age 8 with a Savage Cub (pink laminated stock, of course!). My son has since "earned a Browning Buckmark, and my daughter is about to earn a Walther P22.

They do shoot better with the single-shot bolt guns, but they enjoy the option of quick follow up shots with a semi-auto rifle. My daughter is a regular Annie Oakley which burns my son's britches to no end. Sure, she's 2 years older, but he's a boy, so in his mind he should do better.

Now that both of them are in 4-H shooting sports, I'm not concerned about long-term skill degradation if they get after the semis more often, since they are drilled over and over on the fundamentals in 4-H (not that they don't get it from me, but sometimes they listen better to someone who isn't Dad).

Long way around saying that she'll shoot what she likes, but a little guidance beforehand with a bolt gun sure doesn't hurt.

[steve817]

I bought my daughter who was 10 at the time a 10/22. She picked it out herself at the Irving Gun Show (purple laminate stock). She was almost too big for the Crickets that we saw.

[bilgerat57]

I remember starting out with old Mossberg 22 bolt actions at the Boy Scout Camp. I still like to plink with them on occasion. It made me take a little time and think about each step involved in the process of shooting a firearm. Later on when I acquired a 10-22, I found it to be as much fun, but in a different way. I believe that starting out with the basics helps you to appreciate the finer points involved later on. Either way you decide to go, Good luck and happy shooting!

[TX0303]

If she gets a rifle that uses a detachable magazine, consider that she may have trouble loading the mag. My daughter can't get more than 3 or 4 in her mag before I end up loading it for her. I would have gone with a tube fed if I had known.

[PostShooter]

Marlin Model 60. THE best .22 rifle in the world. 14-round tube-fed. Semi-auto. Takes a scope. They've been making them for over 50 years.

I still have the one I got from my Dad for my 13th Birthday back in 1976.

I once shot a 2" spider on a web from about 20 yards. No bull.

[The Annoyed Man]

My daughter who is 7 has a Bolt action cricket. My son who is 12 has a 10/22.

My experience is that they find the 10/22 more fun because you can take more shots with it but my daughter shoots more accurately because she has to load and line up each and every shot.

BTW, my daughter at 7 couldn't even come close to holding a 10/22. She isn't even really big enough to hold the cricket.

Or if you were really nice you could set her up with an M&P 15-22 with FDE MOE furniture.

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer, but I know what my preference and recommendation would be....

I started my son with an antique single shot "catalog gun" when he was 6 years old. It was a Springfield bolt-action .22, about the size of a Cricket, that one could buy from the Monkey Wards catalog 60 years ago. He had to load each round manually, and then cock the action after closing the bolt by pulling a knob back on the end of the bolt body to fire each round. It did teach him patience, and it taught him a sort of intangible thing I call "riflemanship"—the ability to know where the rifle was going to shoot to, relative to point of aim; the effect of wind on the shot; stuff like that. I'm not saying he wouldn't have eventually learned those things shooting a semi-auto, but the design of his rifle slowed the shooting pace down considerably, and kind of enforced a certain amount of shooting discipline on him without me having to hover over him too much. I think he found that hitting a bullseye was much more satisfying when he had to really prepare the shot, as opposed to being able to simply keep pulling the trigger until he got one.

That said, he shoots his semi-autos far more frequently these days than he does his bolt rifles, but he applies the disciplines he learned as a bolt rifle shooter to make himself a better all around shooter, including with his AR15s and his M1A.

But like I said at the top, there is no wrong answer. Only preferences.

[knotquiteawake]

Lever Action! My 7yo sister shoots my dad's lever action Henry Golden boy...

Ok, maybe not quite ideal, but she has a blast trying to shoot it! Her "normal" gun is a pink bb rifle.

[bilgerat57]

Enquiring minds want to know! I'm being entirely nosy here, but you started it! LOL Just curious to know what you decided to go with (or if you're in someones dog house). 'fess up! 'fess up!