Red dot vs reticle for a kid?

[bigfug]

Taking my kid shooting on Black Friday. Got him and my daughter pink and blue crickets (laminate) for christmas last year. He is six, she is 8. I think she has the concept of iron sights down, but he doesnt. Thought it would make it more fun for him if he got to actually shoot and hit something this time around. First thing is trying to find if H&H can answer their damn phone so I can see if they have the scope base. Second is whether or not to get a red dot or a cheap 4x32 scope. Academy has BSA in both that seem decent enough for a single shot rimfire. I thought about the cricket scope as well, found some similiar scopes a lot cheaper on amazon than the cricket brand scope, appear to be the same scope, branded diffent (AIM sports?) mixed reviews. I tend to overanalyze things and for the life of me, can't decide which to get, and what would be best for a kid? Thinking the red dot might be best, and I can use it on my Mark III as well. Hope to get a 22/45 setup for some steel gun challenge too! Might save me a few bucks sharing the optic.

 

[okietool]

Taking my kid shooting on Black Friday. Got him and my daughter pink and blue crickets (laminate) for christmas last year. He is six, she is 8. I think she has the concept of iron sights down, but he doesnt. Thought it would make it more fun for him if he got to actually shoot and hit something this time around. First thing is trying to find if H&H can answer their damn phone so I can see if they have the scope base. Second is whether or not to get a red dot or a cheap 4x32 scope. Academy has BSA in both that seem decent enough for a single shot rimfire. I thought about the cricket scope as well, found some similiar scopes a lot cheaper on amazon than the cricket brand scope, appear to be the same scope, branded diffent (AIM sports?) mixed reviews. I tend to overanalyze things and for the life of me, can't decide which to get, and what would be best for a kid? Thinking the red dot might be best, and I can use it on my Mark III as well. Hope to get a 22/45 setup for some steel gun challenge too! Might save me a few bucks sharing the optic.

Let him pick. If they can shoot steels or maybe cans it's instant gratification,.

 

[bigfug]

any preference on BSA vs Barska? Academy carries one, Dicks carries the other. I have a coupon to Dicks, and was picking up a rifle case there as they are one of the few that has one the size I want.

 

[Drebin]

I say red dot for the boy and a scope for the girl. The red dot will make hits easier and more fun for the boy and the girl will just be a little precision sniper watching over her baby brother lol. Then they can try out each others optics later on.

 

[UnSafe]

There's a benefit to learning to shoot with conventional sights, but I understand that working with kids and their limited attention span requires positive feedback pretty quick, or they'll lose interest and focus. My daughters seem to be able to grasp ring & post sights earlier. Son- he's 6 and doesn't quite get sights, more of an area shooter at this point. Still have to hang/ hover over him, but he's much better this year.

Besides driving around in circles locally, try the big chains like Midway or an Amazon search, you could have all the parts you need by Wed afternoon with free shipping.

 

[PawPaw]

Got my 2 oldest grandkids crickets for Chistmas 3 years ago. I put cheap red dots on them and the kids loved them. Their younger brothers have inherited the crickets. The oldest grandson (8) shot his first deer this year during youth gun season using a Rossi single shot .223 with a red dot on it. Fifty yard shot thru the lungs. The biggest advantage to a red dot over a scope is no eye relief issues. With a scope most younger shooters have to search to find the proper eye relief. The oldest have moved on to semi autos with iron sights now. It was so much more fun for them when they first started using the red dots because they could hit the targets consistently. Make it fun for them and they will not want to stop shooting. Also use target that are fun to shoot, plastic 2 ltr bottles of water, old fruit, clay pidgeons, etc. Be safe and have fun.