Need help picking 22 Rifle

[Smith357]

How young are the cousins?
Iron sights or glass?
What is your price ceiling?

The The Winchester 52, Marlin 60 and 39a are miles apart from each other but all are legendary in their own right. The CZ is fast becoming a legend and the Ruger, out of the box it's the poorest performing, but it's a tinkers dream.

There are so many good .22s out there, a few to look at are the Remington 513T, 37, and 40X. The Winchester 75, 67, and 94/22. Stevens 44s and Favorite's and Anschutz 64s and 54s.

 

[G-Mac]

Whats wrong with a little pump rossi 62. The copy of the old winchester 62. Light, accurate, fast and retro. Most us old timers grew up with the little gallery gun. I started my daughter off with one too.

Taurus was making a version of this too. I had a stainless one. Traded it off a few years back.

I am leaning against the Ruger as I don't want something I have to customize at all.

Ruger 10/22's certainly are a popular gun to customize, but nobody says that you have too. They're great guns right out of the box. I have three...all pretty much original except for scopes, slings, etc.

 

[cp1969]

Kids will probably not be interested in the same guns as we old timers.

Let the kid pick out the gun or he/she will undoubtedly lose interest in it very quickly.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

You didn't mention the kids age or stature. But I've been partial to Mod.39's for years. For a starter rifle have you considered a Henry? Not a lot of money & very well made in the USA.

 

[Rule3]

$30 for a 10 rd mag is worth it for the beautiful Turkish Walnut and not a bunch of plastic parts.

The "Tactical" version of the Ruger 10/22 was rated the best by NRA American Rifleman. the action and barrel are the same.

 

[586L-Frame]

Kids will probably not be interested in the same guns as we old timers.

Let the kid pick out the gun or he/she will undoubtedly lose interest in it very quickly.

+1 In losing interest.
My Daughter said my grand-daughter of 10yrs old would love to shoot with grandpa. So I went out looking for prospective .22's that she would like and enjoy shooting.

I bought her a Ruger 10/22, a new Henry Youth model Mini-Bolt .22, and a Pink Crickett Stainless .22 singleshot.

I took her to our local indoor range one-time to shoot for about a hour.
She enjoyed the session, but due to all her other school and sports activities she has lost interest and has no time for target shooting now.

I did enjoy sharing my sports interest with my grand daughter, with no regrets. But the three .22's are now safe queens.
586L-Frame

DLC’s Henry Mini-Bolt, Pink SS Crickett & Ruger 10_22.

x

 

[LHS]

I have a Marlin 60 semi-auto (my second), a Mossburg 802 Plinkster (bolt action), a Marlin 39A (newer one), a Ruger 10/22 (actually the kid's), and a Winchester 62A pump. I also have a Ruger 22 Charger but that is considered a 10/22 pistol.

For a first time shooter I suggest a bolt action. Teaches them to shoot slow and aim correctly and safety, but a semi-auto is more fun.

My Mossburg I paid $90 plus tax at Dick's on sale, and with a scope is pretty accurrate. Has a 10 count clip. I want to put a bipod on it this spring.

My kid's 10/22 has a Tapco stock, a forearm grip/bipod combo unit, a nice 2x7 scope, and a 2 point sling. All in all a little over $500 in the thing, but it looks cool and is fun to shoot.

Marlin 39A - Most expensive but my favorite but also the least shot. Just happens to be that way, no reason why.

Marlin 60: I had one I got when I was 16, and I literally wore it out. Shot it a lot and a lot of rapid fire, and didn't keep her clean. My second one has a 4x scope on it and is at the parent's farm for Mom to shoot groundhogs with.

Winchester 62A: More an antique safe queen but I get her out ever now and then to shoot.

Ruger 22 Charger: Mostly just a fun gun.

I would suggest a cheap bolt action until proper shooting technics and safety is learned, and then a semi-auto. The Ruger 10/22 is the most accessorized 22 in the world, and you can get about anything for it. I love my Marlin 60 but there are so many more options for the Ruger....

 

[LHS]

Ruger 10/22's certainly are a popular gun to customize, but nobody says that you have too. They're great guns right out of the box.

We took the kid's 10/22 right out of the box. ran a bore snake though her a few times, and put 10 rounds out of 10 in a 8" circle at 25 yards the 2nd magazine we shot out of it. First mag was a bit all over as he was just trying to figure out the open sites. After that we switched to a 25 round mag, and he was putting 22 out of 15 shots in a 12" circle at 30 yards semi-rapid fire (2 seconds apart shots).

Since I put the scope on it we take her to the range and at 25 yards (indoor range) all 25 shots are in a 3" circle. I could get her a bit tighter, but the kid is happy with it.

 

[Dunkel68]

My only choice when getting my boys shooting was a 10/22. My boys needed a scope to be sucessful due to some defects from their mother. What I did do was buy a couple of factory stocks for 12 dollars total off ebay and took a chopsaw to get the right lenght of pull. Worked great for me and mine.

 

[Flavorplain]

Go for the 52. If you want to give an awesome .22 then stray from your list and get a Winchester 9422. I love the 9422.

 

[Maddog 521]

I bought my 10 year old grandson a CZ 452 Scout [youth model]. He shoots it very well. Many times he has told me, "papa I love my gun".

 

[greystonedog]

22 rifle

I have owned many in my 68 years, like Remington 510/511/512/513 and the semi auto 550 the best.Buy one of these you have a sound investment as well. The 510 is the one I would buy for a young persons first gun, single shot and the safety comes on automatically when you close the bolt,

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

Unless your cousin is very small, you won't go wrong with a Marlin 25. Inexpensive, accurate, reliable, easily mounts a scope. Extra clips are inexpensive and easy to find. Marlin made these under the Glenfield and J C Higgins name too. A kid can learn everything they need to know about shooting, gun handling and safety with an inexpensive gun that they will from a pricier one and not have to fear for "messin' it up". Later on they'll probably appreciate the finer rifles more, too. Maybe it's just in my neck of the woods but if I had a dollar for every time I saw a kid carrying a Marlin 25 through the woods in squirrel season I'd surely have enough money to by a couple of 'em.
John

 

[kewpie]

I have owned many in my 68 years, like Remington 510/511/512/513 and the semi auto 550 the best.Buy one of these you have a sound investment as well. The 510 is the one I would buy for a young persons first gun, single shot and the safety comes on automatically when you close the bolt,

I agree 1000% with the 510. I have mine from 55 years ago and it is still as accurate as anyone would want a .22 to be. The 'automatic' safety is of prime importance to a starting shooter IMO.

(And no one never outgrows a 510 Remington.

 

[wbraswell]

Give some consideration to the Savage Mark II. Especially with the bull barrel.