My 8 yr old loves to shoot with me. He has a 10/22 that fits him well but for longer stuff he suffers through a full size 223. I so far haven' been able to come up with a good way to makeup a rifle for him with the 10.5 lop he needs without breaking the bank. What options have members here come up with.
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Rifle for 8 yr old.
- Thread starter Mancill
- Start date
In the same boat. I am struggling to make my 10/22 fit my 7yo daughter. I got an ATI Strikeforce stock on it, which is the shortest LOP I could find and it works well. But it won't handle a bull barrel and the gun is pretty inaccurate as-is.
I'd love to find a 22 of some sort with an adjustable stock (or an aftermarket stock that was easily adjustable) that could shoot 1 MOA at 50 yards.
I was dead set on the Magpul X-22 stock once she was big enough to handle it (shortest LOP is 11.5), but now I'm reading that folks are having all sorts of accuracy issues with it. So I'm kind of thinking of going to a bolt action or some other rifle if I can find one with an adjustable stock.
I've wondered how accurate the 22LR AR-15 rifles are. Really don't know, and I also don't know how reliable they are or how short the LOP can get. But I'd still prefer a bolt gun if I could find one for a reasonable price.
Savage Rascal or Cricket are not options. My wife doesn't want any more guns than what we have, and I want to be able to shoot the 22 also.
I'd love to find a 22 of some sort with an adjustable stock (or an aftermarket stock that was easily adjustable) that could shoot 1 MOA at 50 yards.
I was dead set on the Magpul X-22 stock once she was big enough to handle it (shortest LOP is 11.5), but now I'm reading that folks are having all sorts of accuracy issues with it. So I'm kind of thinking of going to a bolt action or some other rifle if I can find one with an adjustable stock.
I've wondered how accurate the 22LR AR-15 rifles are. Really don't know, and I also don't know how reliable they are or how short the LOP can get. But I'd still prefer a bolt gun if I could find one for a reasonable price.
Savage Rascal or Cricket are not options. My wife doesn't want any more guns than what we have, and I want to be able to shoot the 22 also.
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How does he do on a "youth" stock? Still too big? I was going to say if he could fit that, then you could build that up over time (add butt spacers) as he grows. Might help with you as well patriot07.
Any traditional stock I've tried is much too long. The only thing I've found that goes down to 10.5" (what my daughter needs also) is the ATI Strikeforce.
I'd love to find a stock for a CZ or Annie that would allow more adjustability.
Just find a take off somewhere and whack off the butt.
I did this for my little girl, she's only 4'10" all grown up now so imagine my dilemma back then. I thinned and lightened the stock in various places, including the super short LOP, used automotive body filler to build up the cheek, then painted it pink fleck stone.
I did this for my little girl, she's only 4'10" all grown up now so imagine my dilemma back then. I thinned and lightened the stock in various places, including the super short LOP, used automotive body filler to build up the cheek, then painted it pink fleck stone.
My 9y/o daughter has a Boyds AT1 on her Tikka T3x 223. With it collapsed it's just barely long in the LOP which I think is 10.5". I had thought about just cutting the factory adult stock down, but liked the benefits of the AT1. The stock has some smaller dimensions in the grip and forend that allow her to handle it better than a pro varmint style or T4. She likes it and can handle it fairly well. It's a 22" barrel, I'm planning on going to a 20" barrel in a light Palma contour so it will be back to 26" with the can on it.
I started my son at age 7 on a Rem 700 SPS tactical in 223. I replaced the factory stock with a Blackhawk Axiom stock. It worked really well for him and was able to grow along with him. The bonus was that once he grew out of that I had an action to build into something more interesting!
XLR chassis all the way collapsed. When my boys was 8 he was able to shoot the XLR well and I bought a McMillan A5 with the adjustable lop and cheek. Took all the spacers out and it has worked for him ever since. 11now.
My 5 year old uses a 22lr AR and fully collapsed it works for him also. They both started at 4 with a chopped down cricket.
My 5 year old uses a 22lr AR and fully collapsed it works for him also. They both started at 4 with a chopped down cricket.
That's right up the alley of what I was thinking. It doesn't need to be pretty right now, just functional. There's a fair amount of wood stocks you can cut short right now and add butt stock spacers to for a while.
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My mdt lss with a magpul ctr gets pretty short collapsed. Not sure if it goes 10.5 though. If you are interested I can pull it out and measure. It may even be for sale some time in the near future.
The above mentions options are great. However, kids aren't kids for long. You'll look back soon and they'll be grown. Spend a little money if you have to. Comfortable kids are happy kids. I have bought stocks on ebay and taken them straight to the band saw, but that was the only option years ago. I personally think any chassis that uses the AR style adjustable stock is the way to go nowadays because it grows with them.
I just went through this and I ended up buying my son a regular cz 455 then bought a boyds at one stock, which by the way isn't terrible for the money but definitely isn't a great piece. The cool thing is you can actually remove the adjustable recoil pad completely then add it back when you shoot it or he gets older by just pressing a button. But it only goes down to probably around 11.5 lop because they advertise minimum as 12.5 and I haven't measured it but think the pad is 1"thick.
