Mightymariner Posted September 26, 2011 Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 Anyone help with this? My 8 year old wants air rifle for birthday after going on BASC young shots day. I know nothing about modern air rifles, having had one as a kid but now just shoot shotguns, and would welcome some advice on what is on offer these days. As its his first gun, it needs to be light, fun and easy to use, and powerful enough for some plinking and the odd rabbit and pigeon, and not cost the earth. Any help appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaxiDriver Posted September 26, 2011 Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 Gamo do a couple of junior size models, Cadet is one example, SMK do a couple of junior size models, or which the syntarg is one example. I bought the SMK Syntarg for my 10yr old and its light, easy to handle, and has a comfortable coating on the barrel which makesit comfortable to the touch and durable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiderdude Posted September 26, 2011 Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 I got my 8 year old a HW25 off a PW member. Excellent little gun, my youngster loves it and has progressed well with target shooting. Highly recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secretagentmole Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 (edited) HW25, you can pick them up cheap as the proverbial portion of deep fried potatoes, with salt and vinegar, they also have that legendary HW build quality. Hang on, bingo of an idea.... PM inbound my man, could help you saveth some money! Edited September 29, 2011 by secretagentmole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secretagentmole Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 PM sent, have a look my man, no need to broadcast Mole knowledge when it can save you a few quid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bull Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 bsa meteor mk6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ91 Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 S400 superlite. Plenty of poke, accurate, very very light (hence the name) and easy to use. Worth every penny. Regret selling myne! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.I.A Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 I remember weihrauch use to sell a complete junior kit, rifle, scope, target holder etc and from memory they were priced well and you get weihrauchs build quality to boot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RED BEARD Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 a bsa meteor or webley vulcan are a safe bet.a sharp innova is a very light gun,but getting extremely hard to find nowadays.or go for a pre-charged titan or falcon,shorter the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider1979 Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 evening, why not go for a brocock contour or air arms 200 awesome rifles my lad used an aa whilst at a shooting range recently same age as your boy and i gotto admit a pretty good shot for a youngster. both rifles are extremely light and because there both pcp's no noticable recoil. all in all a good solid rifle for a starter. hope he finds the enjoyment my lad has found. dean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secretagentmole Posted September 30, 2011 Report Share Posted September 30, 2011 Look chaps he said not cost the earth, with the PCP rifles (AA S200 S300, S400 Brococks etc)you are going to need a charging system of some sort either father with a pump (an eight year old will not have the body mass to use a stirrup pump effectively) or an air tank (once again father responsible, you going to let you eight year old pee around with something that could explode, with fatal consequences), both of which are going to add well over a hundred pounds to the cost of any rifle. Best advice is to stick to spring guns, cheapest to run (CO2 guns need those expensive bulbs) and help develop his muscle tone (well that is what you tell him anyway)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider1979 Posted October 1, 2011 Report Share Posted October 1, 2011 Why not just buy a cheap jap 22 you can them for around £30! Children normally grow bored so let him use one of them until he is good enough then splash out? ;@)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mightymariner Posted October 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2011 Thanks for the advice chaps. I think it will be a springer, and something lightweight that he can cock himself. Also cheapish as he will probably grow out of it pretty quick and then want to start with a shotgun. He had a go with a friend's BSA Lightning today, he couldn't cock it and it was too heavy, but he enjoyed blasting some apples nonetheless! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discodog Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 Have a look at a crossman Ratcatcher, no worrys about little fingers sliping when cocking, cheap to run, no air tank, just the right size too , cost around £100 ish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ91 Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 (edited) Look chaps he said not cost the earth..... And the gun I mentioned does not cost the earth, s400 - 500quid. I would not class that as costing the earth but you may think different, everyone has ther own idea on what 'the earth' is Maybe the op should tell us what 'the earth' is then we could help him abit better If you want cheap get a crosman ratcather or rabbitstopper. Edited October 2, 2011 by TJ91 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secretagentmole Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 £400-£500 is a lot of money to most people, hell you can get a decent 4x4 for that sort of money. It is the kids first gun right, so why get one of the best on the market a la S400/S410, they are pricey bits of kit, damned good but pricey. What the kid should start off with is a springer, give some sort of idea of gun handling and recoil, especially if he moves into shotguns like his father! There are lots of decent rifles on the market for not a lot of money, I have pm'd the op with details of where to get some very good guns at a very low price, all genuine, legal and sub 12 foot pound. After all if you drop and damage a rifle that cost say and eighth of what you were proposing it is not going to have the same sort of impact financially as the rifle you suggested having a broken stock or bent barrel is it? I am not proposing a Chinese made weapon, rather something classic and British made as well. Us moles have our uses and my suggestion to the OP allows him to fulfil what he would like to achieve at a cost that should be more than reasonable to him! Meteors at dawn anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 The untimate junior rifle is the S200 precharge (the Ultra from bsa is also good and light). The new Meteor in the full power version is harder to cock than a lightning! If he has the opertunity and is a good enough shot then you realy need something knocking out more oomph than the little HW. To be fair i shot with a HW35 at 11yrs old and killed many a bunny with it but i was a seriously big powerfull 11 yr old you need to match the gun to your guy and remember legally he can have supervised use only and cannot be given one as a gift, under those circumstances you can always do the cocking All my kids get gun safety and lessons from a young age and my own 11 yr old is one of the safest guns you will meet but she doesn't get to use a gun without me right by her side. Avoid multi shots as its easy to forget and difficult to check clear visually, my own daughter shoots a tuned Lightning in .22 (less jumpy than .177 in springers usually) i reduced spring pressure and polished and honed all contact points, this can reduce cocking effort considerably Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobby Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 Not quite the standards as above but just gave my 7yr old a webley jaguar and he loves it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallyrus Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 My daughter is 11 and she has an interest in shooting as with my younger ones, she has had a go of my AA S410 but its obviously to big for her, as someone else has mentioned I've been thinking of getting the ratcatcher, can be picked up reasonably priced second hand, a pcp would be nice but there just to dear for a kids first gun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mightymariner Posted October 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2011 Thanks for the info, have looked at two SMK rifles, the sx15 and a synthetic one with cutaway stock , both put out 6-7ps,and are quite cheap, between £60-£100, they look OK to me for first gun as I don't want to spend a lot...and it needs to be simple, ie: a spring air rifle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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