TargetTalk

I'm pretty sure I'm out of luck, but any ideas are welcome.

My 8 yr-old daughter is showing huge interest in shooting. The problem is she is very tiny at less than 50 lbs (22kg).

She is shooting a Daisy Buck Mark (cheaper version of the Daisy Red Ryder if you can imagine). It's about all she can handle weight wise and the length of pull is still long at 11 3/4 inch (30cm).

Yes I know ... what am I thinking with a $25 rifle, but it's about all she can handle and I have no budget to place toward a true customized match gun.

She has vision issues and the gun shoots three inches up and left at 5m with the fixed sights.

I was thinking perhaps I could take the L shaped sight from a Daisy 499 and bolt it to the receiver of the Buck Mark. That would give me an aperture and adjustability. I'm not sure if the front sight would be high enough. I'd have to bolt it on, as the stamped sheet receiver is far too thin to drill and tap for a screw.

She really needs a peep sight with her vision.

Marvels lists a universal ghost ring replacement sight, and it's very inexpensive, but I have not been able to find the base for it. The ring is sold as a replacement, but none of the vendors I've seen sell the entire unit (base and ring). I've e-mailed about this with no response. I'm guessing the entire unit is sold OEM only.

Am I being an idiot? Any chance of success here? Any other ideas?

I had also thought of a cheap Crosman 760 w/ scope combo to help her with the fundamentals, but I'd have to find a way to fill in the hollow butt stock once cut down to a proper length for her use and I really want her to learn iron sight technique. I'll settle for this if nothing else comes up.

Hopefully in a few years, and if her interest is still there she can grow into a Daisy 499 or the like.

I know ... good luck ... but it doesn't hurt to ask.

She's not yet shooting in sanctioned matches, so do whatever it takes now to keep/get her excited.

Nothing is worse than not hitting the target, so go for it!

Daisy 953!

It is light weight. The stock is pretty short, and you can buy it with aperature sights, for a little extra. It also has a groove for scope mounting if you would rather go that route.

It is fairly accurate and she can continue to grow into it.

I have been teaching a young boy about 10, but he is very short and small for his age. The 953 fits him enough for shooting from a bench. He can put 10 shots in about 1" at ten meters.

You will probably have to pump the rifle for her. It has a fairly long stroke.

If you decide upon something else, and have to cut the plastic stock, you can fill it with that expandable foam insulation in a can. It is fairly cheap and will fill the void.

Hi jhmartin,
I so agree that missing will squelch any desire that she has. I don’t want to put her off since the desire is high right now; I want to strike while the iron is hot so to speak!

Hi bam86,

The foam is a great idea! If I need a bit of weight for balance the foam will hold it in place nicely.

Unfortunately the 953 is too large and heavy for her. She can barely heft the 853 we now have and it would be far too front heavy if I were to take off the 3 inches or so she needs to come off the stock. I hope I can keep her interested until she grows into a standard youth sized rifle.


I was thinking I can use an AR-15 sight. If I bolt the sight down using the large aperture there should be enough side to side movement to get on the bull at 5m. I can stack washers under the sight if elevation is needed. I t would be ugly and fragile, but it could work until she’s stronger and can handle a heavier rifle.

Any thoughts on this?

If you send me you mailing address I'll send you a Daisy 5899 rear sight for the Daisy 499 and I may have a front sight that you could mount on the gun as well. I'm a 4-H BB Rifle, Air Rifle and Air Pistol coach in Georgia and we work kids of all shapes and sizes!!

My email address is: david.haire@tiftcounty.org

Keep in mind that the 499 has a wood stock that you can cut as I have several kids that are very short. No charge for the parts.

Good Luck,
David Haire
Tift County, Georgia 4-H Shooting Sports

i got my wife a red rider for Christmas. I'm JB welding a cheaqp airgun red dot to it.

http://www.pyramydair.com/s/a/Daisy_Ele ... _Sight/406

This is a long shot.
See if you can find an old Diana 70 or the recoilless 72.
The LoP is adjustable with spacers all the way down to 10 inches :-)
It is a long shot because these guns have been out of production for so long, and I do not think they were very popular.
I have a 72 to use when my back flares up and I can't hold my heavy rifles.

