Anyone have any experience with these, especially with kids? Especially the .410. I see they even have a 20 ga/.410/.22/.243 set out there. I don't know about giving my little guy a single shot 20 gauge to start off with, but the .22/.410 looks cool. Thanks in advance for any help.

I have a 20/22LR, but it usually just sits behind the seat in my truck with a box of 20g and small box of .22LR. It's my lost and found gun; meaning if I ever get lost it should keep me fed until I'm found. It's put together well enough, but I don't have any experience with accuracy or how well kids like it; although, it's pretty much kid sized.

Thanks much, sir.

I have one. I bought it because I teach hunter safety and we always have little kids in the class. We shoot afterwards and even a small .22 can be too heavy for some of them. I bought the combo. I put a playing card out at 20 yards and couldn't hit it. I benched it, played with the sights and shot all around it. I thought this thing was junk. I cleaned the heck out of it and looked down the barrel. It looks like the surface of the moon in there. You can see the inside of the barrel was not smooth, by a long shot before they cut the rifling. I tried the .410 barrel, which kicks a lot more than you'd think in such a tiny gun. The fore end will come up out of your hand when you touch it off! 20 yards at a pizza box. Shot under it. Again, same thing. I called Rossi and they said to send it back. I paid $150 for the thing. You get what you pay for. The "Matched Pair" is the little guns, I think. The Matched Sets are more $$$, and they are heavier. The barrels are heavier too.


When I was 12 years old, my first gun was a Remington 1100 in 12 gauge. That kicks less than that little .410. When he's old enough, pick up a used Rem 1100 or Rem 11-87 Premier in 20 gauge for your kid and he can use it the rest of his life. A short barrel 26" wouldn't be that heavy. I bought a new 11-87 Premier 20 gauge with a synthetic stock (the guy bought the gun for the wood and stuck a black stock on it) on Gun Broker for $450. It's light with a synthetic stock and 26" barrel and it does not kick.

I guess it depends on how small the child is. I got my son an 870 youth model in 20 ga at 9 1/2 years old, and it worked fine for him with light dove loads. he is super skinny, too - not beefy at all. Plus he actually hit birds with it over pointers - success makes it more fun.

Huh. Well, good food for thought here. Thanks again, all. Prob gonna be a "no" on the Rossi.

If you can afford it, get the highest quality gun that fits him well with a good trigger and sights or scope. It's amazing how quickly they'll improve their shooting skills when parked behind decent equipment. I think parents often totally ignore how difficult it is for a child to pull a heavy trigger. Their fingers our much weaker than ours, so what is a heavy pull to us is darn near impossible to them.

If you can find a Marlin 15 or 25 they are accurate 22's and reasonably priced.

They make lousy kid guns. It takes aleast a teenager to work the break and hammer not to mention the stiff trigger. I bought one for my oldest son and quickly replaced it with one that didn't frustrate him. I used it for awhile and had fun with it, was accurate enough just not for little hands.

Dont let him shoot the 20 gauge it kicks worse than any 12 i have shot including three inch mags