A rifle for my grandson.

[Ben]

Trevor is 7 yrs. old.
Trevor is not ready for a .22 rifle just yet.
However, soon he will be ready.
I thought this might be a nice " 1st Gun " for Trevor.
It came home with me today.

A Thompson Center, .22 Long Rifle.
The rifle out of the box weighs exactly 3 pounds. That
and T/C's reputation for accuracy sold me on this rifle
for my grandson.

Adaptable with peep sights or a scope base.
Think I'll start Trevor out with peep sights.

Ben

 

[quicksylver]

Excellent...he has young eyes..take advantage of that...sight picture ,breathing,trigger pull...consentrate. on this shot and not the next 29...great gun ,good move...good teacher too...

 

[Brad]

Best of all the stock can be replaced with a larger one as he grows. That isn't a starter rifle, it is a rifle he can have forever.

Well done Ben

 

[Ben]

The accuracy that I have come to expect from all my T/C firearms was a selling point on this one for me.

Thanks Brad,

Ben

 

[Ben]

Excellent...he has young eyes..take advantage of that...sight picture ,breathing,trigger pull...consentrate. on this shot and not the next 29...great gun ,good move...good teacher too...

Dan,
I'm hoping for many hours of enjoyment for both of us from this modest investment.

Ben

 

[smokeywolf]

Peep sights are cooool for youngsters and a necessity for old eyes.

Hard to do better than a single shot 22 for a first rifle.

 

[KHornet]

I bought my daughter her first rifle, a 22 Hornet, single shot H&R in Alaska. She was in either kindergarten or 1st grade. Cut the stock back (did a lousy job of it). Believe Brad and Dawn still have it.
I gave my grand daughter a limited edition Rem in 300 Sav. when she was about 12-13. Brad still has that rifle I believe.

Excellent choice Ben!

 

[Intheshop]

Very cool Ben,nuthin better than g-young'ns to hang with.

Painting data.You will need a cheapy gravity feed "jamb gun" (touch up).

After spray bombing the stock whatever base colour.Then following directions a second coat.

You'll need some laquer ,auto parts sell it small amts.Lets say black.This is for spider webs.Load up the jam gun,don't reduce very much at all.We want it thick...if it's too thin,let it breath for an hour.

Now,instead of the usual 5-8" distance from gun to part.Try about 4 feet.Yes,you read that right.What happens,and this is exactly how the factory's do it,the lacquer turns or links back into a string like substance.

It sort of reminds you of how cotton candy gets snotty and stringy.Practice a bit on cardboard but gotta say,it's painfully easy.

Most spray bomb paint is laquer so it binds incredibly well.I've literally drug said paint jobs in pretty tough conditions,it ain't coming off.

Olive base with black webs.Tan base with black.Black base with grey is what comes on 700VS's.Black with red webs are a touch in your face but do have an appeal.

Test the stock for base adherence,you can get auto adhesion promoter.Although if properly cleaned most don't require it.

Nice rifle.

 

[Brad]

Still have both of those rifles. My father shot a bear and a few deer with the 300 sav. He used that rifle as we couldn't get the offset rings lend up right on his Mod 70 06. He went blind in his right eye years ago so I found offset rings so he can sight with the left eye but shoot right handed. Works damn slick too.

 

[Ben]

He went blind in his right eye years ago so I found offset rings so he can sight with the left eye but shoot right handed. Works damn slick too.

Where there is a will, there is a way.............Good for you Brad ! !

Ben

 

[Brad]

He had the loss about 5 weeks before deer season. I loaded some 243 up for one of my rifles and put on a long bipod so he could shoot lefty sitting. That year it took him almost 45 minutes to get a deer.
He has similar mounts on a shotgun with a red dot for turkey.

 

[Dale53]

Ben;
Before you give him that TC, you might want to see if he can operate it easily. Youngsters are not terribly strong and the TC (at least mine) take a bit of strength to open.

