By Mike Schoby
I don’t have many hard held rules for firearms, but I do have at least two. Kids should start with a single shot .22, not a semi-auto and they should learn to use iron sights.
When my daughter and son were born I bought them Browning SA semi-auto 22s. In my opinion they are the classiest semi-auto rimfire rifle ever made. That said, they are packed away in the factory box, and they will not receive them until they are old enough to appreciate them…say around their mid-30s. I always knew a single-shot 22 would be their first gun.
My daughter, Madison, turned six last winter and showed an interest in learning to shoot, so I bought her a Cricket single shot. It turned out to be a mistake. The cocking knob on the single-shot action proved too small and too hard for her to cock and the sights were pretty atrocious. She was less than impressed and quickly got bored of trying to shoot it with me cocking it every time.
Flash forward six months, and she asked about shooting again. I was looking at Henry catalog when she spotted their Mini Bolt Youth rifle, only because it was offered in Muddy Girl pink camo. I find pink guns abhorrent and pink camo even worse. But, she is all girl, and has the tastes of, well, a six year old. Try as I might to dissuade her, she is crazy for unicorns, pink colors, and sparkly cowboy boots. I figured what the heck, if a pink camo pattern is all she needs to get interested, I better order one and try again.
When I gave it to her, it was love at first sight, she didn’t appreciate the stainless construction or the high-quality adjustable fiber-optic sights or the appropriate length of pull of the synthetic stock, she just saw pink. However, there was one major mechanical difference over the Cricket that she picked up on immediately. The cocking knob is large, knurled and bell shaped, and she can cock it by herself. I quickly explained how to load it safely, and how the three fiber optic dots need to be lined up and she was soon smashing soda cans. That was three weeks ago and 300 rounds of CB caps, Colibri, and subsonic ammo later.
She asks to shoot it every day, and most days we do. She now easily loads a single cartridge, closes the bolt, cocks the gun, lines up the sights, and hits balloons or cans with regularity out to 20 yards. She understands how to unload it, operate the safety, and how to make a firing line safe, exclaiming to all who will listen “You don’t go up range while anyone is handling a rifle and all rifles must be unloaded and actions open.” I haven’t had the heart to tell her it is down range not up, but I digress.
All it took was a change in rifles to get her interested. For boys out there, or girls who are not afflicted by pink, Henry makes the same rifle in all black synthetic.
Price $270-ish (street price)
Pros: Easy to cock; accurate; great adjustable sights, but still tapped for a scope
Cons: She wishes it was threaded for one of those “quiet things” as she calls them.
