My three kids are all under 6 years old right now, but I'm going to buy them each a centerfire rifle (already taken care of), a .22LR rifle, and a handgun for when they're older.  Who knows what will be available in 15-20 yrs.  I'm considering the Romanian M-69 (?) for the .22.  I'd like to get them all a 10/22, but that's more expensive.  

What's the condition of the little plinkers you folks have seen? Are they a better buy than a Marlin 60 (the competition)?  For the money they seem to be a great deal.  Yea or Nea, and why, if you would please!

personally, i would go to wally world and pick up one of those marlins, although for more discipline and keeping the kiddies from spray and praying, a bolt gun is a good idea.
remember, teach them how important quality is when they are young and it will stick with them forever.
no matter what you get them, you're doing the right thing by teaching them one of the greatest traditions in this country, as well as confidence, responsibility and discipline. i haven't had any personal experience with the rom .22's but i HAVE heard they tend to be a little rough.

The Romanians are cheap, that's their saving grace.  You can get them for $50 if you shop around.  Mine is more accurate than you'd expect from such a rough-looking piece of Combloc hardware.  

Trigger is nasty, bolt handle is stiff and could stand to be a little longer, open sights are OK, stock finish is hideous, scope mounting is problematic unless you buy the Kwik-Site specialty mounts (though I drilled & tapped mine for a 10/22 base).

Mine also had some problems feeding from the mag... found extractor was too long and sharp, a file fixed the problems.  It still doesn't always positively eject 100% of the time.  

Pluses:  long barrel, too cheap to worry about messing up, flat top makes drilling & tapping a breeze, trap in stock allows a stash of ammo.

One of my friends has one set up with an SDS 22LR can and a cheepee scope.  After some feed ramp and firing pin/ejector tweaking it's pretty nice.  

I second all the above good and bad points.  Metal was fine, stock sucked.

With a few minutes of stoning, the trigger smoothed out a lot and accuracy improved a lot.  With Remington standard velocity blue/green box stuff, it shoots inside about a quarter inch at 25 yards.  

It kind of sucks to put a $200 can (plus $200 tax!) on a $60 rifle but it's a lot of fun and it's not a Roogler.  The first time we took it out with the usual assortment of toys (UZI, FAL, M60, M1A1 Thompson) it saw quite a lot more use than the others.  For a change it was nice to not have to wear hearing protection.  One of the club's old guys came over to tell us how we could damage a 22 by dry firing it.  
"Eh? What's that sonny?  You're firing it!?  Let me see that..."

I love shooting full auto as much as anyone, but there's something WAY cool about plinking with quiet 22.  It's even better with this particular rifle since we gave it a cool non-PC name.  It's known as "The Silent Romanian Death Machine".

Quoted:  Who knows what will be available in 15-20 yrs.  I'm considering the Romanian M-69 (?) for the .22.  I'd like to get them all a 10/22, but that's more expensive. Are they a better buy than a Marlin 60 (the competition)?

I would imagine that in 10-15 years the Romanian spare parts will be all dried up, while the Ruger 10/22 and Marlin 60 will be around forever.  If you ever needed a spare magazine, spring or other part for the Romanian, it will be a tough serch or you might even be SOL.

Just my thoughts on putting away a rifle for the future.  

OSA

I bought 2 that were all matching numbers in Exc like new condition. Both shoot extremely well and have very good crisp triggers unlike most US made 22 rifle triggers which tend to be horrid ! You can't beat these things for value and I also second the use of SKS double leather tab slings which are perfect for these awesome little rifles !

I bought one of the like new Romos last year for $79. It was new. After cleaning out the cosmo and using cheap Tasco rings and a cheap Bushnell scope, I found a real tack driver with Aquilla Super Maximums. I just got done testing a Mitchell 15/22. This is the same carbine offered by CDNN by Armscorp for $89.00. All I can say is that I am no longer interested in a 10/22. I won't ever have to settle for a model 60 either. It was way better than I expected.

I got one, Great bang for the buck. The trigger is the weak link in the rifle. I just wish I could find a scope mount that will it. More accurate than a 10/22.

Thanks for the info folks!  Good point about spares in the future.  I've been thinking, I see them at SOG for $60 +$10 handpick, and it will cost me $30 to get it through my FFL.  That means it will cost me $100, which is what a new Marlin 60 will run me at WallyWorld.  If I could get it for near $50, I'd get two or three, but I'm leaning back toward the 60 if it's gonna cost me the same.  How do you guys get them for $50?

I agree with CAMPYBOB.  My dad bought one for $48.  I shot it to see what it would do.  Little SOB will shoot but it is butt ugly.  After trying his I have decided I need to buy a pickup load of them.  Get one for everyone in the family and a few for spares.  A decent .22 is something you can always use.  If you decide you dont need the extra gun(s), there is always somebody looking for a cheap .22.