Opinion on youth hunting rifle??

[hayseed]

Hey all, just curious on some opinions on what to look at for a first youth deer gun.

The .243 is an obvious good first deer rifle, but at the age of 12, stock length will be an issue with any gun. I'm no gun expert by any means, looking for some advice on what to look at, or where to start as many of you have been down this road with young hunters.

Thanks guys.

[honda450]

Well I was in the same boat as you a few years back. But knew the caliber I was going for was 708. My son was 12 too. I went with a standard size Remington SPS stainless. Yeah little big for him at first. But I am happy I went that route as now at almost 16 he's 5' 11". Arms like an ape. I put a Burris 3-9-40 on it. He can buy his own next rifle. Then I will use the 708.

[Eager_Beaver]

when i was 14 i just got to use whatever wasnt in use at the time, i wouldve loved a new gun! but i used a win 94 in 30-30 till i was 16 worked great.

[aulrich]

I went the handi rifle route in 7-08, added a youth stock wich makes it a very compact gun. Just starting load dev for it now for November deer. He has had plenty of trigger time on that frame shooting the k-hornet, so the jump to 7-08 will be just a matter of getting use to a little more recoil (he starting with light loads).

[Rockymtnx]

Either the 243 or 7mm-08 would be a good choice. Both calibers are minimal recoil. With the 7mm-08 you have the option of using a little heavier bullet if your going to shoot big deer.
As far as a gun goes there are several youth models from several manufactures. I recently purchased a Remington 700 SPS youth for my wife. This is a reasonably good quality gun for the price. You should be able to pic one up for about $520.00 Take a peek at one.

www.remington.com/products/firearms/youth

[spurly]

a rem. model7 youth or browning micro medalion both have shorter stocks ,and are also lighter, I would also vote for the 7-08 great cal.

[honda450]

Big deer? I would shoot elk or moose with a 708. I am a 300 yard man. Shot alot of critters but never beyond 300 yards. Just the way I am. My comfort zone. I usually use a 2506. Sometimes a 3006.

[Rockymtnx]

Originally Posted by honda450

Big deer? I would shoot elk or moose with a 708. I am a 300 yard man. Shot alot of critters but never beyond 300 yards. Just the way I am. My comfort zone. I usually use a 2506. Sometimes a 3006.

Hence the reason I bought my wife the 7mm-08. Little Deer, Big Deer, Moose, Elk, Bear, or even varmints, it covers them all.
The 243 can knock anything down, but just isn't as good on the "Big Deer, Moose, Elk, and Bears."

[honda450]

I follow ya Rocky. It is a good caliber.

[Renslip]

Bought my 12 year old a remington youth 243 from SIR in Winnipeg. Awesome deal got it to Alberta with taxes and shipping for $425. That was with a scope sling and a voucher for a adult stock at 50% off. Shoots great, he is going to be a deer slayer this year!!

[duffy4]

I bought a Rem. 788 in .243 for my kids to start hunting with. I wish I would have got something in a 7mm08 or a 6.5 X 55. The .243 is fun to shoot and shoots really well. It will soon be my coyote gun. We all Killed some game with it. Deer and antelope but I have never been happy with the fact that the bullets don't normally exit and leave a good blood trail.

My son lost a buck last year and wants to use something else this year. The 7X57 my wife hunts with will get used by my son. My daughter will probably still use the .243 though.

Robin in Rocky

[hayseed]

Thx for all the responses fellas, its nice to hear, what you started your kids huntin with, ( and as H450, want to use WHEN HE BUYS HIS OWN LOL ) But seriously, I''m really gonna look at the .243..., or the 7-08. I was lookin to give him my old 30-30 marlin lever, but a quick quad roll did a number on the butt end years ago, never gotter fixed, is that fella in Bentley still fixn??

The ole 30-30,m was a gift, from my Dad, when I was old enough , i sure remember that first shot.... and the 2nd, and the 3rd....and the bruising.... and the 4th.....30-30 lever action, what a first gift to hunt with... lotta game taken with that ol' girl...