Not trying to throw cold water on the party, just a suggestion to let him try it first. A tip up such as the TC has many advantages (easy to check if loaded, etc) IF he can operate it.

Just a thought or two...
My nine year old Grand Son was just here for a week. He specifically asked me to take him to the range with a .22 rifle. He shoots VERY well even tho' he is of slight build and height. He was proud of his targets and rightfully so.

Dale53

 

[Ben]

That is great Dale.
I own several T/C Contenders.
I checked this one that I bought today for " hard opening".
I was amazed at how easy the action can be opened.
I guess T/C did their homework on this model.

Ben

 

[35 shooter]

Ben,

I can't think of a better first rifle for a youngster to start with. As he grows he can just add bbls., or new stocks, or whatever is needed.

Great choice...I believe he will grow to love it more and more as he gets older too.
That rifle will grow right along with him.

 

[Ben]

Thanks Buddy !

 

[Pistolero]

Looks like a good choice, Ben. Weight is a big issue for kids, having taught two sons of a friend
since they were 5 and shooting BB guns. That one should be light, will help him. The other big issue
is trigger pull. I found that even a 5-6 pound trigger, which an adult would find OK, if not great, is something
that they just cannot pull when real small. These boys transitioned to a Stevens Favorite at age
7, but could not pull the 5-6 lb trigger. I had to make a new spring to get it down to 2 lbs safely
with a good sear engagement. Seems really light to adults, but with the trigger finger strength of
a 7 yr old, it is still a bit of a challenge, probably like a 6-8 lb trigger for an adult. But at
least they can pull it.

I built a nice walnut stock (came with an extremely ugly yellow looking birch thing, with a bad revarnish
job) literally from a piece of firewood pulled from my woodpile. I cut it down immediately, removing two equal
pieces and saving them. Over the years, put one and then the other pieces back on with dowels and long
screws. The joints, after sanding (the saw kerf, although only about 3/32" causes a joggle in the outline due
to the taper of the stock) so they pieces match perfectly and refinishing, you can barely detect the joints.
I built the buttplates from a piece of 1/4 medium hard rubber that I found at
a local rubber supplier, in their scrap bin. The boys are 19 now, and if they need it for
their own kids in a few years, it will unscrew and I have saved the smaller buttplates, too.

Now both pieces are on the stock, and they mostly shoot their ARs, but still enjoy the old Favorite, too.

I wonder if you can find some guy who knows about doing stock work to make up a short stock for
that Encore?

Bill

 

[Ben]

Now both pieces are on the stock, and they mostly shoot their ARs, but still enjoy the old Favorite, too.

But they had to get started early. You helped accomplish that.
Good for you !

Ben

 

[Ben]

I wonder if you can find some guy who knows about doing stock work to make up a short stock for
that Encore?

I made a few stocks from scratch , until I got smarter.
WOW !!!!! Talk about labor intensive.

Ben

 

[KHornet]

Don't ever think that there has been a time in the history of our country when private ownership
of firearms has been so much in danger of being lost. I believe it is vital for all gun owners to start
the young (of both sexes), and women of all ages learning to shoot. If every gun owner in this
country would take a child or two, or a woman or two on as a mentor and teach them to shoot. We
would enhance the probability of continued private gun ownership. The panics ever time there is
a gun incident is based upon the ignorance of those who panic based upon lack of knowledge,
and social engineering driven by political correctness. It is up to us and those like us to teach our
children, grand children, wives and neighbors how to shoot, and gun safety.

Ben, I hope we will be seeing some targets that the young fellow produces in the near future!!!

Paul

 

[Rick]

I've been saying all my life that if we don't get kids interested in shooting it won't be long and nobody will be shooting. I felt strongly enough about this that when I was running the range and silhouette club kids shot free including matches. Any kid through the teen years that is still in school and with an adult cost the parent only the kids ammo.

.