Sheridan

Get yourself a good set-up you can use as a back-up; and let her use it !

IndyHunter83

had a puma/rossi lever action 92 and traded it. not good on quality

seastrike

I bought my buddys kid a savage .308 at bass pro last week one of the combos with a cheap scope(he is painting my house) paid 299 for the combo. I shot a box and a half of shells yesterday and i abolutly love the gun,almost as much as my ruger m77 .308. It will last the kid forever and he will he no reason to update anytime soon, except for the scope

bronko22000

Mitchel - Don't know much about the Rossi. But for the same money you can get the Stevens bolt acton model 200 or a H&R Handi Rifle which is a good shooter.
Now, I have a couple 7-08s that I may consider in a trade, but I will have to see a picture of you fiance first!?!?

The Famous Grouse

Amen to that.

I've wondered exactly the same thing. The number of guys I've seen at the club who were shooting a new $1400 Beneli shotgun themselves and then they buy their kid a single shot POS mule-kicker so he or she can "learn" to enjoy the sport. Great thinking, Batman. Junior will enjoy the sport even more after their shoulder is pounded black and blue and they've caught their thumb in the exposed hammer a couple of times.

Dump the Rossi idea. Pony up and buy her a big girl's rifle like a nice bolt action. You'll thank us later. Especially if you ever drop or otherwise disable your gun during the season and your wife then generously lends her rifle to you. You'll feel like a freaking genius then.

Grouse

homers brother

+2

Great points. I'm as reluctant to spend a lot of money on my wife's gear as the next guy, primarily thinking of what'll happen if she doesn't enjoy the experience. But, after spending $50 on boots for her a couple years ago, she's wearing nearly the same $200 boot I wear now, and I don't hear any complaints about the cold or sore feet anymore. Same goes for firearms. Thankfully, I chose to spend twice what I could have on her shotgun, but it fits her better, she knows she's handling a quality firearm at least on par with what I'd use. Better yet, she handles it safely and handles it well.

If you're trying to get a spouse, significant other, or a youngster into hunting, the worst thing you can do is make them feel like their skills and experience aren't worth the extra time it takes for you to teach them, or the money it takes to properly and thoughtfully equip them for the hunt.

TUK101

Gawd, now I feel like an absolute ass for buying my son a Rossi Trifecta youth combo that includes the 243/20g/22lr for Xmas. It's not that I was trying to be cheap, its just that it gave the best bang for the buck and I figured that he could shoot the 22 and reduced loads in the 243 until he was able to shoot full loads. He has already been shooting reduced loads out of my 30-30 and loving it. He is 7 by the way, nearly 8.

vabyrd

I'd crap my pants if my dad got me that when I was 7.

homers brother

I don't think I'd look at it quite that way. For probably around $300, he can hunt small game, birds, and big game with YOU at least until the point that he outgrows the youth-sized stock. There's nothing wrong saying you can't afford to put him behind a $900 collection of youth firearms right now, which he's ultimately going to grow out of anyway. Nor would it be wise though to suggest to him that he'll never want anything else.

If you bought the TriFecta because it fits him best now, that's not the same thing as buying it solely because it was cheap -- especially if you're open to the idea in a few years of helping him store away the Rossi for his own kids someday and picking out a new rifle/shotgun for himself.

homers brother

I near did that at age eight over a Red Ryder BB gun. A "real gun" at 7?