looking for a .22 that a 5 year old might be able to handle.  She's a tiny little thing, so I'm wondering if it might be just the chipmunk for a while until her mitts are big enough.  I was thinking something like a ruger mk II or 22/45.  I'm almost positive that my glock 19 is going to be way to big for her, so I think the .22 kit is out.  Anyone have any experience?  

The little tiny 3.5" Walther P22 would probably be just the thing you're looking for... it really is a neat little gun.  Are you familiar with them  Look them up!!

A Ruger Bearcat might fit. They certainly have small enough grips.

Something not to complicated like a revolver,maybe a High Standard or a revalation nine shot!  Cheap and accurate!

Or as others have posted a Ruger bear Cat(lots of cash)!

Good luck  !

Bob

Don't laugh at me! When my sons were four years old, I had cheap Roehm .22 revolvers for them and when they could hold it better a S&W K-22 with the service grips.

I learnt that a longer barrel is somewhat safer for kids.

When I was 9 my father bought me a Ruger Single-Six.

While I was disappointed at the time (it didn't have near the "cool" factor of the MKII I wanted), I know appreciate the wisdom he exhibited in making my first handgun a single action revolver.

I'd say get her a Bearcat or Single-Six.

I bought one of these (S&W 2214, stolen image) a couple of years ago off of this board.  It weighs 18oz (3" barrel, 8 round magazines), and my eight year old could handle it no problem.  Thing I like about it is you don't really grow out of it, good trail gun, etc., also apparently good for suppressor because barrel sits so low, doesn't interfere with the sights.

I only have experience with Buckmarks, and Mosquitos.
I would stay away from the Browning Buckmark.
Buckmark
Negative.
1. Safety.  It is hard to manipulate, and does not have a "RED" anything anywhere.  
2. The slide is quite hard to manipulate when cocking the hammer.
3. Hand grip may be too big.  (I had the target model with molded grips, and it fit me).


Positive. (not really that important for a kid, safety is key)
1. Trigger pull (Single action).
2. Plenty of options for sights.
3. Accurate.
4. Shoots most ammo.


Haven't shot the Mosquito enough to give a good opinion.

I agree with Ruger bearcat.

Single action is the safest to start with.

height=8

Quoted: I agree with Ruger bearcat. Single action is the safest to start with.

+1 for the Bearcat...Especially for someone so young and tiny.

The bearcat is about 400.00 if you can find one!  You can find an old Win model 67 bolt action rifle for about  60 bucks!

And with the 27 inche barrel ,things will get hit!

Just something to think about!

Bob

I have four sons and all of them started shooting at around the age of 5.  I tried all sorts of stuff, from semi autos (handguns and rifles) to single shots and I've learned a couple of things.

The first things is that it's not good to give a novice shooter a gun that goes bang everytime they pull the trigger without further manipulation.  The first reason is that it promotes trigger happiness.  The second reason is that in a situation wherein there may have been a mishap of some sort, having a child with a firearm in their hand that is again ready to fire after the mishap could turn a small "oops" into a very dangerous situation.

For a rifle, I went with the single shot chipmunk types of rifles.  A few of them have at least decent triggers that won't hinder the little shooter too much.  If your dealer has more than one of any particular model, try them all out.  The quality of the trigger varies from rifle to rifle even if they are of the same make and model.  I followed up the single shot with bolt actions with detachable magazines.  The tube magazies are fine, but reloading them is awkward for little ones and can make others at the range a bit nervous.

As for a handgun, try to stick with something that has a decent sight radius.  Giving a child a handgun with a sight radius short enough to give a veteran shooter a hard time will only result in frustration and loss of confidence.  I went with the Ruger Bearcat.

I have found that my daughters (5 and 6) have a hard time with a revolver (H&R 696) because for them it's really muzzle heavy.  They actually do better with a Taurus .357 Snub. (Very light .38 special reloads)

For a Rifle the Savage Cub is so much nicer and user friendly than the Cricket/Chipmunk that it's not even funny.

When I was 11 I shot a couple of .22 pistols. some funny russian one, think it was called a mongel? bersa ruger mkI and a couple others.

My Favourite was the .357 magnum and the bad guy target at 10 yards cause the steel gong at 50 was far to easy to hit despite how excited it made the adults that I could easily hit a small round bit of steel.

But otherwise the ruger mkI would be a safe choice, atm im using a colt woodsman or something simmilar and I hate it.

I got my 7 year old daughter a P22. After the first shot I saw that it was a bad idea for many reasons. The main thing was (as mentioned in an earlier post ) it's ready to fire and if instruction is needed you don't want them turning around to listen with a weapon ready to go bang. I'm going with a revolver for her. My 5 year old son shoots a Taurus tracker .22, it's big and heavy but he still shoots it very well. It's to heavy for my daughter though.

My six year old son has shot my Ruger Single Six on a few occasions.  It's big for him, but I currently have one hand on any loaded gun with him at all times, so it's not an issue yet.  I think we'll just work through it though, since I already have the Single Six, and don't feel the need to buy a smaller .22lr, since he'll only be getting bigger.

The Ruger Bearcat is a very nice gun and may be perfect for her.

The Ruger Super Single Six might be too big for her hands.

The S&W Model 317 Kit Gun is a sweet 22LR revolver too.

Best wishes.

Catherine