"Cool" gun for a 16 year old

[hirundo82]

This forum rocks. I guess I am used to other forums, I expected this to be a mini flame fest. I expected responses like "guns are practical, not "cool"" and "you should look for usability before appearance". You guys are awesome though, so instead I see helpful responses with suggestions! I didnt know about 1/2 of the options you suggested, nice!


Good job here guys, keep this forum awesome!

Oh and to keep this semi on topic, I like the S&W M&P 15-22.

Hey, if practicality were all that mattered nobody would own more than half a dozen guns. One of the great things about this country, and especially Texas, is that you don't need a reason to buy a gun other than you think it is cool.

[pbwalker]

This forum rocks. I guess I am used to other forums, I expected this to be a mini flame fest. I expected responses like "guns are practical, not "cool"" and "you should look for usability before appearance". You guys are awesome though, so instead I see helpful responses with suggestions! I didnt know about 1/2 of the options you suggested, nice!


Good job here guys, keep this forum awesome!

Oh and to keep this semi on topic, I like the S&W M&P 15-22.

Hey, if practicality were all that mattered nobody would own more than half a dozen guns. One of the great things about this country, and especially Texas, is that you don't need a reason to buy a gun other than you think it is cool.

Amen sir! It's why I own an AK!

Thanks for everyones suggestions!

[srothstein]

I am a firm believer that a first gun should be a 22. I usually recommend iron sights and bolt action to make sure the person learns to shoot properly before getting into the fancier stuff. But, given that this is usually reserved fro younger learners, a 22 semi-auto would make decent sense for a 17 year old, as does making it look cool. Before giving a "cool" recommendation, i will point out that the young man would probably find any firearm a really cool birthday present.

But, my recommendation, worth what you pay for it, is a Ruger 10-22 with some slight modifications. I just bought this one and it was impressive for its coolness to my ten year old son. I like the fact that it uses any regular 10-22 magazine, so it is easy to get extended mags, and it is a basic 10-22 in function. The really neat part for me was that it comes with two tubes for the collapsible stock, a straight pull and an angled one. With the straight pull, you cannot see the factory iron sights over the picatinny rail. With the angled one, your head gets a little lower and you can use them. But with a scope, you need the height of the straight tube over the angled one. Best of all is that the price is very reasonable and similar to the regular 10-22, instead of the $500 and up range of the 22 AR-15 look-alikes.

I would think the M&P 22 is a great gun, if spare magazines were available.

[Medic218]

Someone on here, in north DFW, has actually posted an MP5 clone .22 for sale.

http://www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=33987" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ropin]

If you want to go the "sniper-cool" route, you might consider a Marlin 795. They're running a $25 factory rebate, so the gun will typically wind up running you about $100 (or less, if you catch a retailer running a sale). Most of them are more accurate out of the box than a 10/22, and can be modified fairly easily. While there may not be as many options for aftermarket accessories available, I suspect that may be changing, considering that they seem to be selling like hotcakes. In addition, many of the accessories out for a Model 60 (i.e. Stocks) can be made to fit with just a little elbow grease. Higher-cap mags are reported to be in development.

Just a thought.

[AJ80]

Whatever you decide, be sure to let us all know.
Oh and pics are required.