What's a good BB gun for a 10 year old kid to learn on?

[teddy12b]

My nephew is going to be 10 this summer and I as the gun loving uncle plan on buying him his first gun. I had just picked up a 10-22 and was thinking that'd be a nice one, but I'm really starting to think that would be too much power right off the bat, so now I'm going to buy him a bb gun.

The problem is that I remember all the things my brother, friends and I used to do with bb guns and that's why he's not getting a 22lr. I don't want to get the kid a red ryder, but I also don't want to get him one of those single cocking 1,200fps type powerhouse pellet guns either. I'm debating on the type you have to pump 10 time for full power, but I remember what little boys do with those too.

What BB gun do you recommend for a first timer?

 

[Hillbillyblood]

I have owned 2 crossman bb/pellet guns. Having a hard time remembering the model but 720.. rings a bell. These are a pump type gun and has the option of bb or pellet.

In my opinion this is a perfect way to start a young feller out.

No doubt there are many options available, but single shot and having to pump for the power makes you at least think, and teaching the difference between the power of a bb and pellet can be a great entry point.

 

[hooky]

Personally, I'd do the Red Ryder if you're concerned about giving him something with too much power. He can still ventilate coke cans and shoot sparrows with a red ryder. Plus I'm nostalgic about them.

 

[Sarrsipius]

I had the crossman 10 pump style as a kid. Must have shot 10,000 bb's through that thing (many a dead chimpmunk). I did make a few bad choices with that gun and there is no way you are ever going to know if your kid will do the same. I don't know any kid that had a bb gun and didn't make at least 1 bad decision.

Get him the crossman, teach him gun safety as best you can, and supervise him while he uses it for the first year or so.

When he's a couple years older, get him in a gun safety course and then introduce the 22.

my $.02

 

[looney2ns]

I vote for the Red Rider. My wife bought me one this past Christmas as a joke. But turns out its a great little gun and comes with a great safety book.
Teach him safely to use it like it was any other real firearm.

 

[mrjarrell]

Here's another vote for the Ryder. Cheap, easy to maintain and powerful enough to be fun. Got one for my kids a couple of years ago and they love putting holes in soda bottles with it. Had one when I was a kid and am glad they still make them.

 

[netsecurity]

I'm glad you asked . I'm thrilled with the Crossman BB rifle I got from Wal Mart. It wasn't the most expensive or fastest shooting, because the most I'd spend on a BB gun is $50. It turned out to far exceed my expectations though. When I load pellets, I can hit a 2-4" bullseye consistently at 30+ yards. Even though the cheap scope slides forwards and back on the dovetail mount, it still miraculously maintains zero. Of course, you have to cock the handle ten times, but that doesn't bother me, because it is more powerful than any CO2 cartridge.

PS, I still have my crossman rifle from 30 years ago, and it works fine. It's nowhere near as accurate as the new one though.

 

[teddy12b]

My nephew is starting to get to that age where he's asking a question or two about what I used to do for Uncle Same. For his birthday I had planned on taking him to the gun range and letting him shoot some of my "Army" rifles. He's a giant for his age and a 223 recoil out of a rifle wouldn't be hard on him, espcially if I load them one at a time. I'll get him started with the BB gun, but I also want to be able to lead up to something for the "grand finale" at the end of the day. His dad is going to be there and get a little training with his AR that I'm building for him also. He's a complete AR noob so it'll be interesting. I want my nephews first trip to the range to be something that really gets the point across about range safety and is still really fun for him.

 

[LionWeight]

I don't know why you don't want to get him a Red Ryder, but this is the one I would start with. Had 1 when I was a kid, still have it and bought another one about 5 years ago and still shoot it. They are great. You can ventilate cans to your hearts content. Not too powerful but still enough to start with. If he uses that one safely, you get to be the "best uncle ever" and upgrade him to one with more power. Just remind him to be careful.

"you'll shoot your eye out kid"

 

[Goober135]

I'm going to throw out something no one else has mentioned.

Airsoft Gun.

