kids rifle

[62flint]

My eight year old girl has expressed an intrest in getting her own rifle.
I need a parts set with a 11-12 inch pull and be fairly easy to assemble. She wants to help build it. So I need it to be fairly easy. I also would like decent quality componets. The wood doesn't have to be great but a good barrel and lock is a must.
Any suggestions?

[ChipK]

Cabin Creeks Boys Rifle.  A super kit in .40 or .45 would be perfect and something to grow into.  A friend did one for my 14 year old daughter and now it is the rifle all of the women swarm to

[Joey R]

Possibly the Chambers Little Fellers (Gals) kit?? It's a 13" pull though. I think? Anyhow, good shooting to the young lady!!!

[Bioprof]

Jim Chambers has a Little Fellers rifle kit that I am sure would be of quality components.

[brokenflint]

Take a hard look at any kit you have an interest in and make sure you feel comfortable being able to build it.  Also take into consideration those little helping hands and their attention span.  NO NO don't ask me how I came to enlightenment    Dad is it done yet, when are we done scrapin and sandin Dad, can I go and play with my friends Dad, my hands hurt from all this work LOL

[Tommy Bruce]

While both kits mentioned are top quality components sets I think you will find them both heavy for your daughter.  I've had the same dilema with my boy.  We looked at both kits at the CLA show last year.  The Chambers was completely finished and the Cabin Creek kit was finished in the white.  Both were a bit heavy for him.  Of course she is going to grow.  Another option would be to have a custom barrel built by Ed Rayle and ship it to Pecatonica River supply.  They could then cut the barrel channel and pre-carve a stock for you.  Oh yeah.....my solution.  I am using a Pecatonica pre-carved Dickert with a 38" B wieght barrel.  I plan on cutting the length of pull at about 12 3/4".  The down side is that at age 10 he is a couple of years from being able to handle something like that but by going with a full-size rifle with a shorter length of pull it will last him many years.  

Good luck and let us know what you think.  

[California Kid]

Here is one I built a few years ago, 11 1/4" pull, 32" 13/16 .40 GM barrel, and small Siler lock. Real light.

 

[James Rogers]

Check on Mike Lea's little trade gun kt. It is quite petite and I believe it can be had with a rifled oct/round barrel and could be a lighter option.
Pay attention to comb height as much as LOP. Small faces and high cheekbone structure need to be considered. If it's not built from the stick to get a high enough comb, consider some form of cheek pad like a piece of moleskin. A little wd-40 and any sticky residue will come off when you need to remove it.

[62flint]

do you have mike lea's contact info?
I was thinking of getting something possibly in the white. To help with the attention span issue. Hers and mine. lol.
I looked at and thought hard about the chambers little fellas gun. I just think it is to heavy for her right now. Maybe in about 3-4 years.
Thanks for all the help guy's yall are great.

[James Rogers]

Micheal Lea & Daughter
2109 Summit St.
Columbus, Ohio  43201

614-291-4757

oldguns2109@sbcglobal.net

[rich pierce]

Mike Lea's kids trade gun is a light, neat gun.

California Kid, that's too nice for a young'un.  Spoiling them!  Where they gonna go from there?  Obviously a labor of love, beautiful.

[Captchee]

 Nice job California kid .
 I would also agree with james . One of the lea’s would be a good choice .
 One of the problems though is to remember that  suddenly  before you know it .  Your child is going to have out grown the rifle .
 It will seem like that happens over night .

 I built this  smooth bore , some  years back , for a young fella .
 Sadly do to a disease that’s stop his growth at age 7 , he will never out grow it .
 But I tell you this much . You don’t want to shoot aginst him . He will flat clean your clock  LOL .
 the little NW gun  believe it or not come  right to his chin .





 I would also agree that  working with Ed Rayle  and Dic at Pecatonica .  Could also produce what your looking for .
 But you will need to do some proper prior planning  and  work up a proportion for the rifle.
 If you do that . You can take  any full size rifle and reduce it to the size you want
 Have Ed make the appropriate barrel  and then send it  and your drawings to Dic to have  the parts inlet to a blank , not a pre carve .
 Better yet ,  if you have the ability , do it yourself .
 The pride  in the end result  will be far greater .

 you know i was thinking that there was also a gun builder here in the  NW that specialized in kids rifles ?
cant remeber his name right of but he had some very nice peices and was very reasonably priced to

[James Rogers]

Hey Jon,
Is that a left coast or east coast made gun? Nice.

[James Rogers]

Captchee,
That is a very nicely proportioned little gun.

You are so right about outgrowing a small gun. I know from triple experience that it happens almost overnight!

My son long outgrew his small gun but he can still shoot it. He sometimes uses it for tree rats as it's so light to carry.
The one good thing about a small gun like that is even when the kid outgrows it, he/she will always have a piece of their childhood to treasure and then share with their own children.

