I would like to get a .22 Bolt gun for my Young sons to use at the range. I don't have a bunch of money right now and I need to get two of them. I saw some Romanian bolt guns for $59.00 at a show. Are they worth it. They definitely needed to be cleaned ,which would be good practice for them, but has anybody shot one?
[bounce]

Better to buy one Chipmunk this year and one more next year. They can pass it around. Check the pawn shops for used ones. Sometimes you get lucky.
If they are bigger, find a Marlin 15Y. They are cheap and good. Check Gunsamerica, too. Don't buy junk.

I just finished the shopping and selection process that delivered a new .22 for my son; his first firearm.  I looked at a lot of those Romainian training rifles and their condition was pretty bad compared to other military surplus bolt actions in the stores.  I ended up getting a Marlin 25 with the camo stock.  Needless to say, my son was thrilled with the gift.  What was interesting is the prices the gun stores were asking for used bolt actions from Remington and Winchester.  Even though I bought new, it seemed a better value than the what the used guns offered.

Tell us how old they are????????
If young then I second the Chipmunk. Nice quality rifle.   [sniper]

My soon to be 9 year old daughter got a chipmunk from us last Christmas.  She loves it.  She's quite small, more like a 6 or 7 year old and it fit's her perfectly.  The rear peep sight is a little cheezy looking but overall the rifle is a beauty.  It is fitted with the deluxe checkered walnut stock.

I've been thinking about modifying an extra 10/22 I have.  I'll shorten and slim up the stock up a bit and probably fit it with either a carbon barrel or just have the stainless one shorted to 16.25 and then turn it down a bit to lighten it some.

That will be here next rifle.  

I got the Buckaroo model Marlin .22lr for my son (6yrs).  It is a bit big right now, but he'll grow into it.  Nice little rifle.

The oldest is 10 but is 5' 130# and wears size 11 mens shoes.
The youngest is 5 but is only slightly large for his age.

I have an old 341 Sportsmaster NRA that will be theres someday.

IMO, you should make sute to get the kid a bolt gun.
There is no way to ruin a childs marksmanship faster than starting them out with a semi.
Also, I say get something with a crisp/heavy trigger. It will develop proper technique, and good trigger control over time. Light triggers will assuredly lead to N/D's with new shooters.

The Romanians are good for the $$$, and keep in mind if you are good with tinkering, you can alter the gun to fit the child by cutting the stock, or having the barrel shortened.

In essence, you can build your own "Chipmink" using the $59 rifle as a base...

I agree.  Start them off with bolt actions either single shot or a repeater loaded with a single round.

I chose the Chipmunk 'cause its a real beauty and my daughter is very proud of it.  On the other hand, if you decide to create your own "chipmunk" with a romanian bolt gun then I'd suggest that you involve your sons.  There is plenty even a little bo can do with sandpaper, etc to help Dad build a rifle.  That would also give your boys the pride of having build something themselves.

I plan on having my daughter help me with the lightweight 10/22 I spoke of earlier.

BTW,  I also get a BIG kick when I fire the Chipmunk.  You have to bend your neck a bit because of the extremly short length of pull but it's a lot of fun to bring that little rifle up from low ready and knock down a target.  It swings almost too fast it's so light.  At 2.5 lbs, it's lighter then some fully loaded hi cap auto pistols...

When I was about 12, I tried to teach my little sister age 7 how to shoot, but my .22 was to heavy for her.  I remember I bought her a Daisy BB gun for around $10-15.00. It was just the right size for her and she loved it.  I started her off shooting at milk cartons filled with water.  We spent a lot of afternoons shooting together that summer.

Larry

My 7 year old son has a Rossi Pump .22. I had to cut the stock a little shorter to fit him. That seems to work fine. He can pop shots faster with the Pump action and I dont have to worry about Jams. Plus you can use .22 long or short.

Get a 22LR conversion for your AR.

Just got one of the USAF units [;)]

My daughter can't wait!  We'll have to have her shoot off a bench or backpack though.  No way she can hold it off-hand yet.

My nine year old started out with a Chipmunk at age seven.  I recently bought an air-force .22 coversion kit from drock which I've now mated to a 16" A1 upper just for this purpose.  My youngest son will soon inherit the Chipmunk, the cycle continues [;)]