[rottie]

Originally Posted by hayseed

Thx for all the responses fellas, its nice to hear, what you started your kids huntin with, ( and as H450, want to use WHEN HE BUYS HIS OWN LOL ) But seriously, I''m really gonna look at the .243..., or the 7-08. I was lookin to give him my old 30-30 marlin lever, but a quick quad roll did a number on the butt end years ago, never gotter fixed, is that fella in Bentley still fixn??

The ole 30-30,m was a gift, from my Dad, when I was old enough , i sure remember that first shot.... and the 2nd, and the 3rd....and the bruising.... and the 4th.....30-30 lever action, what a first gift to hunt with... lotta game taken with that ol' girl...

yup DAave Henry is still fixen

[Jamie]

To add a bit to this thread, what do you guys think about making the kids proficient with IRON sights before the scope goes on?

Jamie

[honda450]

Well iron sights is what I learned on. But it wasn't that my father wanted me to learn that way. He didn't have the money for such a luxury as a scope. I remember when he got his first scope Bushnell Scopechief 4X, thought it was the best ever. My granffather never used a scope.

[Pathfinder76]

700 youth in 7-08, or if money is no object a Kimber Montana 84M in the same chambering. Ask Kimber if you can buy an extra stock to cut to the correct LOP.

[Kev]

I have a bolt action 30-30 cut down. For a little more cash, I saw a Weatherby in 243 that had 2 stocks...1 youth sized, and one adult sized. I think it ran about $600.

Cheaper options would be to pick up an old 303 for $100 and cut it down.

[raised by wolves]

I started with a 30-30 with the traditional iron sights; by my father's choice, but never managed to get a clean shot at my first deer. I ended up busting one of the front legs and a lengthy chase ensued. To this day, I still dislike the feel of any lever gun. For me, the stock was not comfortable and I hated the notch and blade sight. I could never hit anything with this type of sight.

I did however enjoy the No. 4 .303 Enfield, in original battlefield condition. I could hit anything with that rifle, but my father's choice was that the rifle was much too heavy for me to carry in the field. I would have gladly carried this rifle as I was confident due to the feel of the rifle and my ability to use the sight, even at long range.

A season later, a friend loaned his Remington700 in 6MM. Beautiful, light rifle that put my next deer down with a clean, single shot. The following year, my father decided I should carry his .270 Husky. I could defiitely handle this rifle and consequently made a great shot on a doe mule. For whatever reason, I did not enjoy shooting this rifle. It just was not right for me. Another year later, I bought the 6MM that was originally borrowed from a friend. Since those days, I have bought, used and sold numerous good rifles, but the 6MM has remained with me every season for over 20 years.

A rifle is like a pair of shoes or a whankster ball cap to a teenager. It has to fit just right and have the "look cool" factor. Let the kid try several calibres and rifle designs.

[Gordoats26]

I started with a 6mm same bullet as .243 with a bit more powder, little flater shooting. Its a little small for anything bigger then a deer but it did the trick great gun to learn on.

[Dick284]

One thing I've notced of late with many of the youth model rifles coming out nowadays is the movement towards 20" barrel. Nothing wrong with short barrels if you like to get pounded by the muzzle blast every time you squeeze the trigger.
Recoil can cause a flinch, and a sharp and violent muzzle blast will cause a flinch too.
I settled on a NEF single in 7mm-08 for my kids, and for the Mrs a Rem 700SPS youth in 270Win. I chose the 270Win because it comes with a 22" bbl, while the 700 Sps youth only had a 20" bbl.
FWIW my 12 yr old daughter shoots her Mom's 270 very well with no recoil complaints with moderate 130gr. reloads. (2800fps)

[Echo-Gecko]

FWIW my 12 yr old daughter shoots her Mom's 270 very well with no recoil complaints with moderate 130gr. reloads. (2800fps)

I started out with dad's old 270 win Brno.
myself and all my brothers started with that rifle.
We were between the ages of 9 adn 11 (legal to hunt at 9 years old back home) I think the 7/08 is a much better choice for kids that being said most kids around 12 or 13 will be able to handle the recoil of a 270.
There is not much diffrence between the 270 and 7/08 when it comes to recoil

[hayseed]

Guys, thanks for all the insight. Like I said, I thought I'd throw it out there, as mny of you have been down that road before.

