Young man's rifle

[huckfinn]

I want to build a rifle for my son that he could use when he is 12 or so.  He is seven now, but if I build it to suit him now he will soon outgrow it.  Here is my idea and I thought maybe some one may have already done it.  Would a full length Hawken with a 29 1/2" barrel work (13/16")?  Probably .45 caliber. 

My other idea is a Tennessee long rifle with similar barrel.  I have an old CVA mountain rifle that I could steal parts from.  It has a small Siler lock on it that is good.   

Thanks!

[b bogart]

Huck you need to consider a shorter trigger pull and maybe a little less drop for a youngster. Just shortening the barrel is not the only consideration. I'm sure your son will love it !!

[Paddlefoot]

Build a simple rifle that will suit him for a time which allows him to learn to shoot over a support and later offhand and as he begins to out grow that one you can either build another simple rifle or whatever seems to make sense then. The first one will always be something he will want to keep.

[Acer Saccharum]

It takes me about a year to build a gun, so I need to plan for growth ahead of time.

Tom

[Sam Everly]

Give Jim Chambers a call about his little fellers rifle kit. At 7 now , the trigger pull will be what you have to deal with. What works at 7 will not work at 12. The barrel would be next , i would go for a 7/8 with a 50 cal.and about 32 to 36 inches long . I would say if you want to get him shooting now , you will end up building another for him around 12 . Don't forget on the 50 cal. you don't have to shoot a big load in it . That 7/8 in a 50 will nock down the weight a bunch .   

[axelp]

I have heard that that little fellers rifle is really nice. that would be a GREAT choice.

I got the short Chambers english sporting rifle for my son when he was in his early teens. He handled that fine--except I had it built as a .58 cal and so it can produce a significant recoil at hunting loads. But it is a fine gun for adult or smaller person alike. It balances really nice, and carrys in the woods like its a part of ya. I bet at a smaller caliber it would be a dream gun for a young man.

K

[rich pierce]

I'm with Sam on the .50 in 7/8".  Built a plain rifle around a barrel like that, 34" long for my wife and son when he was 10 or so.  Has a 11.5" pull.  The bigger caliber ball  is easy for fumbly fingers to load and it's light in 7/8.  I think a simple trigger is best for kids and plinkers.  With 40 grains it shoots fine for short ranges, doesn't kick much, not too loud.  And one can always shoot a gun that is too small, but cannot shoot a gun that is too big.  I could hunt with that gun if I had to and had no trouble sighting it in.

Acer, you should show that small rifle you made for your son.

[BJH]

My two Grand sons will probably top out at over 6 feet. Being 8 and 9 Ill probably be building at least two rifles each due to growth. Pluss a gun or two for their little sister 5 years old. Pluss a smooth bore or so. It is tough having all these excuses to build guns.

[tallbear]

I made this little rifle(top one) for my son when he was 12.I used the same barrel as in Chambers little fellows rifle.It is tapered and flaired and can be purchased fron either Getz or Rice.I found that makeing it in .50 caliber made the gun really light and my son had no trouble holding it up.Even loaded with 50 grains of FFFg recoil was never a problem.I made the lenth of pull 12 1/2" which was a touch long but meant he could use it as he got older.If I have a hunting jacket on I have no problem shooting,it also fits my wife nicely.

Mitch

[huckfinn]

All good advice.  I think you convinced me on the .50 caliber.  I did think about the more weight=less recoil and I already have lots of .50 caliber stuff.  Simple design like the Tennessee rifle is good for me as I am a novice.   Don't you think 32" is a little long though?  When carrying a gun that long a little person might be more likely to stick it in the snow or mud.    I will check out the little fellers gun by chambers.  I have a nice piece of curly maple that has been curing for 15 years or more that will work for the stock.  I need to get that out and get it ready.  I will post a picture of that for you guys in the near future.  Thanks!

[tallbear]

My son never found the rifle to be too long but he has always been tall for his age.If you were concerned about lenth I would cut the "little fella" barrel back just before it started to flair out and recrown.That would make a real neat tapered barrel that would work real well and be lighter than a staight barrel.

Mitch

[Larry Luck]

I'm building one for my son (turns 11 next month).  13/16"x.45x30" Green Mountain.  12" LOP.  He is on the small side, but this looks to fit him a little large right now. 
Have fun.
Larry Luck

[rich pierce]

Tallbear, can I be one of your kids?  Mighty fine rifle.  I'm having to revise my list of favorite builders lately.

[huckfinn]

Larry, I like your idea.  What style are you building your son's rifle? 

[JCKelly]

Lots to think about learning to shoot a muzzle loader as a child. I enjoyed shooting a family 1/2 stock about .38 cal as a teenager. Recoil, unpleasant noise &c did not occur.

Might I offer for your consideration that you make the boy a .36 or .40 caliber to begin his shooting career? Some time after his hormones start raging he might want to move up to a large caliber rifle.

Right now it might be a kindness to introduce him to a squirrel-size bore. My Grandfather claimed he could "knock the head off a pheasant" with his rifle, about .38 cal, as well as winning a lot of turky in the 1890's or so. He started shooting that rifle as a child, maybe 7, disremember. Told me "that rifle was my life".

[ChipK]

Cabin Creek makes a wonderful little rifle as well.  My daughter has one in .40 and it ballances well.  Swamp barrel, brass patch box.  Steve Skillman out here in Washington State built it for her. 