[The other DWS]

Is scaled down furniture available or do you have to cut down parts to keep things proportional.
if the latter is the case a nice scaled down NW trade gun would be easier to create. you can fabricate  the TG, BP, and sideplate from flat stock and use one of the smaller, even pistol sized locks.

[longhunter1757]

I'm in the process of building a smooth rifle for my 9 yr old son. Ordered the parts from Sitting Fox. Haven't got it yet so I can't speak for the quality but Mr. Franks was very willing to work with me on the specs. Basically I'm getting his Lehigh Valley rifle with the barrel channel cut for a .62 - 30" oct to rnd barrel and a 13 1/2" pull.
He also has a few different kits on his site specifically for children and ladies.
As soon as the parts come in I'll post on the quality.

Longhunter1757

[Tim Crosby]

 Reaves Goehring has the hardware for a boys rifle and Fred Miller has a pattern to go with it, neat little set up.
Did a little barn gun with a 3/4 28", .40 Rayl barrel and a Davis Little Becky lock it is small and light. I think Fred has an oct to rnd barrel to go with one.

 Tim C.

[Acer Saccharum]

I built this for my Sam when he was ten. Now he's twenty. It doesn't fit him anymore, but he still wants the gun. We had a lot of fun with this when he was young, going to shoots and all. The best thing was that it fit him, and that he could shoot it pretty well. A big gun that 'he will grow into' would not have been as satisfying, perhaps frustrating as well.

[caliber45]

62flint -- Much like Acer (though not nearly as well), I am building all my grandchildren (13 of them) what I call "grandkids carbines." Half-stock Hawken style, not from a kit. Small Siler locks (percussion and flint), 3/4ths-inch GM barrels (I cut the 42-inchers in half), calibers ranging from .32-.45, Davis set triggers. The "carbines" weigh about 5 pounds and don't have 40 inches of barrel out front to overtax young muscles. (I shoot carbines, too, being too lazy to haul around 10 pounds of iron and wood. They're surprisingly accurate.) They're not miniaturized, other than having shorter barrels and commensurately shorter forearms. If you'd like an image or two, I'll email them. -- paulallen, tucson az

[chapmans]

Here are 2 kids or ladies rifles the walnut stocked one was built for Arlene Kassnar(sp) by Bill Kurns in 1973 I used it for a pattern to build the curly maple stocked rifle for my son, Jason, when he was about 10 or so he'll be 19 in March, they both have 12" lop and are .40 caliber, Jason's has a Douglas bbl. 13/16" 32" long, Davis triggers and the Davis squirrel lock.
   Steve Chapman

[Larry Luck]

I'm building one right now for my son.
The precarve stock came from Virg Ott at Gunstocks Plus when he was having a sale on youth rifles.  The wood is hard and nicely figured and the price was right at $45.  I'm using a 13/16 .45 cal. Green mountain barrel that I shortened to 30" and a used Dixie flintlock that I've modified very slightly to alter the tail.
The buttplate is Track's sand cast Eister, which is short enough but a little wider than many of that size.  The triggerguard is a Dixie Melchior Fordney guard for a single trigger.
Proportioning the forestock was a little of a challenge, and I ended up with a slightly longer lower forestock to upper forestock.
Good luck with your project and please post photos,
Larry Luck

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I've been giving this some thought for one of my sons and possibly my daughters.

One thing I need to consider is the ease of build.  I don't want a gun that my boy will outgrow before the gun is completed!

I emailed TVM and they reported that they do quite a few youth guns.  They do not simply lop off an inch from the butt.  They said they don't use a duplicator - if that means anything to you seasoned builders.

The other thing to consider is that at age 8, if the gun is a tad large, you might not regret having to keep a hand on the gun to help her steady it.   Although most of my kids have been shooting for years before they reach 8; they all started out with me holding the gun while they simply lined up the sights and pulled the trigger.  My hand basically acted like a tripod swivel if that helps you draw a mental picture.

It only takes a fraction of a second for a youngun' to go from pointing in a safe direction to pointing at you.  They don't necessarily know that.  But it helps them appreciate the devastation a bullet can do when they see a pop can full of water explode on impact.

[flintriflesmith]

One thing I need to consider is the ease of build.  I don't want a gun that my boy will outgrow before the gun is completed!

I can more than relate to that! I started a rifle for my son when he was about eleven (But big for his age) and as one thing lead to another he was suddenly 16 and 6 foot 5!!

Gary

[Pete G.]

I built a cap gun around a 3/4" 32 cal x36" using the Davis "squirrel" lock. Made a neat little gun, but I did learn that you really need to pay close attention to what you are doing with a little gun. What would be a little mistake on a big gun turns into a big mistake on a little gun. An example of rethinking a little gun is something I had not thought about before I ran into it; that was things like the tang and lock screw really need to be a #6, which is not commercially available. Ended up making them from a welding rod. All in all it was a learning experience and I think I am a better builder for it. Now if I can just find someone that wants it

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Now if I can just find someone that wants it

I've got a 6-yr-old who might want it.

Wacha gotta get for it?