for me and the grand kids, it was the crickett. a great little rifle, all USA made, and dog gone accurate to boot. plus, it can still be used as the kids become teens through adult by swapping the stocks for a longer LOP.
for me and the grand kids, it was the crickett. a great little rifle, all USA made, and dog gone accurate to boot. plus, it can still be used as the kids become teens through adult by swapping the stocks for a longer LOP.
The daughter is 34 and still loves her Chipmunk. After they changed over to the Crickett they put a plastic cocking knob on it. Don't look for that to last forever!
If I was doing it now, I'd probably get the Savage as it cocks with the bolt. Many smaller kids have trouble with the cocking knob . Woulda had to hack the stock on the Savage as it's a tad bigger, but I woulda kept the wood and doweled it back on when she grew.
Main thing is they learn to handle whatever you pick safely and have fun ! My Marine Pops taught me with Springfield 15Y he used on a trap line before WWII. When we're long gone, the kids and grandkids will treasure the memories of those first shooting sessions. I know I do .
Last edited by shooterg; 03-30-2017 at 01:15 PM.
I started my younger brother out with a Sears single shot rifle.
He joined the Marines and became a Sniper/Scout. He had the highest kill distance at 950 yards.
You never know what you might start when you teach somebody to shoot.
Leadmelter
MI
When I read this I thought "Dang, how cheap were those Remingtons?" Then I looked at the current Cabela's price for the Cricket. Dang, how did they get so expensive? I bought one for the next door grandson about ten or 11 years ago and the rifle was nowhere near $100, much less $127.
Ed
CW3 USA (Ret)
VFW Life
American Legion
DAV Life
NRA Benefactor
TX State Rifle Assn Life
SAF Life
NY State Rifle and Pistol Assn Senior Member because I don't have to fight that fight in TX
JPFO Member
GOA Member
I have a Rascal, it is a solid rifle. I am hard on it (I raccoon hunt with it) and it hasn't let me down yet. It shoots well and is easy to handle.
Our gun club uses Crickets for Kids days. They have held up fine and obviously get shot a lot.
Steven's Crackshot!! Throw some nostalgia in there!
Last edited by 54bore; 05-16-2017 at 10:21 PM.
The biggest factor with little ones is going to be weight and length more than anything else. As much as I gravitate toward the more finely made, a little kid is going to outgrow a little gun before wearing it out. The CZ 452 youth model is my hands down favorite as a gun - the barrel's threaded in, you can run it as a single shot or a mag feeder, it's made of steel with the only stamping being the trigger guard, they make mechanically identical bigger versions, and they shoot REALLY well.
That said, they're a bit on the heavy side for the typical five year old.
I picked up one of the 1990's production Stevens Favorites a bit over a year ago. Gonna eventually fit a short stock onto the thing. Nice thing is there's NOTHING to the front-end weight of the thing.
WWJMBD?
In the Land of Oz, we cast with wheel weight and 2% Tin, Man.
I have a chipmunk that was a gift a few years ago. Pretty good shooter, no plastic parts. I'm not sure if you can still find them.
I dont know anythi g about the crickets. I almost bought one once - with the idea of purchasing an adult sized stock for it. I don't know if others have the option of the larger stock.
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BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |