.22 auto for a 9 year old.

[caojyn]

Have you considered a 10/22 charger?

 

[mega34bkw]

The SR22's are awesome, work with anything and are a lot lighter than the MK's. My wife has one, they are pretty accurate for the size, (but don't compare to the MK's) and very easy to disassemble. For $300, they are hard to beat.

 

[Raoul Duke]

I really like my SR22

 

[DFarcher]

The Ruger SR22 and the Walther PQ22 are both great choices. They are almost identical as far as size and weight, both are light and accurate and have good sights. I think the Ruger is a better choice of the two. The controls on the Ruger make more sense and the Ruger has been more reliable for me.

 

[jescates]

I've got a buck mark camper and a ruger mkiii 22/45. Gotta say I like the ruger better except for the fact it's polymer.

Caojyn, I have a Rugers mkiii 22/45 also and I really like it, with one exception! Mine doesn't. Seem to like the lead hollowpoints. It will tear up the lead round nose all day. You ever have that issue. Seems like the feed ramp is a little short and sharp, catches the HP pretty good.

 

[okietom]

This thread is a good one to keep alive.

Don't exclude any revolvers in your quest for a kids plinker. A new stainless Ruger Bearcat or a version of the Single Six or even a Single Ten or a convertible .22/.22mag. There are other revolvers too. A SW ten shot 617 would be nice.

The revolvers are good accurate guns and would be good for improving that aspect of shooting. Most have better triggers than the semi autos. They hold value well too, at any price range. If you could get a .22 version of the .357 that he has shot it might be good.

Revolvers have no feeding problems and will shoot all ammo, cb, short, quiet, shot shells, anything. That would be nice in ammo shortage times like now.

Disassembly and reassembly is not an issue.

 

[orangeRcode]

I moved up from a bb gun to shoot my dad's little Bearcat. Great little single action revolver. My sister go it when he passed but I got all his rifles. Just glad it's still in the family.

My son and I are going up to her place in a few weeks to set up new deer stands and trim trees. I need to have her pull it out of the safe and let my son shoot it. Thanks for mentioning the Bearcat!

 

[turkeyrun]

It has been my experience that the cheaper firearms often turn out to be the most expensive. If that doesn't make sense, let me explain.

Assume an annual inflation rate of 0% to keep it simple. Also assume both pistols are kept in pristine condition, which may or may not be a valid assumption depending on the child (keep in mind, some children will take better care of property they know has significant value). Also assume both pistols are purchased used, so someone else takes the depreciation hit, and held for five years before being sold:

Pistol A:
Purchase price - $800
Maintenance / Repair costs - $0 (shipping and repairs covered by manufacturer)
Sale Price: $775 - $900
Cost to Own: $25 to a profit of $100


Pistol B:
Purchase price - $325
Maintenance / Repair costs - $0 - $150
Sale Price: $250 - $300
Cost to Own: $25 - $225

It has been my personal experience the less expensive pistols usually wound up costing me much more in the long term when taking into account total cost to own, as opposed to looking exclusively at the initial out of pocket cost.

If a pistol is purchased used and worth as much or more tomorrow as today which is usually the case with high quality specimens, the purchase is an investment, not an expense. It is a conversion of one asset (cash) to another (a pistol).

A tangible investment like a high quality pistol is also a great low risk hedge against inflation. After you explain this to your wife, she will go from being upset when you bring home a new "Toy" to happy about the new "investment" you made to protect your family from the wealth draining effect of inflation!!!

Maybe / maybe not. like said above, you are assuming repairs are made and an intent to resale.

My brother purchased a Marlin Model 60 back in 1976, I think it was $50 at Walgreen's. (Yeah, Walgreen's). He still has it and uses it for squirrels, rabbits, turtles, cans, whatever. Never had a repair and will probably never get rid of it.