Cricket Rifles
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Don't know about the accuracy, but lll comment on quality. I was drawn to it due to the price. Almost bought one for my son. Then I was told about the Henry Mini-Bolt. Comparing the two side by side, the Henry is twice the price, but 10 times the gun. The quality differences were obvious to me. I bought the Henry instead, and my son loves it. The Cricket seemed cheaply built in comparison.
All the best,
Glenn
All the best,
Glenn
I have two...The rifle is about what you'd expect for a $125 gun (at Walmart).
I also have a Springfield, or Savage single shot, which weighs a # or two more (which may be the dif). Another dif is that they can cock the Cricket by themselves (lower lock time, or delay from the time that hte trigger is pulled, till the primer is ignited).
Anyway, when you are shooting at 25-25 yards at a golfball sized object, the other signle shot that I have has an edge. But, the other gun seems to have guided bullets, exceedingly accurate and the Cricket is just not near as easy to shoot accurately.
One thing about them, is that it fits my kids. They can load and make it function by themselves. My boy is 10, and the other gun is too big for him and the Cricket fits my 7yoa girl and maybe the 5 yoa girl.
I introduced my boy to my S&W 15-22...w/the sliding stock closed all the way...lets just say that I'm going to have trouble getting him to shoot anything else.
I also have a Springfield, or Savage single shot, which weighs a # or two more (which may be the dif). Another dif is that they can cock the Cricket by themselves (lower lock time, or delay from the time that hte trigger is pulled, till the primer is ignited).
Anyway, when you are shooting at 25-25 yards at a golfball sized object, the other signle shot that I have has an edge. But, the other gun seems to have guided bullets, exceedingly accurate and the Cricket is just not near as easy to shoot accurately.
One thing about them, is that it fits my kids. They can load and make it function by themselves. My boy is 10, and the other gun is too big for him and the Cricket fits my 7yoa girl and maybe the 5 yoa girl.
I introduced my boy to my S&W 15-22...w/the sliding stock closed all the way...lets just say that I'm going to have trouble getting him to shoot anything else.
I bought my lady Bonnie a Chipmunk rifle which is just like a Cricket. She is very small so I figured it would be fine for her. The problem was that she picked right up on shooting skills and out grew the rifle almost immediately.
I bought her a Marlin Bolt action .22 Mod 20 rifle that we call the "Bonnie Blaster" and she still shoots that a lot. I refinished it and it's her pride & joy. She started shooting at 200 yards with it and got scores in the 330/500 range. It is magazine fed and I couldn't recommend that rifle any higher. It was great for her!
We got her a Marlin 917V in 17 HMR and she started shooting our 200 yard matches with it. She can shoot almost perfect scores (499/500) with the HMR, now. That's HIGH MASTER shooting!
My advice........skip the Cricket and go with one that is too big for your kid. It gives them something to grow into rather that grow out of. Bonnie graduated out of the Chipmunk and we sold it but she can still shoot the Bonnie Blaster if she wants to. Recently, we attended an Appleseed rifle match and the Bonnie Blaster is what she chose to shoot.
The end of the story is this.....those little rifles got her confidence up and she is now a Correctional Officer. She is always the highest shooter in her qualification tests.
Flash
I bought her a Marlin Bolt action .22 Mod 20 rifle that we call the "Bonnie Blaster" and she still shoots that a lot. I refinished it and it's her pride & joy. She started shooting at 200 yards with it and got scores in the 330/500 range. It is magazine fed and I couldn't recommend that rifle any higher. It was great for her!
We got her a Marlin 917V in 17 HMR and she started shooting our 200 yard matches with it. She can shoot almost perfect scores (499/500) with the HMR, now. That's HIGH MASTER shooting!
My advice........skip the Cricket and go with one that is too big for your kid. It gives them something to grow into rather that grow out of. Bonnie graduated out of the Chipmunk and we sold it but she can still shoot the Bonnie Blaster if she wants to. Recently, we attended an Appleseed rifle match and the Bonnie Blaster is what she chose to shoot.
The end of the story is this.....those little rifles got her confidence up and she is now a Correctional Officer. She is always the highest shooter in her qualification tests.
Flash
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The are great starter rifles for small statued kids. My youngest got his when he was 4 (now 6'1" at 16). Well, it was hard for him to cock the striker then but it only took a year and by 5yo he was doing it by himself. Rifle only weighs 2.5 lbs (same as an AR7) and has one of the shortest LOP. One thing I would like to see is a feed ramp inside the reciever as in his the round has to be inserted into the chamber. By ten he got the Mossberg 702 plinkster for his birthday. I have never held the Henry so no compairison.
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here he is at 11-12 shooting the Cricket.
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CD
here he is at 11-12 shooting the Cricket.
CD
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CZ scout for my boy. For the soul reason a clip can be added, as well as spacers or recoil pad later as he grows. It's the first and last .22 I'll have to buy him. Extremely accurate to boot!
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I bought a Crickett for my 10-year-old granddaughter. Took her about 5 minutes to figure out the peep sight, then she was dead on. For her first shoot at 25 yards, it was pretty darn accurate.
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I've been watching this thread with some interest since it's been resurrected. I have a bunch of grandchilderen coming up on shooting age. Given some pellet rifles already, in the next year or two will start handing out .22s. Thanks for the posts so far and like to broaden my scope on whats available and how they stack up against each other.
The Cricket is made by Keystone Firearms, in Pennsylvania, all USA made.
It is excellent young shooter rifle, I bought one for my grandson. If the kids are 10 year old or older, other rifles might fit better. But for the small and under 7 age group, it is THE way to go.
they can learn safety and shooting with a rifle that real does fit them very well. shooting full stock, cut off stocks and full barrel/actions rifles with cut down stocks just will never fit like a ground up small/youth rifle.
It is the former Chipmunk, Keystone bought that company.
It is excellent young shooter rifle, I bought one for my grandson. If the kids are 10 year old or older, other rifles might fit better. But for the small and under 7 age group, it is THE way to go.
they can learn safety and shooting with a rifle that real does fit them very well. shooting full stock, cut off stocks and full barrel/actions rifles with cut down stocks just will never fit like a ground up small/youth rifle.
It is the former Chipmunk, Keystone bought that company.
Yup, a four year old grand daughter already informed me that was the rifle she wanted.
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