First rifle for a 7 year old?

[IvW]

7x57mm that fits.....

 

[5shot]

You might think about a youth model bolt gun in 223 as well. My girls started shooting ARs with lots of help from dad when they were 4, and moved up to bigger calibers when they were 12 or 13. Depending on where you live, it can be used for deer with the right bullets and will be a great varmint rifle. Some of the carbine models have shorter stocks too. I have a CZ Carbine in 223 that is a handy little rifle, and a Model 7 Remington that is nice and light too.

 

[rookhawk]

Point of order. Pay attention to the measurements of these “youth guns”. I’ve never seen a center fire rifle that properly fits “children” that was sold as a “youth” model. These mass-produced “youth guns” have 13”-13.5” length of pull and no increase in comb height. Put another way, the “youth guns” are proportioned to properly fit about 30% of the adult population and about 1/10th of 1% of the child population.

What’s a youth?

The United Nations defines youth as persons between the ages of 15 and 24 with all UN statistics based on this range, the UN states education as a source for these statistics. The UN also recognizes that this varies without prejudice to other age groups listed by member states such as 18–30. A useful distinction within the UN itself can be made between teenagers (i.e. those between the ages of 13 and 19) and young adults (those between the ages of 20 and 29). While seeking to impose some uniformity on statistical approaches, the UN itself is aware of contradictions between approaches in its own statutes. Hence under the 15–24 definition (introduced in 1981) children are defined as those under the age of 14 while under the 1979 Convention on the Rights of the Child, those under the age of 18 are regarded as children.[10] The UN also states they are aware that several definitions exist for youth within UN entities such as Youth Habitat 15–32 and African Youth Charter 15–35.

Where I come from, a 15 year old is a young man. At that point, they might need a “youth gun” or they might need a 15.5” LOP custom stock and stand 6’5” tall, 235lbs.

Getting a proper gun that is properly fitted is how you get children active in shooting sports. My middle kid tried sporting clays for the first time yesterday. He has a fitted double gun. (And double rifle, and magazine rifle, and bow, for that matter) He ran a perfect score on the first 4 stations and outperformed about 30 adults we observed on the same stations. Gun fit. Gun fit. Gun fit.

If you want to do it the wrong way, you don’t really need any opinions because any wrong way can be sufficiently wrong to effect the wrong outcome. If you want to do it right, the path is narrow and the road infrequently travelled.

 

[Woodcarver]

Point of order. Pay attention to the measurements of these “youth guns”. I’ve never seen a center fire rifle that properly fits “children” that was sold as a “youth” model. These mass-produced “youth guns” have 13”-13.5” length of pull and no increase in comb height. Put another way, the “youth guns” are proportioned to properly fit about 30% of the adult population and about 1/10th of 1% of the child population.

What’s a youth?

The United Nations defines youth as persons between the ages of 15 and 24 with all UN statistics based on this range, the UN states education as a source for these statistics. The UN also recognizes that this varies without prejudice to other age groups listed by member states such as 18–30. A useful distinction within the UN itself can be made between teenagers (i.e. those between the ages of 13 and 19) and young adults (those between the ages of 20 and 29). While seeking to impose some uniformity on statistical approaches, the UN itself is aware of contradictions between approaches in its own statutes. Hence under the 15–24 definition (introduced in 1981) children are defined as those under the age of 14 while under the 1979 Convention on the Rights of the Child, those under the age of 18 are regarded as children.[10] The UN also states they are aware that several definitions exist for youth within UN entities such as Youth Habitat 15–32 and African Youth Charter 15–35.

Where I come from, a 15 year old is a young man. At that point, they might need a “youth gun” or they might need a 15.5” LOP custom stock and stand 6’5” tall, 235lbs.

Getting a proper gun that is properly fitted is how you get children active in shooting sports. My middle kid tried sporting clays for the first time yesterday. He has a fitted double gun. (And double rifle, and magazine rifle, and bow, for that matter) He ran a perfect score on the first 4 stations and outperformed about 30 adults we observed on the same stations. Gun fit. Gun fit. Gun fit.

If you want to do it the wrong way, you don’t really need any opinions because any wrong way can be sufficiently wrong to effect the wrong outcome. If you want to do it right, the path is narrow and the road infrequently travelled.

