Suppressed 22 LR for 13 Month Old Daughter

[treillw]

My daughter is only 13 months old and I've been talking about getting her first gun for about 21 months. Seeing the Christensen Ranger repiqued my interest last night. With the rising prices of everything, specifically firearms, it might not be a bad idea to get one for her now and just store it away - it will probably cost double by the time she's able to use it.

The Christensen Ranger was pretty cool. I like how lightweight it was and it would be good training for running a bolt gun as she gets older. Would be fun to play with at longer ranges. Any suggestions on other cool options? Can you build something similar at a reasonable price point?

Just starting to look at this and have a few questions. I know some guys use them for long range training - got to read up on it more.

• What accuracy can you expect from them?
  • How does this change with cheap ammo vs match?
  • Cost of match ammo?
• What is "long range" for a 22?
• Good, relatively inexpensive scope with tactical turrets to put on it?
• Good 22 suppressor for it?
  • The TBAC one is interesting
  • I've been thinking of getting one for a little while - don't care about cost as much as quality for this. What are the best ones?
  • Lightweight is probably pretty important
  • How quiet is a suppressed 22?
    • Do you still need to wear ear pro?
      • I have cans for 5.56, 300 win, and 6.5 and still wear ear pro, even if it's "not required"
• Any downfall to going with the shortest legal barrel? Don't want it too long for her with a can.

Working to answer some of these questions myself, but you guys always have good ideas that I haven't thought of.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[1911Shootist]

Take the money you'd use to buy a rifle setup for her and invest it wisely. By the time she's able to use it, it will have far surpassed the rise in cost of said rifle. You'll be money ahead. You also won't have an antiquated rifle and optic.

After one extremely mediocre rifle from Christensen and many others with similar stories, I avoid them, so I can't say if the Ranger is any good or not. Given how good a base model CZ or Tikka is though, here's my opinions:

• What accuracy can you expect from them? If a rifle doesn't shoot 10 shots within 1.5 moa at 50 yards, I'd consider it sub-standard, either defective or poor qaulity.
  • How does this change with cheap ammo vs match? Don't even bother with cheap ammo. If you have a 1moa setup, some cheap ammo is 5 moa, others might be 2 moa.
  • Cost of match ammo? CCI Standard Velocity is adequate for plinking at ~$5/50. My match ammo is usaully $12-16/50
• What is "long range" for a 22? Current ELR record is 3 consecutive hits on a 12"x12" plate in match conditions at 540 yards I think. I'd say things get long range-ish after 150 yards, where ammo consistency and the ability to read wind becomes much more apparent.
• Good, relatively inexpensive scope with tactical turrets to put on it?
• Good 22 suppressor for it? Anything you can easily disassembly for cleaning. Rimfire is dirty, the can will need semi-frequent cleaning. I prefer tube over shell types like the Sparrow.
  • The TBAC one is interesting
  • I've been thinking of getting one for a little while - don't care about cost as much as quality for this. What are the best ones?
  • Lightweight is probably pretty important Most rimfire specific cans are aluminum and lightweight.
  • How quiet is a suppressed 22? With subsonic ammo, the firing pin dropping is often louder than the shot, and the impact on a steel target can be even louder. I would describe it as "silly quiet".
    • Do you still need to wear ear pro? I would leave that decision up to the parent. Personal choice. That said, I do not.
      • I have cans for 5.56, 300 win, and 6.5 and still wear ear pro, even if it's "not required"
• Any downfall to going with the shortest legal barrel? Don't want it too long for her with a can. No.

 

[FuhQ]

I've had great luck with my Ranger 22, and my other @christensenarms rifles, with the exception of a 6mm ARC, but they were happy to look at it, and found the issue, and ended up sending me out a whole new rifle. Nothing but great experiences with them and their CS was excellent.

Also, the TBAC 22TD is a great suppressor. I have 2 of them, and a DA Mask HD. I will be getting one of the new Otter Creek Labs Titanium 22 cans sooner or later. All 3 are excellent and you can't go wrong with them.

Here's a thread if you want to know about my personal experiences with the Ranger 22...

Christensen Arms Ranger 22

Well… Got off work early, and drove to the local outdoor store… That’s always a mistake. Like going to the grocery store hungry. 🤣 All the guns, all these years, I’ve never personally owned a bolt-action .22LR… Dad has a few, but I’ve never had one. Well, I figured now that I have my Dead...

www.snipershide.com

 

[Tiger_Shilone]

Buying something for future use 6-10 years from now? Not the path I would take as technology and other circumstances are always changing. Personally I would get something that is a known good performer today. Will CA be around in 5-10 years in case you find an issue with it when you finally unbox and use it then? Will any company? Will the USA still be in existence?

OP Might want to take a look at this thread that is probably more subjective about the CA ranger issues:

Christensen Arms Ranger 22

I'm curious if anyone has the Christensen Arms Ranger 22 and what do you think of it?

www.snipershide.com

 

[nikonNUT]

• What accuracy can you expect from them?
  • How does this change with cheap ammo vs match? Depends I suppose but I have a CZ475 that shoots 1 moa at 50 yards with CCI SV.
  • Cost of match ammo? Figure $8.00/box for SK Standard+ to $20-ish/box for Midas+ (Never bit the bullet for X-Act)
• What is "long range" for a 22? I shot to 400 yards with my Vudoo and my local MD threatens 500 yard shots now and again.
• Good, relatively inexpensive scope with tactical turrets to put on it? Really like my MidasTAC 6-24x50
• Good 22 suppressor for it? DA Mask (Have 2), TBAC 22 takedown (Don't have), Energetic Armament Nyx/Nyx Mod 2 (In jail)
  • The TBAC one is interesting
  • I've been thinking of getting one for a little while - don't care about cost as much as quality for this. What are the best ones?
  • Lightweight is probably pretty important (Nyx is 3.6 ounces which is a good deal less than the mask. Nyx Mod2 is 4.15 ounces in full config and 2.45 ounces in short configuration. Both are all titanium. The Mask is 6.6 ounces)
  • How quiet is a suppressed 22? VERY! I can hear the striker hit on my CZ with the MASK.
    • Do you still need to wear ear pro? No as long as shooting subs.
      • I have cans for 5.56, 300 win, and 6.5 and still wear ear pro, even if it's "not required"

I bought my nieces (6, 11, and 15) a Cricket (Looks like a tiny AI-AW in Muddy Girl serenity) for a Christmas present last year and they loved it. Made sure I had a Mask in my pocket so they could enjoy shooting without the noise! Fits the younger two great and a tad small for the oldest but she's a lanky one! She ended up wearing out my Vudoo and I feel bad for my brother because of it! Imma get her to a PRS Rimfire match one of these days! Still cheaper than Equestrian! If I did it again I would have grabbed them a CZ 457 Pro Varmint (16.5" barrel) and a decent scope (the cricket came with a meh scope and a bipod for less that $400.00.). If they take to it there are myriad stocks and chassis' to make the CZ fit to them.

P.S. I've heard mixed review about the CA ranger. Local LGS has sent 4 or 5 back for issue. CZ? My AT-One is about 7K rounds in with very little maintainence. The only issue I had it the mag well is plastic and kinda just crumbled after 3 years. Diversified to the rescue for maybe 60 bucks shipped for aluminum replacements for the mag well and the mag block.