Evolution of daughter's rifle

[aubie515]

Well, last year we went to the Great Outdoors show in Harrisburg, and Savage had a display at the show. My daughter and I both spotted a yellow stocked Savage Rascal rifle. Yellow is my daughter's favorite color, so I knew right away that I had to purchase that rifle for my daughter. The Savage Rascal is only a single shot rifle, but it comes in various colors and has accutrigger. Most of the time, when you see color stocks offered, you will see pink for girls and that's about it. Well Savage offers I believe 8 different colored stocks. I've never even seen a yellow stocked rifle offered, so it was a no brainer to buy it for my daughter.

I ordered the rifle from Bud's since they had the best price and included "free" shipping. The rifle is very light and comes with peep sights. It is also drilled/tapped for optics mounts.

My daughter is 5 and she's been shooting since she was 4. The Rascal rifle fit her very well as the LOP (length of pull) is designed for kids or smaller adults.

PROBLEM #1
I could tell that my daughter was having issues using iron sights. This past Friday, I went to EGW to pick up a Rascal scope mount. I own plenty of EGW mounts because they are solid mounts, a local company, and their products are a great value. I figured that I would help progress my daughter's shooting by adding a red dot to her Rascal rifle.

I knew that if I wanted to keep her interested in shooting that I would need to make it easy for her and enjoyable. I could tell she could not see using the iron sights, so red dot made perfect sense to me.

While my daughter was in school on Friday, I picked up her scope mount and added it to her Rascal. I had a Bushnell TRS-25 red dot on another rifle that I took off to add to her Rascal. I installed the mount and sighted in the TRS-25 at 25 yards. After a few shots I had the red dot zeroed.

PROBLEM #2
I took my daughter shooting yesterday to see how she liked the red dot on the rifle. The red dot is nice for quick target acquisition. At 25 yards, my daughter was able to make hits on paper. The problem we encountered was that she wasn't strong enough to pull the trigger. Fortunately, the Rascal is offered with accutrigger. I had to help her pull the trigger on our range session yesterday and I was very happy that she is learning the fundamentals of shooting. She didn't get tight groups, but that was because I had to help her pull the trigger on each shot. I'm pretty confident next range session will produce better groups for her.

Today, I found the little trigger adjusting tool that Savage provides with rifles that have accutrigger. I reduced the trigger pull for her. I made sure that she was able to pull the trigger herself.

The reason why I posted this was because I wanted to share my experience with rifles from a 5 year old perspective. I feel that this rifle is a great starting rifle for a young child or a small adult. While the LOP is short for me, I had no issues shooting this rifle. It's a fun rifle and inexpensive. I can tell that my daughter really enjoyed shooting it yesterday and I'm confident she will really enjoy her rifle now that she will be able to squeeze the trigger herself.

gear list
Savage Rascal yellow $150 shipped http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/finder/
EGW Rascal mount $26 on sale (Labor Day sale) http://egwguns.com/
Bushnell TRS-25 $80 (already owned) http://bushnell.com/all-products/rif...ot/trs-1x-25mm

Of course threads are useless without pictures.





The only other mod I am considering is to have the barrel threaded. I think the Rascal would look sweet with suppressor on the end. That way she can shoot it without her yellow head phone.

[bluetrane2028]

Have you established eye dominance? She may have been struggling with the sights because of that. I learned to shoot right handed and always had to close my left eye. Turns out the left eye is stronger so now I shoot long guns left handed.

[dannyb]

I'm thrilled that you take your 5 YO daughter to the range and that you are teaching her the fundamentals. I did that with my son at that age many years ago.

[aubie515]

Even if she is left eye dominate, I'd still be having her shoot right handed as this world is a right handed world.

I'm actually left eye dominate and the only time I ever shot left handed was in the basic training. I have no issues shooting right handed as I am right handed. I actually have friends that are left handed and I've gotten them conditioned to shoot right handed.

She's struggling because she's 5 and it's tough for me to see what she's seeing. The red dot just makes sense as it's easier to see the dot.

[markshere2]

Great work Dad!

For the kiddos, reactive targets like balloons, clays, knock downs, etc provide a lot more fun than paper.

[theunrulychef]

Glad you posted this. I was all set to get my boy a Crickett in the near future, but I'm definitely going for the Savage now. The air rifle he's been using is a bit large to shoulder so I got him a Daisy Buck. That's a little too wimpy, lol. I like the idea of a red dot or low power scope too to keep it interesting for them. I'm always trying to change what or where we're shooting to keep it fresh & fun.

[mollymayhem82]

Good stuff. My girls are learning to shoot now, though they're a bit older: 11, 8, and 7. They've been shoooting BB guns in the yard for awhile, to get the feel for it. The youngest can't quite grasp the mechanics, but the older two are crack shots with the Red Ryder and Crossman, so last winter, my husband picked up a Mossberg Plinkster at Walmart for less than $200, and picked up a few cans of .22LR at a local gunshop.

The gun is ideal for them. It's small enough for younger kids, but not as small as a Crickett or Rascal. 10 round magazine, adjustable rear sight, and zero recoil. The girls were able to get all the bullets on the target standing at 25 yards, and did a lot better seated. The only drawback with the rifle is there are no real aftermarket parts for it, and you can't mount anything on it.

[aubie515]

I really like having accutrigger for my daughter, since she was struggling to pull the trigger.

You really cannot go wrong with a firearm with adjustable trigger for $150.

Those Chipmunk and Cricket rifles are junk. No offense to anyone that owns them.

My logic is I wouldn't buy myself something sub par, so I'm not going to buy my daughter a junk item. I want her to learn fundamentals of shooting with something that can grow with her.

Her CZ 452 scout model is nicer than the Rascal, but it's heavier since it's wood and she loves the color of the Rascal.

I shoot both rifles and will say both have great triggers. I don't believe her CZ452 has an adjustable trigger, but it really doesn't need it as it's very crisp. I like the CZ452 because it has a one round mag and you can also purchase 5/10?rd mags.

All this talk about shooting, I may need to take her to the range this weekend to see how she does with the trigger adjusted for her.

[gghbi]

Even if she is left eye dominate, I'd still be having her shoot right handed as this world is a right handed world.

I'm actually left eye dominate and the only time I ever shot left handed was in the basic training. I have no issues shooting right handed as I am right handed. I actually have friends that are left handed and I've gotten them conditioned to shoot right handed.

She's struggling because she's 5 and it's tough for me to see what she's seeing. The red dot just makes sense as it's easier to see the dot.

That does not work for everyone. You apparently do not have strong eye dominance. I am right handed and left eyed, and the only way I can shoot right handed is to use an eye patch to block the left eye.

A simple test: can you wink your left eye without your right eye closing? Then wink the right eye without the left eye closing. If you can do both you do not have strong eye dominance, if not the eye you can wink without the other closing is the NON dominant eye. Try it. The OP may want to have his daughter try it. There are worse things in life to put up with.

[mollymayhem82]

Another good test for eye dominance is to use both eyes while looking down the gun, and centering the front sight between the rear sights. Close one eye, then open it, and close the other. Whatever eye you can still see the front sight with is your dominant eye.