Accuracy is as good as what ever style of bedding job you can do, and how well you get the barrel free floated. When I bed a full wood stock, i hog out quite a bit and that strong epoxy will hold a lot stiffer than if the material left was wood. Some guys pillar bed, some full bed (me), and some only bed the back of the recoil lug. While others still only skim bed...which makes no sense to me. Bedding my 6-.284 in a curly maple stock (correctly, the second time), brought groups down from just over an inch to under a half an inch.
This stock you are thinking about is also good practice in bedding and stock work that you can do yourself. In case you have an itch to keep at this shooting game a while.
I too second the wooden stock, lop it off. You can always screw it back on if worst comes to worst or he needs it to grow with him, a bit of sanding and youre good to go. Or a slip on recoil pad which can give him an inch back in the mean time of you putting the original stock back on.
My buddy has a little tiny 6br for his daughter and even though its super short it is still a hoot to shoot as a full size person. Super quick to whip out the window on some piggies when driving around.
My buddy has a little tiny 6br for his daughter and even though its super short it is still a hoot to shoot as a full size person. Super quick to whip out the window on some piggies when driving around.
the AR15 has made this easy for us. For my 22 i have a cheap stock with a ar15 carbine style stock. it is 1" at 50 yds with the right bulk ammo.
when my daughter gets a little older she will graduate to an AR15. 5 rd mags will be the ticket. a DMR gun with proper supervision can be a great way to learn in a controlled environment. I plan to keep it a little heavy so most of the shooting is from a bench or prone where I oversee firearm movements.
the semi auto may help with a new shooter staying on target, staying in the scope through the shot because they don't have to do anything in between shots.
when the shooter's skills progress beyond the accuracy or distance ability of an AR15 then a chassis that takes AR style stocks are the ticket.
when my daughter gets a little older she will graduate to an AR15. 5 rd mags will be the ticket. a DMR gun with proper supervision can be a great way to learn in a controlled environment. I plan to keep it a little heavy so most of the shooting is from a bench or prone where I oversee firearm movements.
the semi auto may help with a new shooter staying on target, staying in the scope through the shot because they don't have to do anything in between shots.
when the shooter's skills progress beyond the accuracy or distance ability of an AR15 then a chassis that takes AR style stocks are the ticket.
Buy once, cry once. He'll grow into it. Besides, maybe he'll let you borrow it.
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I feel like I've hijacked the OP's post...
But regarding the "buy a wood stock and chop it short", my wife has laid down the "no more guns" edict, which means I need an adjustable stock so this gun will work for me (5'11" adult male) and my 7-year-old daughter.
Thinking I really like the idea of the Boyds at-one, which should get to 11.5" LOP without the recoil pad. Love the laminate look and stock/cheek adjustability.
But regarding the "buy a wood stock and chop it short", my wife has laid down the "no more guns" edict, which means I need an adjustable stock so this gun will work for me (5'11" adult male) and my 7-year-old daughter.
Thinking I really like the idea of the Boyds at-one, which should get to 11.5" LOP without the recoil pad. Love the laminate look and stock/cheek adjustability.
What I did is use an XLR chassis. That was several years ago and now he is up to full LOP. It was a good solution as I could change the LOP easily as he grew.
This seems like a good idea. They also offer a shorter tube! They are good people too. I bet if you called them they would be happy to help.
My son started shooting with me last year, after the 10/22 I got a Tikka T3 243 on sale when the T3X came out. I cut the barrel to 18.5” and put it in an MDT LSS chassis with a recoil reducing AR15 butt stock. It’s a short, handy and fairly lightweight rifle that shoots great. That way he can shoot it fully collapsed now and still have room to grow into it.
It it works great bc we can both shoot it easily and it shoots 95 grain Bergers really well. He shot his first deer with it last year at 90 yards.
It it works great bc we can both shoot it easily and it shoots 95 grain Bergers really well. He shot his first deer with it last year at 90 yards.
My son at 6 started with the Cricett .22 rifle. I started a similar thread to this here earlier this year because he's 11 now. He outgrew the Cricket and needed a bigger rifle. I ended up getting him a Ruger American Ranch. I then put it in and MDT LSS chassis I just got off the Hide. Minus the scope, bipod and can, I have ~$600 in it.
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I don't know exactly but very short. They make a short tube or you can cut a milspec tube and get it to just the length of the sliding buttstock piece. My son has shot it from age 6 to 15 with no issues. It'll definitely go short enough. It'll go even shorter without the folding option. Nice part is it changes infiniely up to a full length of pull easily. You will be suprised how often their LOP changes as they grow. Much easier than his shotguns that required 4 shotguns.... mini, youth, ladies and then full sized to adjust to him in the same time frame.
I have a Mossberg MVP/LC .223 in the safe. I just measured, LOP goes from 11.25 to 14.5. I've not worked with a lot, but's it's liking 8208 and a Sierra 55, #1365.
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
The short tube on the XLR is the one that comes with the folding option. Take off the folder and keep the small tube and it goes pretty short and adjusts so it comfortable for me and I'm 6'2" so plenty of adjustment with the short tube
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