We still have until next season to find the right gun for him. No gonna rush into it, but for sure, looking at the cals. mentioned.

Thx again, if smeone has more to add, fire away.

[Pathfinder76]

Here is a thread about a young lad and his grizzly from another forum. I might choose a different ring and scope setup but I think it's a fantastic choice.

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/...43/m/387109029

[roger]

i think the biggest problem with the youth guns is that the pistol grip is still so far from the trigger. short fingers cant reach to get a good contact with the first knuckle and the trigger face.
a narrow thumbhole is, IMO, a good choice for small framed person

[TC7]

Have you looked at the youth model New England Firearms it is a single shot but it does the trick . My son would have one if it weren't for the fact of my 6mm in rem mohawk. The price is right also .

[Canuck44]

If you reload you may want to look at getting him something that is a good all around calibre like a 270/30-06 or equivelant and loading down for him. Sending a 130 out of a 270 or 150 out of an 06 at 2300-2500 fps will reduce the recoil by 30-50% and should give you enough speed and energy to let him hit where he's aiming and drop the animal out to 200-250yrds. Then in 2-3 years he has a good gun that he can run full loads through and use for the rest of his life if he chooses to.

[MK2750]

I ordered a 7mm-08 SPS 700 youth for my 13 year old a few months ago in lefty. I have had the chance to handle a few "700 youth" models over the summer and was not really impressed. I was also beginning to wonder if it was even going to show up this season.

My young fellow has grown like a weed this summer and he can handle a full size easily. We were out a couple weeks back and found a beautiful 700 BDL in 30-06.

I was in love with the exact same rifle when I was 13 but had to settle for a 303. Every chance I had I would go into that shop and ogle that rifle until it sold. Broke my heart.

We looked at all the shops and handled all the usual suspects. When I asked the guy at UFA what he had in left and he passed Mitchell that BDL I knew it was going to cost me. His eyes were so big I thought they were going to pop.

At all the other gun shops he would try to say something mature and intelligent every time he looked at a gun. With this one he lost it- couldn't speak at all just staring at the rifle and a grin from ear to ear.

Chip off the old block; everything I own is high gloss and blued. I'm told it's a red-neck thing.

I also picked up some of those managed recoil rounds for him to practice with. They claim more energy then a 30-30 with 125gr., lethal on deer to 200 yards. With half the recoil of regular 30-06 loads should be lots of fun to shoot. They also claim no scope adjustment to jump to regular loads of 150gr. I’ll be testing that before trying it on game.

He has been shooting 3 inch mags at ducks and it doesn’t bother him a bit so the transition should go smooth.

I think most important to me was to give him a rifle he will keep and be proud of for the rest of his life. I think equally important is that he got to choose his rifle. Even if it isn’t his go to gun in 10 years it will still be kept and cherished. I got no such feeling when handling the SPS.

Anyway, when and if the SPS shows up I will put a light weight scope on it and keep it as a spare. Or if it bugs me as much as the others I have handled you will see it in the buy and sell.

Good luck with whatever you choose,
MK

[Wrongside]

Originally Posted by MK2750

Or if it bugs me as much as the others I have handled you will see it in the buy and sell.

Or you could just shoot me a PM........

[MK2750]

Originally Posted by Wrongside

Or you could just shoot me a PM........

There was a WTB on gunnutz with an Alberta address. One in the same?

[Donny Bear]

My son cut his teeth so to speak with a Browning 25-06 that said I bought him the Savage Youth 111 in 243 this is the most accurate out of the box rifle I have ever owned shoots everything from 58 grains to 100 and likes them all just a great bang for the buck. I would sell it but it just shoots to nice so Coy dogs beware