Nef youth sportster .22lr for son's starter rifle?

[thelaw]

looking for input for son's first rifle for his birthday coming up. i like the idea of the Nef singleshot and was thinking about the youth sportster in .22lr. anyone else have this rifle? it will be mainly for target shooting, tin cans and maybe a squirrel or two.

[goose7856]

In my opinion, no single shot .22 is a good gun for squirrels. Squirrels can be hard to hit with a 12 gauge, why make your son have only 1 shot to kill it with???  Its hard enough with a .22 with a 14 shot tube magazine!!

If it is mainly for target shooting, then I would get a bolt action, and for hunting use, nothing but a semi-auto.  Just start off out in one shell and not a clip, and then work up.  Just make him respect the gun, and you will be fine.  A .22 bolt action can work for squirrels, but is still to much hassel to jack in another shell after each shot.  But for accuracy, nothing beats a BOLT action for TARGET SHOOTING!!

Just my .02

[Walker]

Get a Ruger 10/22, then get on ebay and pick up another carbine stock and cut that stock to fit your boy. When he out grows it, put the original back on.

[Brett]

The NEF/H&R single shots are rugged, accurate and economical firearms that are very safe to use & easy to maintain. :agree:     I am hard pressed to think of a better type of gun to teach a child safe gun handling and good shooting skills than a break action single shot.  Furthermore, .22 rifles (scoped and with open sites) have accounted for too many squirrels to count.  IMO there is little disadvantage to using a single shot for hunting. To the contrary a single shot teaches you to take only reasonable shots and to make your shots count.   :wink:  Spraying and praying is for slobs and is not hunting in my book.   :evil:

p.s.: My big game rifle is an H&R single shot in .280 Remington.