I do not know of anything else that has a LoP shorter than 12 inches.

The other option is a Crossman 2400KT with a shortened stock. Shortening the skeleton stock is a little tricky but can be done.

Why not use an unweighted 499 and whittle the stock as necessary to fit. They are MUCH easier to cock than a Buck, safer and full size they only weigh about 3 lbs.

We have a nice Diana 72 with new seals I would let got elsewhere..... but I am not going to give it away.

GaryN wrote:This is a long shot.
See if you can find an old Diana 70 or the recoilless 72.

These look to be perfect for her … but finding one and then affording one would be a problem.

SRichieR wrote:Why not use an unweighted 499 ...

I’m trying to do with what I already have, and I’m worried that the rifle would be too front heavy for her if I cut it down to a 9 or 10 inch LOP.

pilkguns wrote:We have a nice Diana 72 with new seals I would let got elsewhere..... but I am not going to give it away.

I’m sure it would be out of my price range, but thanks for tempting me none-the-less!

Thanks everybody for the comments and suggestions, I appreciate it!

DLS,
Talk to Pilkguns, you don't know that it is out of your budget until you do.

DLS wrote:

SRichieR wrote:Why not use an unweighted 499 ...

I’m trying to do with what I already have, and I’m worried that the rifle would be too front heavy for her is I cut it down to a 9 or 10 inch LOP.

A cut down 499 will not be too heavy. They are 3.1 lbs. with a full length stock. My daughter started competing with a 499 when she was 8. I know she did not weigh 50 pounds. She was by far the smallest kid at every match.

Hi Texas Shooter, I hear you but ...

My daughter weighs 42 pounds (19kg) and has physical limitations from some pretty severe birth defects so even 3 pounds (1.4kg) is a bit much for her. That would be equivalent to a 170 pound (77kg) adult hefting a 12 pound (5.5kg) rifle.

The 2 pound (.9kg) Daisy Buck is more akin to an adult lifting an 8 pound (3.6kg) rifle. This is more within her abilities, especially as she is just learning techniques and has really only recently started to show serious muscle development (all her physical development has been retarded).

So I'm hoping to tide her over until her next growth spurt bumps her a bit in strength. Her interest is very high right now ... I want to keep it there.

One of her problems is with vision ... when she focuses on a near point (front sight) her eyes "shake" back and forth very rapidly. This is causing the post to blur, as well as the target. Right now she is centering the blur of the front post on the bottom of the blur of the target and shooting 25 (out of 50) or so on the 5m BB gun target. She has hit a plateau here.

When she looks through a pinhole the eye shake stops and she can see a sharp front sight. This is why I'm trying to rig up an aperture for her on her current air rifle. I did drill a hole in a strip of pop can metal and attached it with the top stock screw to test the idea. Her groups shrank by half! She can then shoot groups (from a rest) that approach the best this gun can do.

Of course there is no way to regulate a sight like this, and it would bend when barely touched, so that is why I’ve been looking into alternatives.

Mr. Haire, a guest who posted earlier is sending me a 5899 rear sight for me to try. I’m hoping I can just attach it with the same stock screw and go from there. The front sight may be too low though, but I’ll battle that if and when it becomes an issue! <grin>

A 499 is definitely in her future but right now I worry not only about the weight, but that taking two or three inches off the 499 would cause problems with the balance of the rifle moving too far forward.

Thanks for the comments and ideas though … I really do appreciate all of you who have taken the time!

Well, it's on ...

The 5899 sight that Mr. Haire was so kind to send me is on the Buck. I just used the existing upper stock screw to attach the sight. It is tipped downward a bit at the rear ... but hey it's an adjustable hole that you can look through, and it's working great!

I did have to cut off the rear sight as it was smack in the middle of the sight line, but I can use the existing front post this way. The rear sight also acts to hold the spring assembly in the gun so I could not remove it entirely.

Now to hose clamp a swivel on the tube for the sling positions! LOL

Thanks for all the suggestions ... we are once again moving forward with her performance!

Lee

FANTASTIC!!!
She looks pretty proud of her rifle Dad!