I bought the gun for my 10 year-old as a plinker and for a little hunting. We had our first outing with it yesterday. On the whole it was fine with 22's at the range. It worked well and my son was able to handle it without any problems. With the 243's the gun kicks like a mule, but that wasn't a total surprise because it's a light gun and there is no weight to help with recoil. With the 20 guage shells - OH MY GOD! I fired it first and it took me by surprise. My son killed himself laughing as the thing had so much recoil the the barrel ended up pointing at the sky. I wasn't prepared for that much recoil so that was my fault. I was also firing rifled slugs (we were at a public range that prohibits shot) that had a lot of power to them. The gun barrels change easily and the 243 comes with a weaver style mount for a scope. After we got home I cleaned and expected the gun. It was easy to clean but I must say that I was disappointed to see the nickel coating flaking off in a couple of places. The end of the 243 barrel also had a decent size piece of nickel chipped off that wasn't caused by misuse. I've only given 4 stars for this because of the finish problems, but the gun is a great starter for kids. Just make sure that they are prepared for some recoil for the non 22's.