Help with a Rifle Recommendation for a 15 year old

L

Larry Costa

New member
HI Folks,

There is a young fellow and his dad coming over to my range on Monday. The kid is interested in rifles and his grandad recommended that he get something in a "22"... I will let the kid shoot and load my 6PPCs and also some hunting rifles in .243, 7mm and 30 cal. The father thinks the kid is interested in target shooting. I suspect that the kid wants something that is accurate but that he can shoot outside a range.
Thoughts???

Larry Costa
 
inexpensive ammo...accurate......no recoil
i started with a single shot hand cocked bolt, but the semi's are good.
mike in co
alinwa said:
Ruger 10-22 with Hogue overmolded stock and .920 barrel. Possibly the funnest all-round gun on the planet.
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I have a 13yr old grandson who received a ruger 77/22 bolt gun for his 13th birthday. I put a volquartsen barrel and stock on it. He just came in second in a local BR shoot for rimfire varmint out of 10 adult shooters. He loves it.
 
Hey Larry, missed you at River Bend.

The young man needs to learn how to operate a "real" rifle and something that is accurate enough to keep his interest. Remember what Townsend Whalen said "only accurate rifles are interesting".

Saying that seriously, consider a CZ 452 or 453. The parts are all steel and it is easy to do a rtrigger job to get it down where it is still safe but usable. There is even a single shot adapter available. Lots of these CZ's compete in the Winter indoor leagues against the summertime ARA IR50/50 sporters. They have an attractive wood stock and look like a "real" rifle.

One thing a young kid does not use is the current crop of ammo burners. Believe me, I have two grandkids who have Ruger 10/22's I bought them, but in an hour they can burn a couple of 500 round boxes of 22 rimfire. At the gun shows today are a bunch of AR look-alikes in 22 rimfire, wrong way to go too!! We are going to need a nation of riflemen/women and a good bolt-action 22 rimfire is the way to start.
 
My father made me learn to shoot an old Winchester 22 rf training rifle with iron sights at 100 yards. I even had to pay 1 cent for each round so I would not waste it. Today the kids have it made including my own.
 
I would think long, and hard before handing any firearm over to a young person these days'. A trip to a public range will show why this is so. Shooting a hole through a piece of paper, or a pop can is one thing. I never here a word about what a firearm will do in the way of power, and range. Many consider the .22 a step above a Daisy Red Ryder. I would not like to know how many boys' have been accidently killed by the .22 by other boys'. One more reason! "There oughta be a law".
 
jerry,
there are lots of ar competition shooters that use 22 ars as practice, trigger time rifles.......semi auto does not mean inaccurate.....just because a gun is semi does not mean one must empty the mag as quick as possible.......the mil does not use many bolt guns, but they have admitted that dot optics is a quicker way to train marksmanship.

mike in co
JerrySharrett said:
Hey Larry, missed you at River Bend.

The young man needs to learn how to operate a "real" rifle and something that is accurate enough to keep his interest. Remember what Townsend Whalen said "only accurate rifles are interesting".

Saying that seriously, consider a CZ 452 or 453. The parts are all steel and it is easy to do a rtrigger job to get it down where it is still safe but usable. There is even a single shot adapter available. Lots of these CZ's compete in the Winter indoor leagues against the summertime ARA IR50/50 sporters. They have an attractive wood stock and look like a "real" rifle.

One thing a young kid does not use is the current crop of ammo burners. Believe me, I have two grandkids who have Ruger 10/22's I bought them, but in an hour they can burn a couple of 500 round boxes of 22 rimfire. At the gun shows today are a bunch of AR look-alikes in 22 rimfire, wrong way to go too!! We are going to need a nation of riflemen/women and a good bolt-action 22 rimfire is the way to start.
Click to expand...
 
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FYI: I don't allow my grandson to shoot without supervision. I do keep it locked in my safe when not in use. My point was to start them early and that IMHO an accurate bolt action or single shot with a fast lock time is a good place to start. All the rifles mentioned in this thread are good, Ruger 10/22's, CZ's and Anshutz. I started shooting in 1958 with a Savage model 24 .22/410 which I still have and it is still very accurate because of that stiff soldered 410 barrel underneath.
Larry, I'm sure you will stress the accuracy point as a benchrest shooter should. I chose the ruger 77/22 because I already had it and it was easily upgradeable.
 