The reason I would recommend this, is because it could kill 2 birds with 1 stone. No only will it be a gun that, although not advised, is safe(r) to shoot at each other, but also could make for a great training weapon to get him used to the fundamentals of firearms. A lot of times, before I take someone who's never shot a handgun to the range, I have them practice the fundamentals with my Airsoft pistol. Inserting the mag, racking the slide, using the iron sights, saftey, unloading, and clearing the gun. All done with a gun, where if something goes wrong, might sting a little.

Food for thought.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eMcmLffGsk

 

[ddavidson]

My nephew is going to be 10 this summer and I as the gun loving uncle plan on buying him his first gun. I had just picked up a 10-22 and was thinking that'd be a nice one, but I'm really starting to think that would be too much power right off the bat, so now I'm going to buy him a bb gun.

The problem is that I remember all the things my brother, friends and I used to do with bb guns and that's why he's not getting a 22lr. I don't want to get the kid a red ryder, but I also don't want to get him one of those single cocking 1,200fps type powerhouse pellet guns either. I'm debating on the type you have to pump 10 time for full power, but I remember what little boys do with those too.

What BB gun do you recommend for a first timer?

I'd go with the 22LR. Neither gun will be in his possession when you aren't around I'm guessing so I wouldn't worry about what kids do with BB guns. I don't think it's too much power. My 9-year-old son just started shooting his own 20ga a few weeks ago (I posted a vid) so I wouldn't hesitate at all on getting the 22LR.

My son also has a few airsoft guns that we've practiced gun safety with for a couple of years now so he wasn't entirely new to guns either. We practice the rules of our range at home. We have been able to shoot by ourselves at the range but we still practice making the line cold and hot. We discuss the four laws regularly. He understands how to take apart and clean his gun. We practiced all of this before he was able allowed to load it.

I think your nephew will be much more receptive to learning and practicing all of these things if knows he has a "real" gun even though there is nothing fake about a BB gun.

 

[marv]

I respect yoour opinion but Red Ryder taught me well.

 

[Faine]

Personally, I'd do the Red Ryder if you're concerned about giving him something with too much power. He can still ventilate coke cans and shoot sparrows with a red ryder. Plus I'm nostalgic about them.

I vote for the Red Rider. My wife bought me one this past Christmas as a joke. But turns out its a great little gun and comes with a great safety book.
Teach him safely to use it like it was any other real firearm.

Here's another vote for the Ryder. Cheap, easy to maintain and powerful enough to be fun. Got one for my kids a couple of years ago and they love putting holes in soda bottles with it. Had one when I was a kid and am glad they still make them.

I don't know why you don't want to get him a Red Ryder, but this is the one I would start with. Had 1 when I was a kid, still have it and bought another one about 5 years ago and still shoot it. They are great. You can ventilate cans to your hearts content. Not too powerful but still enough to start with. If he uses that one safely, you get to be the "best uncle ever" and upgrade him to one with more power. Just remind him to be careful.

"you'll shoot your eye out kid"

I respect yoour opinion but Red Ryder taught me well.

And I say Red Ryder is the way to go as well. My grandfather bought me mine when I was 10 years old and my dad would take me out to the field in front of our house to shoot 2 litre bottles with it. My brother subsequently came over with a pump action one and it had a lot more power but took so much longer to be ready to shoot again I giggled inside and thought power isn't everything.

The goal is to teach him how to shoot and be responsible and for that there's nothing better than a Red Ryder BB gun. The Red Ryder taught me something my brothers pump style didn't force him to learn, it taught me about trajectory. You can actually see the BB arc as it flies out. Anyway I can go on for hours about the merits of both but I like the Red Ryder and so do many above.

 

[jbombelli]

I had a Daisy Powerline 880. With pellets I could hit little plastic army men at 50' easy.

 

[686 Shooter]

I vote for the Red Ryder, It's all about teaching the basics of safety, shooting and respect for the gun and other peoples property. It doesn't take a high dollar or powerful gun to learn the basics or improve skills.

 

[Bunnykid68]

Red Ryder and a .22.

 

[hammer24]

Personally, if you're not going to be there over his shoulder whenever the gun is in his posession, then the Red Ryder is the way to go because it is potentially the least destructive. My 7 yr. old doesn't have access to his guns unless I am there to supervise. He spent very little time on the BB/ pellet gun (age 5) before he graduated to his .22 (age 6). Once he shot his .22, the BB gun became very uninteresting.