.204 Ruger for youth...looking for recommendations.

[jsteiger]

My daughter is 7 and is showing interest in shooting. I 'm looking at getting her something she can shoot at 100-200 yards and have fun with. Needs to be something with minimal recoil and small enough for her to shoot comfortably. I thought the .204 Ruger might be a good fit. Thought I'd check to see what you all think. If you have any other recommendations I'd like to hear them, including make-model-caliber-and where to find it.

Thanks!
Jason

 

[Nodak7mm]

My personal expereience with two daughters shooting, they loved it. They would burn up a brick of 22 each time if ya let em. After a couple of yrs I figured that okay, time to move em up in "size/caliber. Thought my 223 would be just perfect, very minimal recoil. Well, it scared em enuff I could tell, so I put the 22 back in their arms and happily continued till they made the request to shoot something bigger. It was prob around the 12-13 yr old range before they made their choice and I let it be thier choice..

What I figured out what scared them was not recoil, but the report/blast/noise... So as a proud father of daughters, please bear this in mind. Granted all kids are different and for background, my girls are not girly girsl.. hah!

For the money spent on a starter centerfire, you could buy a really nice 22 and really develop those marksmenship skills & wind shooting.... Heck shooting a 22 out to 100 is a blast regardless.

Rod

 

[jsteiger]

Thanks Rod, makes sense about the report of the rifle.

 

[RonAKA]

A .17 HMR rimfire might do the trick out to 200 yards. Savage has some decent guns. Get one with a heavy barrel and AccuTrigger. They can be set light enough that they are not intimidating to pull. If you go with a .22LR then I believe they have some youth models.

 

[deadlyswift]

I agree with Nodak7mm. My daughter is now all but 9yrs old. She has been shooting my 220swift since she was 7yrs old. Now she was always around when I was shooting all of my other guns. I had her shooting the 22lr at 5yr.
So she was use to the blast of larger cal. and plus yes she is a daddy's girl and trust that dad will never let her get hurt. So once convincing her she could do it she really took off with the 220 swift. At 8yr old just this past summer she got a Kill on a ground hog at 175yrds. Just this past deer season she made her 2nd kill on a doe (head shot) at 156yrds while hunting with my uncle. She understands how to do the job behind the tirgger, just not the hold, where, or why. (needs to be told where to hold the cross hairs) I will say that the most important thing with teaching young kids how to shoot is to make things as fun as possible! If kids are having fun they will learn more and faster for sure! Only advance them when they show they are ready! Move at their pace! Either way! Enjoy the time and your kids now!! My daugther will be 9yr in a month! Half way to adulthood!!! Lord help me threw the teen years!! LMAO!! ;D ;D
Mark

 

[watercam]

The .22 rimfire will make it to 200 yds. just fine thank you. The Mini-Palmas are shot at 200 and one learns quite a bit about reading wind. Match ammo in a decent rifle are all that is required. CCI Select has just a tad more velocity than standard match ammo and is REALLY consistant. Ruger 77/22 now has screwed-in barrels of high quality - that would be a great way to go. Look at the 1/11 issue of Precision Shooting for a great article on just that set up.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Any of the twenties would be good also consider the 17 FB or the 20 Vartag.

 

[Wirelessguy2005]

I second the call for the 17 Fireball or 20 VT. They are both great rounds with little to no recoil and solid 350 yard capabilities. They both make a fantastic starter round for someone young, you really can't go wrong with either one.

 

[jsteiger]

Thanks for all your input guys!