Doe Dumper

I was gonna say open sights just to learn good marksmanship basics...however if he has that many rounds with open sights...go ahead and scope it. Good luck with that gun and good shooting.

handloader1

If he does not know how to use open sights, this is a good time to teach him. Good luck.

rybohunter

Definitely scope it. It will serve him better. I feel the younger and more often one uses a scope the more natural it will be for them to pick up game in it. Before I was old enough to hunt my dad mounted a scope on a wooden gun and put drives on for me just so I would get used to picking up deer in the scope. I feel that was a huge help growing up.

camp_13

From personal experience, I say put a scope on it, a 4x would be perfect for a first scope. When I started hunting when I was 12 or 13, my dad gave me a Marlin 30-30 for a present. Not knowing anything about hunting or shooting, other than a little 22 plinking, I relied on my dad to teach me the ropes. Well, he's a great dad, but he never believed in scopes, he thought it was to hard to pick up the deer in the scope in the woods. He was a great rifle shooter in the military so he of course usually got his deer with is open sights. So I proceeded to miss about 7 deer the first 5 or so years of hunting, including a 10 pointer, all around 100 yard shots or so, my confidence was pretty crushed. I finally got my first deer, a doe, with those open sights when I was about 18. I was still pretty low on my ability so I pretty much took deer hunting off through college, and then casually hunted with my dad after that for a few years, mostly just to spend time with him. Then in my mid-twenties I really got the shooting and hunting bug, started reading everything I could get my hands on, started buying my own guns, and finally put a scope on a rifle. I'm 33 now and have gotten a deer every year since I put that first scope on. I feel there were many years wasted because my confidnece was crushed from missing all those deer. Know that I am an avid shooting and hunting enthusiast I can take the time to learn the art of shooting with open sights. But as a young boy, I think you need to get that confidence up.

-Camp

Night Hawk 223

if he is already a good shot with open sights then i would go for the scope. my son just got a scope on his 22. he had to learn to use open sight and become a good shot with them before i scoped it. i hope he inloys his new rifle!