My grandson turns 9 this summer. He's been shooting his Red Ryder for the past two years and handing my guns (without shooting) under my supervision for the same time. It's time he made the next step. I've settled on the shotgun to get him, but not the .22 rifle. I'm considering these:

- Marlin XT-Y bolt action youth model
- Henry lever-action youth model
- CZ 452 Scout, youth model

If you have experience with any of these, please give me some feedback on their quality or known problems to help my decision.

If it were me I would get a single-shot. If you go to gun shows there are always a bunch of older ones of various makes. A bolt action would be good. That's what I had, and still have.
Jim

My kids started a little younger, and they all used the same single-shot Chipmunk.

I think a 9 year old could handle a Henry youth model. My youngest guy's first gun of his own was that model and it has been great. Very smooth and reliable. He's 15 now and still shoots it often, even though he has other guns.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

I would take a hard look at the new Savage "Rascal". I've only seen the ad, but it looks perfect; single shot, aperture sight, and a good trigger. I can't imagine a better first gun for a youngster.

I have a Henry and, from experience, they are smooth as glass and high quality. Plus you can use .22 shorts, longs and long rifles in it. And, while he may not appreciate the lever action now, it's a pretty good bet that one day he will. Are you looking at the blued Henry or the Golden Boy? Both are great but the Golden Boy, even in the youth model, is 1.5 pounds heavier and about $200 more than the blued model. Don't know about the safety on the other ones you mentioned but the Henry does require holding the hammer, pulling the trigger and slowly letting the hammer forward while releasing the trigger to safe it. Same as most lever guns.

CW

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From everything I've heard and read, the Henry is a great rifle, and I'm considering one for myself! That being said, there is a lot of merit in training on bolt action rifles. Another one to consider would be the Savage target model they have recently introduced, a heavy barrel with the Accu-Trigger system. I think he would get great satisfaction out of .25 inch holes made with a .22 caliber rifle!

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Even older, even crankier....

These threads, along with those talking about a wife/husband getting into shooting, are my all-time favorites.

Thanks Goldstar225 for keeping the shootin' tradition alive & well in this great country of ours!!

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Ogy

I bought my grandson a CZ 452 Scout when he turned 10. He has a small frame and is a light weight. He is a very good shot and he is amazing to watch. At first I had him load one at a time and later he used the 10rd. magazines. Once about a year ago we were both shooting at the range. He was shooting the best I had seem him shoot. When he started to reload he said "Papa I really love my gun". What a day that was. The magazines are hard to find but there is a guy on the CZ forum that usually has both the steel and the hard plastic ones. Good luck and have fun.

Thanks for the inputs, more food for thought. Whatever he gets, he will start out single loading, regardless of capacity. I'm pleased to hear the positive remarks on the Henry although I did overlook the possibility of lowering the hammer on a live round. His birthday is in June so I better make my mind up soon.

My 2 granddaughters will have a single shot youth gun to start with, when they get older i have several nice lever and bolt 22's they can have. But first the learning process with safety first then the marksmanship. When i was 9 years old a neghbor planted alpha alpha in a field that the ground squirrls took over. He used to give a few of us kids a brick of shells in the morning and in the afternoon he would take us to town and buy us a hamberger and shake for a good days work. Would you do this today? Times were different then, I think I was more mature at 9 than a lot of 18 yr olds today.