David Sikes

Sunday, January 14, 2001

Generational Caliber

George Tuley/Caller-Times

Austin Benning gets help from his father, Dana Benning, in operating the Chipmunk .22-caliber rifle made for young shooters. This rifle is 29 1/2 inches long with a 11 1/2 length of pull and is equipped with a 2.5x Simmons scope. The .22 has been a standby for young and old shooters alike.

For many it was a rite of passage, a dose of responsibility and a tradition that has led many to a life-long hobby.
   Of course, we're talking about the first time you hoisted a .22-caliber rifle to your cheek and felt the jolt of bullet leaving the barrel.
   "I remember shooting my first .22 at 4-years-old," said Rich Howell, general manager at Olde West Gun and Loan in Redding, Calif. "It was an old Marlin that I still have. My grandfather had it, and he gave it to my dad, who gave it to me.
   "I started my son on it when he was 4-years-old."
   Whether plunking at paper targets and old cans or hunting rabbits and squirrels, the venerable .22-caliber rifle has been the standby for millions of people. It is a firearm that has transcended generations.

Youth gun safety Youths who are new to hunting can learn the basics of conservation and firearm safety, as well as participate in a variety of shooting sports, including archer, pellet guns, handguns, rifles and shotguns, at the Chaparral WMA Youth Shooting Sports Event March 20-22. The event is open to area high school students. For more information, call (830) 676-3413.

   "I ... remember getting a box of cartridges and having my .22 across the handlebars of my bike," Al Snell of Red Bluff, Calif., said earlier this summer while at a Tehama Shooters Association Junior Firearms Safety Training Day. "There were right things to do and wrong things and I knew the difference. That's why my dad let me do it."
   The .22 comes in several different actions, which is the heart of any rifle, and is the assembly that loads, fires and ejects a cartridge. There are five types of actions, including bolt-action, pump, break, semi-automatic and leaver-action.
   The most common is the bolt action - and for generations of children, shooting started with a single-shot, bold-action rifle that allows you to shoot one cartridge at a time.
   "That really lets a kid see just exactly how a firearm works," Howell said. "It really teaches safety."
   But at what age is a child ready for his or her first .22-caliber rifle?
   "Oh, I think it depends on a lot of things, most of which is how long they've been around firearms," Howell said. "It also depends on how big are they, how old they are. The biggest thing is if the parents have been around firearms. The gun is only as safe as the person behind it."
   That's why any firearm gift for a young person should come with a requirement to take a hunter education course, said Capt. Dave Smith, who coordinates the Department of Fish and Game's program in northern California. Besides, for any person who wants to hunt in California, they first must take the course as a prerequisite for a hunting license.
   "I think it's a good idea, just if a kid happens to run across a firearm," he said. "That way, he'd know how to handle it, safely."
   Smith said buying a firearm for a child depends on experience.
   "It's not so much age, as it is maturity," he said. "There are some 8-year-olds who are real responsible and there are 12-year-olds who aren't ready. It really depends on the parents to decide if they're ready."
   Once a parent deems a children ready - and takes responsibility for safety training, Smith said - a lifetime of shooting begins with a good-quality beginners' firearm. And the .22-caliber fits the bill.
   There are .22s, like the Marlin Little Buckaroo single shot, that will set parents back about $150, Howell said.
   "They can grow into other actions from there," Howell said. "But a lot of beginner .22s are pretty failsafe, and not that expensive."