I took them off. I posted a "let's stay reasonable" post, but the pointless bickering continued. So then one (me) gets into the unenviable position of just how far back to go. When the posts were both (1) accusative & (2) stopped being of any value to the topic, off they went. I also deleted my "cool it" post as also having no value. Probably a mistake.

Always a judgment call, and never fun.

I see it's starting again. Gonna have the same result.

How about limiting this to helping Larry Costa?
 
bjohnson ruined the thread, all else was in reply to his narrow minded personal beliefs which had NOTHING to do with the thread.

so why do those that actually support teaching the young to shoot get swatted the same.....i hope in your actions as a mod you had a talk with bj...his post were not supportive of the shooting world.

such as the current "6525 and counting" taunt.......
i understand what you did, but he is back.
he is the issue
do something about the problem, not the symptoms...
thanks
mike in co
 
mike in co said:
bjohnson ruined the thread, all else was in reply to his narrow minded personal beliefs which had NOTHING to do with the thread.

so why do those that actually support teaching the young to shoot get swatted the same.....i hope in your actions as a mod you had a talk with bj...his post were not supportive of the shooting world.

such as the current "6525 and counting" taunt.......
i understand what you did, but he is back.
he is the issue
do something about the problem, not the symptoms...
thanks
mike in co
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Mike in Colorado:

The thing you forget, the thing you always forget, is that other people are entitled to express an opinion. When you find it a "problem," and say so, ad nauseam, the threads get "ruined."

I left his original post because he is entitled to his opinion. I don't think a 15 year old constitutes a general problem with firearms -- I've read Piaget's research on cognitive development -- but Mr. Johnson's post had to do with a recent cultural attitude, not general cognitive development. I don't agree with that, but it is apparently his opinion.

You post a lot. You don't know how many of your posts I find abhorrent or irrelevant, unless I feel they lead a new shooter down the wrong path, I either keep quiet or offer my differing opinion without a personal remark. Why don't you try that approach.
 
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15 so long ago

when i was 15 i would have died if i got a DGA Shilen.on the rare occasions my dad let me shoot his 40XBR in 222 I was in heaven.Now I got a few BAT's and am happy but not the craving for a DGA I had.
such is life.times change.If hes happy let him choose.
Your giving him a good scope of guns to try out.
jim
 
charles, you and i will continue to disagree. the difference you have the ability to delete, i do not. thats all......

slowly go read his post...it has nothing to do with the original request. nothing

mike in co
 
As a future part of Larrys effort he may want to inquire about a local CMP program for the younger shooter(s). In the area where I live we are fortunate to have 4 gun clubs. Two of the four have active CMP/NRA youth programs that even furnish the guns and ammunition as well as certified instructors (NRA).

http://www.odcmp.co/about_us.htm
 
Thanks to all. I will make sure that the first thing we do is gun safety...especialy for the father (inside joke).
I hope, and will take the time to insure, that he will become a responsible gun user and not a yahoo.
I will look into all the recommendations given on equipment and the CMP/NRA program also sounds great.
Thanks to all that contributed.

Larry Costa
 
larry,
my local club when in so cal, had instruction sat am for kids. several hours of talking and shooting 22 rifles. both of my girls shot there...son was too young...so another thing to look for at local clubs.
 
Back to the topic!

My dad started me with a bolt action Remington 22 when I was 8. Even though it was a repeater he handed out one cartridge at a time. He taught me the merits of taking your time and making the first shot count and at the same time important gun safety. Needless to say it was an empty chamber until the target or game animal was properly identified. Then a 410 Mossberg at age 10. Same type of training: One shell at a time. Age 14 I received a Sweet 16 Browning and a 340 Savage in 22 Hornet with a 4X Weaver. Dad taught me one shot kills on the GA. wild hogs and Whitetails with the Hornet.

