My 12 year old Daughter wants a rifle, What to get?

[needmoretoys]

So my 12 year old Daughter wants her own rifle for this fall. She is pretty petite and only 60lbs. I'm thinking a nice Browning Midas series Xbolt in .243

She is a very good shot ( helps to be patient) with her 10/22 Target. She shoots foam ear plugs at 50 yards and usually beats me on our duelling tree at 100 yards. Guess I should stop using the bolt action 😑

She is not scared of the guns, but I do not want anything that causes here to be scared. This will then reck my plan of having a great hunting partner.

She has also expressed interest in a 20 gauge with light loads for grouse this fall. Going to be a fun and expensive shopping trip.

[JustBen]

I just bought my wife a model seven in 243. If you handload, it's a very capable caliber.

[catnthehat]

Try to get her behind some friend's rifles and try them out for fit and felt recoil .
Could be she can handle a 243 or a 260 etc, no problem
Don't know and can't tell until she tries it !
Cat

[double gun]

Good choice.
Also look at the cz 527 carbine in 7.62x39 and the Remington model 7 in 243

[Dick284]

Let her choose the rifle.

Sounds like a daddy daughter, shopping trip is in the making.

.243, 260, 6.5 Swede, 7-08, 7x57, 30/30, 7.62x39....... and some I've missed for sure.

[Scottmisfits]

Check out the Remington 700 ADL. They offer it with a youth stock in a few different configurations.
The rifle I got for my son is a Weatherby Vangaurd S2 in 243. Great functioning rifle. I really like the 3 position safety on the bolt.
Head to your nearest shop and let her feel a few and see what will be good. Even a full sized rifle and putting a stock that can be cut down to fit her might be ok. That's where I really like the Remington 700 youth stock. It's not great but it has removable spacers to change the LOP for someone with sorter arms.

[Deer Hunter]

Model 7 compact in 243win. Short LOP, lighter weight. Great 1st gun.
It's great that she's interested in guns and hunting!

[JTRED]

Last summer I bought a Savage Axis youth Model in 7mm-08 for my two daughters, aged 13 and 15. Both love shooting but only the younger one likes to hunt. The Savage is a really good entry level rifle, in fact I took it on all of my backpack hunts last fall, it is almost 3.5" shorter than all my other hunting rifles. I like what the 7mm-08 has to offer low recoil, good bullet selection and still a viable option for moose and elk. I know the 243 is capable of taking moose and elk I just think it's marginal, especially in the hands of a relatively inexperienced hunter.

[BuckCuller]

Start out slow on the 243 when you go shooting have her shoot the 22 between groups of 243 helps from getting a flinch.
I picked up a savage axis youth model 243 from a fellow AO member for my kids. I developed a load that shoots .8 moa pretty consistent.
Pretty darn good for a 450 dollar package rifle.

[58thecat]

I like this thread, father and daughter adventure into her very own big game rifle...nothing wrong with the little .243, a very user friendly, very capeable calibre now let her shoulder a few rifles to see what fits, feels good to her.

[sage 13]

7mm-08 would be my choice

[Sask Bearman]

Originally Posted by sage 13

7mm-08 would be my choice

Agreed. Started 3 of my kid's off with this caliber and Remington makes a reduced recoil load. Not that regular loads are heavy recoil but I did load it down a bit for my kids to start.

[needmoretoys]

Ya, she is pumped. She had me book her the Alberta Youth Hunter Education Camp for her this July. She wanted me to volunteer, but they already had enough for,the week she picked.

Love her determination when she has a goal in mind. I almost feel bad for the grouse and deer this fall. She is also talking about how it might be nice to go for a cougar this winter.

[fps plus]

If you could find a good bolt action in 250 savage .i have owned both 243 and 250 and the 250 feels to recoil less . The problem is lack of rifle selection in that caliber .

[colroggal]

Sounds exciting. Although we have no kids I have nephew who is beginning to show some interest. Until then I live vicariously through guys like you.

Almost any short action cartridge should suit her. (.308 and fatter can get a little snappier) but .243 would be my pick. It's a shame th3 .243 wssm never really caught on because it is darn near the perfect youth round.

I started with a 30-30 and my own uncle always said I needed to get close enough to see the whites of their eyes.

I'd say buy a decent new rifle or a decent used rifle because she'll likely outgrow it and you can recoup most of your original cost if/when you sell it.

