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I'd like to get a bb gun for my 5 year old daughter for Christmas this year. Daisy makes a pink 'Red Rider' style that she would probably like. I am torn between getting something like this or getting something a bit nicer with a scope. I would love to hear from other Parents and what has worked well for them. I want her to get 'hooked' on shooting and I want her to start learning and practicing gun safety with her own gun. I thought about the air soft route but I decided I'd rather stay away from those for now.

Santa and I thank you in advance.

I vote for the Daisy as a starter.

on the "Red Ryder". Easier to load, operate, and munipulate for younger shooters than the breakover barrel, manual load, multi pump type.

My 11 year old daughter likes to shoot the Red Ryder a whole lot. We will get her one for Christmas. I don't think a 5 year old girl is going to have an easy time cocking it.

She also likes shooting the Daisy 840 and also my Crosman 1077. However the RR is far easier to load than the Crosman and you don't have to fool with the CO2. But shooting the Crosman accurately is much easier, and not having to cock it is a big plus. I wish they made a CO2 BB rifle with a reservior and auto-loading like a Red Ryder. A CO2 Red Ryder would be great!

I still vote Red Ryder. The pink one is great as long as you can find it locally. At Wal Mart a RR is about $23 and online the pink one is $35-40.

The Red Ryder would be too large for a 5 year old (any bb gun is going to be) try the 105 Buck. It's shorter, but has same type lever action and loading as the Ryder.

Still have my Son's sitting by the back door to chase critters away.

The thing is that the Buck is missing a forestock. What the heck?

I had one of those when I was a kid. I always wished it had been a Red Ryder. I think the cocking effort is about the same. The length of pull is nearly adult sized on the Buck and the Red Ryder both.

Really there is no air gun that is appropriately sized for a 5-year-old girl. A CO2 repeater that doesn't require manual loading and adjustable length of pull would be ideal. Those kids grow real fast. I am inclined to suggest getting something that they won't outgrow in a year or two.

The problem with BB guns and air rifles is that they're horrible shooters until you get into the same price range as a good .22 rifle.

If your 5 year old daughter is of average size, get her a pink Crickett rifle and a brick of Aguila Super Colibri, and set up a back yard, garage, or basement firing range. While technically illegal to fire inside most city limits, the Super Colibri is no more powerful, dangerous, or noisy than a decent air rifle, so it's unlikely to come to anyone's attention. Plus, she can fire regular .22 LR ammo from her rifle on a trip to the "real" range.

Congratulations on starting your daughter on a good path.

Kevin

KBCraig wrote:The problem with BB guns and air rifles is that they're horrible shooters until you get into the same price range as a good .22 rifle.

Well, at 10-15 yards, you can regularly hit coke cans with a Red Ryder. At least my 11-year-old can. To me, that's ideal backyard fun and more than enough accuracy. The trigger stinks and the spring-action jump is noticeable, but you can certainly shoot it accurately.

At 15 yards with open sights my Crosman 1077 will make the bullseye a ragged hole. It has no "precoil" jump and a better trigger.

You can get a Chinese springer air rifle that will shoot .177 pellets at 800fps and group an inch at 50 yards if you can hold it steady, for about $25-30. Of course no 5 year old girl can cock one of these. Potentially much better trigger but much more "precoil" type jump and it takes great skill to shoot one accurately but once you learn to shoot it, it is very accurate.

The big advantage of a BB gun is cost. You can buy 1500 BBs for $5 or less. Also it is pretty high risk for a CHL holder to allow a child to shoot a "technically illegal" rifle in their back yard. If you get called on this, you will probably lose your CHL. Is that worth the risk? For $25 I think a BB gun is well worth it, maybe in addition to a .22. Even counting the cost of the CO2 my 1077 is half the cost of shooting .22LR, and much less than the cost of shooting shorts. Plus it has no risk of me getting a citation or losing my CHL if the neighbors call the police.

In many towns in TX a BB gun is just as illegal as a .30-06 to shoot in your own yard. So check the ordinances first :) I know Cedar Park (where I live) is ok with air guns but no firearms, while air guns are illegal in neighboring Leander.

+1 for the Cricket

KBCraig wrote:The problem with BB guns and air rifles is that they're horrible shooters until you get into the same price range as a good .22 rifle.

If your 5 year old daughter is of average size, get her a pink Crickett rifle and a brick of Aguila Super Colibri, and set up a back yard, garage, or basement firing range. While technically illegal to fire inside most city limits, the Super Colibri is no more powerful, dangerous, or noisy than a decent air rifle, so it's unlikely to come to anyone's attention. Plus, she can fire regular .22 LR ammo from her rifle on a trip to the "real" range.

Congratulations on starting your daughter on a good path.

Kevin

I'm with Kevin. Growing up, my dad refused to let me have a BB gun, however, we had a range with a steel trap set up in the basement that I was permitted to use at any time with the single shot, kids sized .22 rifle he got for me (Stevens 15-b) . At the time, I really wanted that BB gun, but looking back, he was right. I had more respect for a "real" rifle than I would have had with a BB gun "toy".

Dave
"

I guess it doesn't matter that if your neighbors call the police while you are out shooting that harmless .22 with CB's in the backyard then you may very well end up losing your CHL now and forever? That's my last post on this topic. I don't see how openly advocating breaking the law is going to help anyone.

I have to vote for the Daisy Red Rider.... I guess because that was my first gun. I can't remember how old I was, but I do remember having to hold the stock down with my foot so I could pull up the lever action to cock it. I was pretty small, though. I can remember many countless hours of fun with that little bb gun.

-geo

I think five years young is too young, they simply don't have the focus nor grasp on reality to respect basic gun safety rules. I'm sure there is the rare exception, but five doesn't have the attention span required and they may get turned off to shooting by the inflexibility of basic gun safety.

Also, I'd start them with iron sights to teach basic marksmanship before moving to a scope.

It sounds like in the case that the gift is something that Dad wants more than daughter.

I'm 55 years old and I still spend hours on the patio with a Daisy, a beer and a cigar. I got my first Daisy with Green Stamps in 1960, got my son one when he was 6 or 7, and my grandson one at the same age. There's no telling how many pounds of bb's are burind in my back yard, and hopefully there will be many, many more

surv

iratollah wrote:I think five years young is too young, they simply don't have the focus nor grasp on reality to respect basic gun safety rules. I'm sure there is the rare exception, but five doesn't have the attention span required and they may get turned off to shooting by the inflexibility of basic gun safety.

Also, I'd start them with iron sights to teach basic marksmanship before moving to a scope.

It sounds like in the case that the gift is something that Dad wants more than daughter.

Nuf said.