[StevenV]

    I made this youth longrifle for my children a few years ago . It has served them well. Two of my sons used it when they were 12-15 yrs. old and now my daughter uses it to hunt with. She used it this past season for our rifle season and flintlock season here in Pa. No problems not to big or heavy. She is now 13yrs. old(7th grade),5'4", 96lbs. She also uses it  when we go to our clubs monthly shoots. Specs: 45cal., 7lbs., 32"Green Mt. barrel, 7/8" barrel,lg.seiler lock,1 pipe,wrist is 1.375" at 4" behind breech, trigger pull 12 5/8", single trigger. Hope this helps.

[Dphariss]

I want to build a rifle for my son that he could use when he is 12 or so.  He is seven now, but if I build it to suit him now he will soon outgrow it.  Here is my idea and I thought maybe some one may have already done it.  Would a full length Hawken with a 29 1/2" barrel work (13/16")?  Probably .45 caliber. 

My other idea is a Tennessee long rifle with similar barrel.  I have an old CVA mountain rifle that I could steal parts from.  It has a small Siler lock on it that is good.   

Thanks!

7/8" x 45 x 36" GM, large siler. 12 year old hunter. 40 yard off hand shot.

Pull is too short now. But its still shootable by an adult.

Need to make him a new rifle he has grown some since this was taken.

2010 at the 11th Marines ball.


Make the rifle about like some originals 13" pull and don't make it too light.
If you want light use a swamped barrel.
If making a percussion use a GOOD patent breech that shields the shooter from cap fragments.

Dan

[Birddog6]

I am building my grandson a  3/4 size Isaac Haines rifle. It has a .40 cal Getz A swamped barrel cut from 38" to 36".  The rifle weighs 5#, LOP is 12 1/4",  and the balance is awesome. It has a Chambers small Siler flintlock.  

IMHO, For a kid, balance means more than weight, as if it is nose heavy, even a 5" rifle is allot for a kid.   Unfortunately for most kids, Dad's have a tendency to expect more out of their kid, as a General rule.  They forget they are Kids   and 5# is allot to them when they are holding it up.  Using a swamped barrel makes it MUCH easier for the kid to shoot as some of the weight is shifted back on the shoulders rather than the forearm.

Keith Lisle

[Larry Luck]

Finndog,

Here are a couple pictures of the rifle in progress:





The stock is a heavily reworked youth precarve from Virg Otto at Gunstocks Plus.  He had a special a couple years ago and it was a good buy.

Lock is a recycled Dixie pistol sized lock that an ALR member was kind enough to sell (he didn't tell me it sparked like the dickens!).  Triggerguard is a Dixie Fordney casting.  Buttplate is a reworked Eister styled York buttplate from Track.  I plan to put on a Fordney-styled horsehead patchbox.

Not completely true to any school.

Keith is right about the balance issue.  I ended up shortening the barrel to 30 inches to get the balance where I wanted it.  With a tapered and flared barrel, it could have been 36-38 inches and a more pleasing rifle.

I'll be able to get back to work in a few weeks.  My WEBELOS are getting their Arrow of Light awards next weekend and bridging to Boy Scouts in March so I'll have an extra evening each week for projects.

Larry Luck

[Dphariss]

Finndog,

Here are a couple pictures of the rifle in progress:





The stock is a heavily reworked youth precarve from Virg Otto at Gunstocks Plus.  He had a special a couple years ago and it was a good buy.

Lock is a recycled Dixie pistol sized lock that an ALR member was kind enough to sell (he didn't tell me it sparked like the dickens!).  Triggerguard is a Dixie Fordney casting.  Buttplate is a reworked Eister styled York buttplate from Track.  I plan to put on a Fordney-styled horsehead patchbox.

Not completely true to any school.

Keith is right about the balance issue.  I ended up shortening the barrel to 30 inches to get the balance where I wanted it.  With a tapered and flared barrel, it could have been 36-38 inches and a more pleasing rifle.

I'll be able to get back to work in a few weeks.  My WEBELOS are getting their Arrow of Light awards next weekend and bridging to Boy Scouts in March so I'll have an extra evening each week for projects.

Larry Luck

Lucky boy.
The rifle is very typical of the generic Kentucky. I once owned an original circa 1830s that was not much different than this.
The year I made the rifle in my post above my son and I attended the Rondy at Granger, WY. He cleaned up the 12 and under matches. I was taken aback at the crappy quality guns people were letting their kids shoot. There is no excuse for this.
If the young shooter is worth making or buying a rifle for get them a GOOD ONE soundly designed and properly built. Not some POS that some people would rather not be around when its being fired.

I was somewhat concerned over the 7/8 barrel but I detest 13/16" 45s. My son is not all that large yet but he was able to handle the rifle fine. I intentionally made it a little long for his 12 year old frame so he could always use it. If I would have changed anything I would have used a 38" swamp and made the stock from a blank. This was a precarve and the stock was not what was advertised but its still a good sound rifle. But I got it done fast and he shot it quite a bit before hunting season and the result was good. Steel plate targets, large enough for easy hits work great for kids and can be moved out past 25 yards as the skill increases.

Dan

[J.D.]

Chuck Edwards built a very nice Woodberry style rifle for his 12 year old son, at the time, using a 38" either A or B wt 40 cal swamped barrel, Chambers lock, and hand forged hardware that handled like a dream. Nice and well balanced, but just heavy enough in the butt that it held really well.

That rifle had about a 13" pull that fit Chase very well, but was long enough that he could shoot that rifle as an adult. Though the pull felt a little short, to me, it was still very comfortable to shoot...and shoot well, and I have a rather Rubenesque adult body.   

God bless

[huckfinn]

Thank you all for sharing what you have learned.  Thanks for the pictures.  Never thought of a 36" swamped barrel for a youngster but the balance point could make all the difference.  I finally bought the TOW catalog #17 and now I can look up another barrel!  I will keep you posted.  Hope my rifle turns out half as good as all the ones you guys have made and I'll be happy!