As per all the above, the '30 is a terrific little rifle with lovely, refined firing cycle and excellent, easy-to-access accuracy.

However, and I don't know how much or little experience the youngster has, but before embarking on live quarry shooting, make sure he puts the practice in to ensure that he can hit the mark everytime. Even rats deserve a quick, clean kill (and the '30 is more than up to the job at sensible ranges) and you wouldn't want them to suffer a slow death or trail potentially lethal blood around the garden.

And "the mark" is the brain shot.