Age 15 he helped me build a 257 Roberts in his Machine shop. I did not know it then (1965) but it was built "beanfield style" with a 26 inch No. 4 Douglas, 10X Weaver, 98 action, Bishop stock with a beavertail forend. This rifle taught me long range shooting along powerlines running through the GA swamps and oak tree thickets. It had a cheap barrel and cheap scope by today' standards and horror! a Mauser action, but it was consistently accurate and the 87 grain Hornady's were death on the Whitetails.

My thoughts: Stay away from semi autos. Show the kid what patience is all about. A single shot will get the job done. Avoid endless burning of ammo at tin cans. Don't make it all free either, shooting costs money, he should pay for the ammo. And drive safety home!! Take him to a farm at slaughter time so he can see how big an animal a 22 will kill. Impress upon him that a 22 will kill his buddy just as fast if an accident occurs. Guns and death go together, he needs to fully understand this! Three of my high school friends died from gun accidents: One was shot by his hunting partner with a 22 (shooting at movement in the nearby brush) and the other was shot on a deer drive with a 12 guage. The third killed by a shotgun blast, three teens were playing with a single shot 12 gauge they though was empty. All this during my high school years! Proper gun safety training would have prevented the three deaths.

Safety above all! No adult supervision, no shooting, gun stays in your vault.
 
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I got my first .22 1n 1957. Dad had gotten up with the man who ran a range, to be sure there would be a place to shoot. That guy -- his name was Herb Law -- told dad that places for a boy to hunt were drying up, but if I started shooting as a competition sport, I'd always have a place. First rifle was a Mossberg 144LS. I had to work a whole summer to save up enough for a used Winchester 52, it cost me $50.00. I still have that rifle.

Anyway, the moral is that as early as 1952, for us city (well, fringe) kids, frequent shooting meant competition, not hunting. There is always time to add a hunting rifle later.
 
I have 3 boys. The youngest 2 are 11yrs old and 13 and are just learning to shoot. The oldest a 30 year old dedicated bow hunter. Also have 3 girls that have no interest at all in shooting. Here’s what I’ve learned that I think may be applicable to most kids.

While I live in the country I have 2 houses only 100 and 150yds away. So all they shoot at home are air rifles. You’d be surprised how accurate an under $200 pellet gun can be. That is what I started them on.

They get bored in only a few sessions if all they have to shoot at is a paper target. I saw a rubber block type thingie at Gander Mt that is made to thrown out on the ground and jumps around when you shoot it with a 22. That’d keep a couple of boys shooting and laughing for a good while if you live where you can use it.

We shoot 22s most Sundays at a local club that doesn’t even want clay bird on the shorter banks. So we put limbs and sticks that are laying around on the 25yd bank and the boys shoot at them.

If you have to use paper targets get the “Shoot and See” animal ones. They like them more than just paper.

None of my boys like to shoot benchrest. They’d much rather hold the gun and naturally will want to learn how to shoot in all 4 positions. But I think it is best to have them shoot from the bench the first couple times out with a gun just so they get the right feel for using a trigger.

We have a bolt Savage Cub single shot 22 with Accutrigger as a starter gun. I have to constantly watch and remind my 11 year old about keeping the gun pointed down range. His older brothers took safety much more serious. This guy got taken home before he got to fire a shot the first time out. There’s not much you can do with some kids these days other than keep an eye on them.

The middle boy and I shoot trap too. The gent that I had instruct him when he started beginning told me it is better for a kid to start on iron sights than a scope. But all our rifles have scopes.

Some days out they’ll shoot through 4 boxes of 22s and want more. Other days they’ll want to leave before they finish a box. Let them tell you how long you’ll be at the range. You don’t want them to get any idea that they’re being forced to shoot.

Once in a while we’ll shoot a 22 revolver with iron sights. But the thought of a kid with a handgun makes me uneasy so we don’t do it often.

You need a combination safe because if they want they’ll find the key. I keep all the keys for my one safe inside the big combination safe.

Don’t let them think they have to follow some set political way of thinking just because they like to hunt or shoot. You don’t ever want them to think they have to pick between their priorities and beliefs and their love of the sport.

Hope some of that helps.
 
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