Gun Question

[Timin8Tr]

Not very Gun experienced,

So the boy wants to trade his Cricket 22 rifle in for an air Pellet Rifle. I bought the Cricket at Gander Mtn for 119.00, and planning on trading it in on the Air Rifle.

Any idea what they will try to offer me? And/or at what Low, do i just keep it and buy the Air Rifle outright? I'm thinking if they only offer $50 I'm keeping it? Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks.

[crb]

Probably less than $50 honestly.

[Cdubyah]

Keep it.

[Timin8Tr]

Wow, ok I'll keep it.

Thanks, guys.

[Cdubyah]

You could always call first to see. You might get lucky.

[Timin8Tr]

I'll take it with me and see, I did get a $25 trade in voucher with the purchase.

My first thought was why does the boy want to trade down? Well I am all over him on shooting the 22, it can travel pretty far and I impose stickt rules, where he shoots and I am watching, a pellet gun he can wander the fields on his own, guess I understad.

Second thought is what am I going to do with 350 rounds of 22lr ammo if I trade it in?

Third thought was looking at a 22 hand gun, kind of pricy looking on line and most are out of stock? I would consider trading a kids rifle for a 22 hand gun if anyones interested? Cash included from my side of course, let me know.

Thanks for the advice, from the gun experienced.

[4DAIVI PAI2K5]

Just keep it, he will want it back at some point.

[Mojoe]

^^agreed.

But should you sell it, I'll take the 22 ammo off you hands

[redkow97]

If you're looking for a kid-friendly .22lr handgun, the Ruger Bearcat has a really small frame. My uncle has one for his grandkids.

It's not too small for an adult to shoot, but if you'll be the primary user, the Single Six (or the Single Ten) is more ideal, and you can buy them with a .22 magnum cylinder as well.

What I really like about the Single Six:

- accurate

- fun

- single-action and 6 shot cylinder slows me down and makes ammo last longer.

- the one I shoot with my uncle belonged to my grandfather.

But even without the sentimental value, they're a ton of fun. Heritage arms makes less expensive copies of the Single Six. Not sure on the Bearcat.

[Gixxus Christ!]

Single six or double nine. Both great pistols.

[max power]

It's the boys first gun. Why would you trade that? He will want it when he grows up.

[Timin8Tr]

Good point. I'll keep it.

[imaposer]

We sold my boys cricket when he got a 10/22. To be honest, the cricket is a good first gun, but it's a toy, not of good enough quality to be kept even for sentimental " first gun" value.

I would list the gun and ammo on gunlistings.org for $150, and take $125 for it, getting your money back out of the deal. There's no reason to lose money on any gun or ammo right now.

[ross]

We sold my boys cricket when he got a 10/22. To be honest, the cricket is a good first gun, but it's a toy, not of good enough quality to be kept even for sentimental " first gun" value.

I would list the gun and ammo on gunlistings.org for $150, and take $125 for it, getting your money back out of the deal. There's no reason to lose money on any gun or ammo right now.

I don't think a gun needs to be quality to have sentimental value later down the road. My first .22 rifle was an old Mossberg Model C single shot when I was about 5. It was scratched, rusted, and had a small chunk missing out of the left side of the butt. My mom restores antique furniture so she helped me strip the finish, sand out all the scratches, and filled the missing chunk with wood filler. We refinished the stock and removed all the rust with 0000 steel wool. The gun probably isn't worth shit to anyone else, but I'll never get rid of it.

[MidgetTodd]

I don't think a gun needs to be quality to have sentimental value later down the road. My first .22 rifle was an old Mossberg Model C single shot when I was about 5. It was scratched, rusted, and had a small chunk missing out of the left side of the butt. My mom restores antique furniture so she helped me strip the finish, sand out all the scratches, and filled the missing chunk with wood filler. We refinished the stock and removed all the rust with 0000 steel wool. The gun probably isn't worth shit to anyone else, but I'll never get rid of it.

This, and you probably still remember everytime you shot it with mom and dad.

A Cricket is a crappy cheap ass gun, but in 20 or 30 years he'll think of dad everytime he sees it.

I still have my first 22 that came from my grandfather. I haven't went hunting with him for 30 years because he's gone but I still remember in perfect detail every squirrel I shot with him at my side. I could be broke, hungry and homeless but I still won't get rid of that 22

[crb]

My cricket is surprisingly accurate for being so cheap, and fun to shoot. The single shot really makes you slow down before pulling the trigger. I would keep it.

[bowdog]

I have many guns that were purchased for me by my father and I think Todd put it the best, "I could be starving and homeless" and I will never sell them!

[JohnG]

This, and you probably still remember everytime you shot it with mom and dad.

A Cricket is a crappy cheap ass gun, but in 20 or 30 years he'll think of dad everytime he sees it.

I still have my first 22 that came from my grandfather. I haven't went hunting with him for 30 years because he's gone but I still remember in perfect detail every squirrel I shot with him at my side. I could be broke, hungry and homeless but I still won't get rid of that 22

^^^^THIS.

I still remember the day Dad bought me the single shot 20 gauge and the first pheasant I shot with it with him. Wish I still had it.

[Timin8Tr]

Yep, you guys got me on the sentimental value. I still have my Daisy that Dad bought me 30 some years ago, gave it to my boy when he was 6 and he loved it. It barely works now, sometimes it shoots, sometimes the bb rolls out the end but we still have it around. He can give the Cricket to his first kid.

So anyhow to Gander Mtn we go yesterday. Wow Air Rifles are not like I remember when i was a kid. Again I am not very gun experienced. He was Cool, glad to take the middle of the road on price. They had some for $69 up to like $349.

We got a Gamo Big Cat 1250 .177 pellet gun with a 4x32 scope for $149. I was amazed, this thing is about the size and feel of a shotgun. We shoot a few rounds and Damn, its almost as loud has the 22? Echoing and all! It took about 50 round (what they supplied) to get the scope dialed in ok. Then we break out the other pellets and he wants to get a bird.

We didn't get a bird but 10-12 shots later, somethings weird? Its not making that loud "crack" sound. You can hear more of a "spring" sound? So I'm like oh shit, this ought to be fun trying to return, or ask them about whats wrong with it.

So I look at the reviews on line, probably should have done that first? But anyhow the reviews are pretty good, some complained about the scope, but mostly complained a bout the accuracy of the Ammo. What they supplied was PBA Platinum Ammo, which they advertises as 1250 fps with that, I guess these actually break the sound barrier creating the crack. One person said its kinda "novelty thing" I guess the lead pellets only get about 950-1000 fps, but are much more accurate. So for now I'm still happy, will redial the scope using the lead pellets and hopefully he will enjoy his small game hunting.

Thanks again for everyones advise.

[crb]

The only gun my dad bought me was a gamo pellet rifle at 25+ yrs old. I wasn't allowed to have toy guns as a kid.

I was surprised how loud the pellet rifles are.

[JohnG]

One thing you will notice with the pellet gun is that there's a recommended break in period of up to 100 rounds. The gun will be noisier than it should be during that time. This is due to "dieseling" or the expressing of lubrication that was in the gun at manufacture. It should get a lot quieter after shooting it up to 100 times. I just picked up a Crosman TR77 and it's advertised at 1000 fps but actually shoots around 940. If you've already dialed in the scope and the sound level has dropped off, check your zero with the same brand pellets and the gun should still be relatively close to zero. If it's way off, then you may have a problem. Also, heavier pellets will shoot out of the gun with less noise and that will also affect your zero.

Have fun. Be safe. Don't "put your eye out, kid"