DougMD

Well....

I had decided on the Winchester Wildcat and have been waiting for BassPro to call me back and tell me the availability of them for over three weeks now, with no word. The other day,I saw a thread on another forum wherethose who got a peek are not thrilled (a handful or morewere disappointed with no positives). In the meantime, I heard good things about the Savage Mark II with accutrigger, and Dick's Sporting Goods has one, along with the 10-22 and a Remington. I plan to go tomorrow and hopefully get a gun to end this quest.

Thanks to all for all your comments! The Browning would probably be a great gun too, but I'm not about spending a whole lot of money on a .22 that won't be used too often.

DougMD

I went ahead and bought the Savage Mark II BVXP or something like that. The guy from Dick's told me over the phone it was $189, but that was for the 4 power scope and no accu-trigger. The one I got was labeled $259, but when they rang it up, it came to $229 plus tax. It has a 3x9x40 on it and accu-trigger. It feels like a really nice gun. It comes ready to put on a sling too. Most notably, the service at Dick's was EXCELLENT compared with BassPro. The guy there helped us out shouldering different guns, and was very helpful bore sighting it in and getting the paperwork done quickly.

At BassPro, most of the time they won't even answer the phone in the gun department, and when you go there, it's just as bad. I can understand when the place gets busy, etc. but it's like that every time I go, regardless of day or time. They are understaffed for the customer load, and in onecase there were two guys filling out paperwork for one customer and I couldn't even get them to hand me a .22 that was right behind them to see which gun best fit my son. Needless to say, after waiting for over 15 minutes, I walked out disappointed.

ReDoT

nice choice, im sure your son will really enjoy it! only thing i will say is to make sure to getyour sonfamiliar with iron sights as well. i shot my 22 so much as a kid that i really learned a lot about judging distance as well as the trajectory of the round. needless to say, when i was a little older, 8th grade i think,i was out shooting with a buddy after schooland i had my same bl-22 with me. we seen a crow in the distance. well i shot it, iron sights,and we measured the distance to be just under 200yards. i still like to tell that story!

8mm

get a cricket 22 there great for kids that age i got my brother one at that age an he loves it there olnly like 100 bucks single shot there a great gun to lear to shot with too just google cricket 22's an u should be able to find were u can get one

jghoffman12

i agree with a 10-22 for the size and weight of the gun but its a semi-auto. about 7 years ago i purchased a used Hungarian training rifle through Shotgun News (gun magazine on most newstands) sight unseen for $60. when i got it, it was a greasy mess. i stripped the stock and refinished it. the metal cleaned right up and it now looks great and shoots great. it's a bolt action witha 5 shot clipand came with a cleaning kit and sling. it is now my10 year old's plinker and he loves it. very safe, lightweight rifle and can't beat the price

leehop

I agree whit the single shot. I gave my grandson a Win. Mod. 67 that I had refinished for about five bucks. It is a little long but he shoots it well from the bench. To shorten a stock, cut it down in three one inch sections. Save the unused pieces and as he grow bigger replace the next size piece. Just us longer screws. The 10-22 ? Nasty trigger pull. Why a single shot? Let him gain some experience as well as responsability before giving him an automatice.

TheformerLives

I always used my dads 10-22 but when I got old enough to buy my own (13) I bought a Marlin bolt action .22 I forgot the model but that gun is dead accurate. I sighted it in for 25 yards and it is still accurate to 75yrds give or take. I shoot it with hollow points which deliver even more power.

All in all I was (and still am) more than happy with that Marlin and would reccomend it to anyone in the market for a .22. It's lightweight and I think I paid only $120. Excellent buy!

skinnerdawg

i also agree with the 10/22. that is what i started my kids out with and it worked very well for them. as for a semi automatic... when i started the kids out i would load just a single round... i was looking for proper gun handling and aiming skills... i was not concerned about how many rounds or how fast they could send down range. after they showed the skills and safe use of the gun then i started to add more rounds to the clip. best of luck to you and your future hunting partner.

kdvollmer

I reccommend a Marlin or Henry youth bolt action. I used to teach marksmanship to Boyscouts and cubscouts at a weekend camp in California. The camp used the Marlins. Nice little gunsaand not to expensive. They got a ton of ammo shot through them every time we were up there, several thousand rounds a day. They make the marlins I believe in a small youth model that is almost tiny, a youth model, that you and I could shoot, and then of course the adult model. Not positive on the 2 youth sizes though, might just be one.
Its the same rifle that I shot at sumer camp when I was a kid growing up almost 25 years ago. It does not have any magazine, single shot bolt action. The others here are right about the Ruger 10-22. Great guns, ad yous son will still be using it when he has kids, but IMO its better to start with the basics, and then move up.

Good luck

Pioneer2

Not real thrilled with Marlin micro-grooved barrels period.New shooters don't need a semi either as they learn to rely on the rest of the clip to make up for previous misses.A BA SS or BA clip /tube feed is much better to learn on.In centerfire I purposely bought a H+R 158 30-30 for a trainer for my 3 boys and they have all except the youngest who will this year age 12 get his 1st deer.The 14 year old nailed his 1st moose with it last fall.If you place the first shot you don't need a 2nd..................this is only my thoughts in child training..........Harold