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I told my fiance it is the year of the BB gun for her little boy, who's 5. I'm looking for a good first bb gun, but I also want it to be of decent quality. I remember the daisy lever action ones that I saw growing up were flimsy and cheap...looking to get something better than that.

He'll put his eye out-- *couldn't resist* (saw that actor last week in Houston on stage with Kevin James, btw)

I remember trying to cock a pump-style BB gun when around that age-without much success. It also had a tube fed contraption, requiring hand loading. I remember my cousin had a lever style that had a pour in style magazine-probably one of the Daisy brands. That's the one we always used.

We both graduated to Benjamin .177 pellet rifles after a few years, then on to .22s.

the lil Daisy "broomstick" BB guns were always first guns for my family.

similar to this one: http://daisy.com/shopping/customer/prod ... 249&page=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ya can get a better quality bb gun, but they are going to end up having far more power than the little "throw away" kind. The Daisy's may feel cheap, but the are a time proven design and work well for what they were intended.

What's wrong with a Red Ryder?

I've got one!

Piney wrote:He'll put his eye out-- *couldn't resist*

You beat me to it!

I'll chime in with the comments in favour of Daisy. SWMBO got me a 70th Anniversary Red Ryder as a joke present last Christmas (my real one was a RIA 1911 A1 Tactical) and, while it was clearly a toy of sorts, it certainly didn't feel like it was going to fall apart in your hands. TBH, I quite liked it.

Daisy says the rrp is $70ish ( http://daisy.com/shopping/customer/prod ... 249&page=1 ) but iirc Wallyworld had them for $30-odd.

Me too with the eye thing. That's what my dear old mother told us not to do.

Daisy Red Riders are all over town for $25 or less. You can always upgrade when he's older and can cock it by himself and understands what a sight picture is.

I've got one standing by the back door to shoot stray dogs, cats and kids.

I've been thinking about same thing for my daughter when she turns 5 this spring. For ease of use by someone who may still lack the manual dexterity to pump or cock the lever on the types of BB guns I grew up with, I'm thinking of a CO2 powered air gun. Quick glance at Google search and I kinda like the looks of this $75 Crossman ... http://www.crosman.com/airguns/rifles/co2/1077" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .... but they have about 10 choices in C02 rifles.

You might look at the Marlin lever-action bb gun. I don't have any personal experience, but I saw them at Academy, and they do have mostly metal parts, and wood stocks.

My kids first bb guns were Red Ryders. Affordable and ok accurate for the distance a young child will be shooting. We take all the old toys and McDonalds toys every couple of weeks and line them up in the back yard for a shooting gallery. Got the idea from a youtube video, but not his one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ltCZXfBHBQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Oldgringo wrote:Daisy Red Riders are all over town for $25 or less. You can always upgrade when he's older and can cock it by himself and understands what a sight picture is.

Yep, I checked in Wallyworld, when I was in there today. They had a base model Daisy lerer action for $20 and the Red Ryder for $25.

Might also look at some airsoft guns too.

cbucher wrote:Might also look at some airsoft guns too.

BINGO! We have a winner.

You're starting the kid off late - I got my BB gun when I was 4.

I'm pretty sure it was a Daisy Model 25 - http://daisy.com/shopping/customer/prod ... 249&page=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - it was a pump action BB gun with a 50 round magazine.

The pump action was sort of like a cross between a regular pump shotgun and an inverted Luger toggle - while the handle on the pump went back and forth parallel to the barrel, a linkage underneath had a toggle action. The sights were peep or V-notch in the rear, and you could flip it to suit yourself. As I recall, it was reasonably accurate for "across the backyard" shooting, but, being BB-only, it's not a "match" rifle by any means.

When I got it, I wasn't quite big enough to hold it up to my shoulder and still reach the trigger, so I tucked it under my armpit. I grew into it in short order - Mom got gray some early gray hair when she was watching my father coach me in the backyard and saw I was finally strong enough to cock it myself.

It's a lot of years ago, but I still have very fond memories of time spent with Dad shooting balloons and pie plates in the backyard with it . . .

The nurse in me says "Make sure it comes with a cute pair of safety goggles"

Divided Attention wrote:The nurse in me says "Make sure it comes with a cute pair of safety goggles"

Here's one good choice.