Whatever you get for her, get her shooting off sticks single knee or standing first. This will mitigate her first impressions of recoil. Put her on the bench once she splits a cheek from grinning. Mind, you might be the one to split a cheek first.

As for the shotgun, a single shot Cooey or H&R will be cheap enough. Cut the butt to fit and slap on a decent recoil pad. Both have an external hammer and simple functions. Keep in mind the hammer weight on some of the later Cooey 840s can be a little heavy for little hands both to cock and lower to safe.

Good luck and make sur3 we get pics of that grin.

Colin

[gtr]

Originally Posted by needmoretoys

So my 12 year old Daughter wants her own rifle for this fall. She is pretty petite and only 60lbs. I'm thinking a nice Browning Midas series Xbolt in .243

She is a very good shot ( helps to be patient) with her 10/22 Target. She shoots foam ear plugs at 50 yards and usually beats me on our duelling tree at 100 yards. Guess I should stop using the bolt action ��

She is not scared of the guns, but I do not want anything that causes here to be scared. This will then reck my plan of having a great hunting partner.

She has also expressed interest in a 20 gauge with light loads for grouse this fall. Going to be a fun and expensive shopping trip.

Sounds like your on the right track. The Midas is built for her stature. If it fits, that is a great choice for certain. The 243 is a proven choice as well. Good luck to her.

[pickerlton]

you might consider a 257 Roberts,there not a popular chambering any more but i9f you could track one down they are 1-3lbs more recoil than a 243. if you hand load maybe you could load down a bit for her! older rifles chambered in this caliber included browning micro medallion,,ruger m77 mark 2 ultra light and maybe even a win model 7o feather weight, all might fit her nicely. a real nice old often over looked caliber that was one of ken waters favorite cartridges!

[ronkaren]

good advice from LarryG. Start her off light, maybe a 204 or 223 if those aren't problems for her, try the 243.

[Unregistered user]

30-30 lever.

[Okotokian]

If you are talking about a rifle for big game in Alberta, .243 seems to have the lowest recoil from the tables I've seen (less than 30-30 or .257 Roberts). That would seem to me to be the caliber to go with.

[gtr]

Originally Posted by Unregistered user

30-30 lever.

I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy.

[58thecat]

Maybe a rem model 7 in 7-08... Just a thought, great little rifle/calibre combination, throw on a Burris or red field scope and you got a very respectable set up for any game animal from moose to mice!

[densa44]

We aren't trying to turn her into a big game hunter are we?

Here is what I'd do, let her pick, get a rifle that she can handle safely and that has very little recoil and noise so she can practice with it. Cheap ammo will encourage this.

I saw .410 in part of the post. I don't think that this is a shotgun for a small child, let her grow up a bit and pick one that fits and that she has a chance to hit something with.

IMO good luck. BTW with my daughter, who was younger, we used a cooey .22 that I sawed part of the stock off so that it would fit, and the shot gun was a 12 ga. with lightly loaded ammo.

She is actually a very good shot now, and a mother with 2 grandkids.

[amosfella]

Originally Posted by needmoretoys

So my 12 year old Daughter wants her own rifle for this fall. She is pretty petite and only 60lbs. I'm thinking a nice Browning Midas series Xbolt in .243

She is a very good shot ( helps to be patient) with her 10/22 Target. She shoots foam ear plugs at 50 yards and usually beats me on our duelling tree at 100 yards. Guess I should stop using the bolt action 😑

She is not scared of the guns, but I do not want anything that causes here to be scared. This will then reck my plan of having a great hunting partner.

She has also expressed interest in a 20 gauge with light loads for grouse this fall. Going to be a fun and expensive shopping trip.

Where are you at?? If you're close enough I have access to a CZ 527 in 7.62x39 that she could try if you brought some hunting ammo.

[sapsk]

My Daughter is 12 this year and will be using a Savage 10 Scout in 7.62x39 for deer. I think its perfect for her, especially after shortening the stock about an inch, although she is tall and pushing 100 lbs.

It shoots surplus ammo with minute of deer accuracy for cheap practice and the corrosive ammo is instilling good maintenance practices!

The Savage has a .308 bore so we can hand load any .308 diameter bullet. Load development has just started with some 150 gr bulk bullets to see how they fly. CZ rifles have .310 bores.

The 7.62x39 will do anything the 30-30 will do and has the added advantage to cheap practice ammo.