It's been good reading how different a number of us see introducing our young to this great sport of hunting and shooting.
@rookhawk, you were doing well and had me nodding in agreement with most of what you put forth, until you brought the UN into it. Those idiots don't deserve to have you use anything they put out in regards to kids, or much of anything else for that matter. They are bound and determined to disarm the world. Surely you know this. They make no bones about their dislike of the 2nd Amendment to our Constitution.
That being said, your point on gun fit, gun fit, gun fit, is spot on. Today's market has a number of rifles that can be had in shortened LOP to fit those of smaller stature. I bought my first grandkid a Rossi Pardner in 22 & 20ga. Fit him very well as he was quite small for age. The 20ga was brutal. It had 2 rounds fired through it. One by him and one by me. Went back in the case and hasn't come out since. But the 22 proved very accurate.
I do hold that the individual is what determines being old enough. I was shooting when I was 4, with assistance. My kids were pulling the trigger on the BB gun that I held when they were 2 or 3 years old and progressed into the 22 as they were ready. All the grandkids were introduced to shooting before they were 5.
None of them ever had a question about a real gun vs their toy guns. But they were always allowed to handle the real ones when they asked. Real guns were never allowed to have that "forbidden fruit" aspect. I made sure any curiosity they had was met.
By the time my son was 7 or 8, he was shooting the 250-3000 quite well. He received his first shotgun when he was 10 or 11, a Mossberg 500, that I promptly shortened to fit him. A few years later, I reattached the piece I cut off so he could keep shooting it. I still have that ugly thing, lol. I traded him an 835 I won for it.
Put the time in finding a small bore that fits, or modify one. Train them well in safe gun handling. Take them to the field every opportunity, and make sure there are opportunities. Guide them into being the next generation of hunters we need.

 

[Forrest Halley]

I bought my first grandkid a Rossi Pardner in 22 & 20ga. Fit him very well as he was quite small for age. The 20ga was brutal. It had 2 rounds fired through it. One by him and one by me. Went back in the case and hasn't come out since. But the 22 proved very accurate.

I got a vicious taste of recoil read concussion with American Eagle High Brass #8 in 20 ga as a kid. I have a pardner NEF 20 ga single shot 21" barrel and weighs nothing. Holy cow! It still kicks like hell with those shells and that's with a slip on to lengthen the stock. I simply won't subject a young person to that. The recoil is just too fast.

 

[Newboomer]

I got a vicious taste of recoil read concussion with American Eagle High Brass #8 in 20 ga as a kid. I have a pardner NEF 20 ga single shot 21" barrel and weighs nothing. Holy cow! It still kicks like hell with those shells and that's with a slip on to lengthen the stock. I simply won't subject a young person to that. The recoil is just too fast.

When I was 12 I snuck my Dad's Win. 1886 45-90 out one day. It was an old classic with a crescent steel buttplate, 24 or 26 inch octagon bbl, full mag. I loaded up a couple 405gr sp. and lined up on a rock about 20 yds off. When I pulled the trigger the muzzle went almost straight up, I took 3 quick steps backward and damn near dropped the rifle. Steel buttplate on my young tender shoulder told me right quick that one round was more than enough. I jacked the other one out and put the gun back in the rack in the house. Never shot that one again.

 

[Zambezi]

Growing up in Rhodesia in the 70's I started with a pellet gun then a .22lr. The only other weapons I shot that I can remember by the age of 7 was my dad's army issue FN7.62 FAL, 9mm pistol and an Uzi. All under strict supervision.

He did have a beautiful 12g Berretta o/u that I longed to shoot but can't remember doing so.

 

[Forrest Halley]

When I was 12 I snuck my Dad's Win. 1886 45-90 out one day. It was an old classic with a crescent steel buttplate, 24 or 26 inch octagon bbl, full mag. I loaded up a couple 405gr sp. and lined up on a rock about 20 yds off. When I pulled the trigger the muzzle went almost straight up, I took 3 quick steps backward and damn near dropped the rifle. Steel buttplate on my young tender shoulder told me right quick that one round was more than enough. I jacked the other one out and put the gun back in the rack in the house. Never shot that one again.

It's not and it was not ever painful to shoot. It's something else entirely. It's like the speed of the recoil is too much and causes a headache. You don't actually get sore from it.
I have a body type that loves crescent butt plates. Never have been problematic for me.