Decent BB gun for a kid?

[Mule 11]

Needs to be able to dispatch ground squirrel within 25 yds and accuracy to do so. Not afraid to go pellet, butt would be nice to be reasonably priced. Leaving reasonable up to you... Lung/heart shots at 25 yds and head shots within 12 yds approximate.

[Graybeard]

A BB gun will not do the job. From my personal experience neither will a .177 pellet. Sure if you put 2-3 in the squirrel it will likely die but it will also likely get away before ya put that many into it.

Get a .22 or one of the 5mm/.20 caliber Sheridan guns. I have both and a .177 also. Both do the job just fine. My .177 and .22 both are Gamo Whisper models. I think you can still find them in the under $200 range, Not sure how much under.

With head or heart/lung shots both the Sheridan and the Gamo .22 drop squirrels cleanly. The .177 has proven to me it can't do that. It is still useful for taking out grackles and cowbirds both of which are legal to shoot year round here in Bama.

[DDZ]

Since you want it to have enough power to kill squirrels at 25 yards, that leaves the DaisyRed Ryder out. 

When I was about 6. The Red Ryder was my first BB gun.  A buddy of mine bought a 22 cal air rifle about 5 years ago. Although the rifle was at least $2000, it is as accurate as any .22 Ive shot. He even bought a compressor to fill the CO2 bottles.
They make air rifles up to .50 cal that shoot 350gr slugs.

[wtxbadger]

Not knowing how old the kiddo makes it harder but if it were me I would get them a cricket .22 singleshot bolt action and for ammo the Aguila .22 Super Colibri ammo. It's quieter than my Gamo pellet rifle and does a good job controlling squirrels. The one I have our kiddos used years ago when they were way young and I was teaching them how to shoot.

[Mule 11]

A BB gun will not do the job. From my personal experience neither will a .177 pellet. Sure if you put 2-3 in the squirrel it will likely die but it will also likely get away before ya put that many into it.

Get a .22 or one of the 5mm/.20 caliber Sheridan guns. I have both and a .177 also. Both do the job just fine. My .177 and .22 both are Gamo Whisper models. I think you can still find them in the under $200 range, Not sure how much under.

With head or heart/lung shots both the Sheridan and the Gamo .22 drop squirrels cleanly. The .177 has proven to me it can't do that. It is still useful for taking out grackles and cowbirds both of which are legal to shoot year round here in Bama.

Thanks Bill.

[Mule 11]

Since you want it to have enough power to kill squirrels at 25 yards, that leaves the DaisyRed Ryder out. 

When I was about 6. The Red Ryder was my first BB gun.  A buddy of mine bought a 22 cal air rifle about 5 years ago. Although the rifle was at least $2000, it is as accurate as any .22 Ive shot. He even bought a compressor to fill the CO2 bottles.
They make air rifles up to .50 cal that shoot 350gr slugs.

When I said ground squirrel I meant chipmunk. Sorry as I should have been more specific. 2K to smoke the elephant of the woods is a bit much. Thanks for the input though. Sorry for the mistake on my part...

[Mule 11]

Not knowing how old the kiddo makes it harder but if it were me I would get them a cricket .22 singleshot bolt action and for ammo the Aguila .22 Super Colibri ammo. It's quieter than my Gamo pellet rifle and does a good job controlling squirrels. The one I have our kiddos used years ago when they were way young and I was teaching them how to shoot.

They have a rascal savage 22, and a 357 max in a 16” contender along with a Mathews craze 2 compound bow as I spoil my children. Unfortunately for now we are to close to neighbors for (them) to use said. I have had my share of killing just to kill, he has not... hence the info request on a decent air rifle. Thanks for your input. Oh, he’ll be 13 soon. Wish I could say that

[ironglow]

  Bill is right, a BB gun won't do it !  A decent air rifle even at Walmart will go $100 to $150.  I paid about $150, several years ago, fo ra Ruger Airhawk
  with wooden stock.
    Although mine is a .177, I hv eto admit that the.22 tough slower, delivers more "punch" on the target.
 
   Frankly, I almost never use the Airhawk anymore. When I am troubled with a bothersome critter, I just use a .22 LR, with a Colibri or CCI Quiet.

 One of the serious air rifles require maintenance, perhaps more that a regular .22 bolt of single shot. With a colibri, use a shorter barrel, since with a
   longer barrel..24" on up.  A longer barrel raises the possibility of a bullet lodging in the barrel.

     A Rascal or Cricket sounds good to me, depending upon your situation.  Then again, the Rascal is a sewlf-cocker with accu-trigger.

[Graybeard]

This link from Amazon is pretty much what I have that will definitely get the job done:

https://www.amazon.com/Gamo-6110067954-Raptor-Whisper-Rifle/dp/B01AMAO86Y/ref=pd_scr_dp_alt2_d_d_sccl_1_2/146-6074221-0856831?pd_rd_w=bE0S0&content-id=amzn1.sym.f7521628-4bcd-4e9f-9f0a-eb76032fc6ec&pf_rd_p=f7521628-4bcd-4e9f-9f0a-eb76032fc6ec&pf_rd_r=E8T3MEANY4FNH7Q6QQS6&pd_rd_wg=ja35B&pd_rd_r=540e77b9-852c-4ac7-b74f-bf37785645aa&pd_rd_i=B01AMAOP4E&th=1&psc=1

Cost is $152 with scope included.