Kids deer rifle
Hello all, My 9 year old is eat up with hunting (THANK GOD!). He squirrel hunted with me last year (killed several with his own 22!), and I took him turkey hunting (hard to bag a turker with a wiggly kid with you, but it was priceless), and deer hunting with me. Now he is really wanting to hunt in the youth deer hunt here in October. I brought out the Marlin 30-30 this weekend and let him shoot it, but it does kick pretty hard and bruised his shoulder pretty good. He was a trooper and didn't complain at all, but I don't want to give him the "yips". My 270 kicks less than the Marlin (go figure, but it does!), but the gun is too big for him to properly shoulder. I was thinking of picking up a 243 of some flavor, but don't know much about them. Is the recoil that much less than a 30-30? And what about the youth model handi-rifle's from NEF in 243? Anyone had any experience with them? Any info is appreciated! Thanks.
0
-
Go with a .250 Savage calibre. Cut the stock down for him and go enjoy. 0 -
Yes the .243 kicks less. Another choice might be a 7.62X39 ala Mini-30 if the ranges aren't too long.
I'm afraid I don't know much about the NEF's,0 -
My neighbor has two daughters, He bought both of them there own remington model seven in cal. 243 . They had the youth size stock on them. They liked it alot and never complained about the kick from it.
He just bought a full size stock for one of the rifles last year for his older daughter, He came over with it and Let me run some rounds through it, It to me was a pleasure to shoot with minimunal amount of kick, Maybe just a tad more then say a 22-250, Which would be a good round for a youngster also, Just practice bullet placement.
I'D go with the 243 and that will work for quite a few years till ready to move up to a bigger cal.
Here's something to concider.
22-250 has about 9 foot pounds of recoil
243 has about 16 foot pounds of recoil
270 win. has about 18 foot pounds of recoil
a 300 win mag. has about 30 foot pounds of recoil ( ouch )
Above would be with a standard weight rifle. If the rifle is heavy such as a varmint series it would be a little less.
Robert
Edited by - hotrodusa on 08/13/2002 00:52:570 -
I was thinking 7.62x39 as well its like 30-30 but for some reason doesnt kick as much.I know a guy who bought his 10 year old a 7mm-08 and he loves it,it kicks but he still loves it.7.62x39 would be good for medium ranges like 75 yards or under coming from a Ruger Mini-30.From the 7.62x39 let him move up to the Marlin 30-30 in acouple years or turn him loose with that .270.Young boys will get past the re-coil very quickly because they are shooting something powerful the more you tell them how good they are handling it the more they dont notice it.Good Luck.
Eric S. Williams0 -
What about a Remington 870 Youth Model 20 gauge?I think that will take Deer at moderate ranges with not much re-coil.Another Rifle round you cold take a look at is the 32-20 alittle hard to find sometimes but it can take deer and not too harshly for the shoulder.
Eric S. Williams
Edited by - E.Williams on 08/13/2002 01:09:540 -
Try a Remington Model 7 in 243. Small, light, low recoil, accurate and a wonderful 'little' gun, even for an adult.
AN ARMED SOCIETY IS A POLITE SOCIETY0 -
bhayes420, Sarah started out with a 700 youth model in 243. It worked out ok. Now she's up to a 260 regular 700. I have a friend who got his son one of the NE Handy Rifles in 243 and it has been a good little first gun for his son. His son has hit the teenage years and the growth spurts and the hormone jumps and now he's got a 7mm-08 in the model 7. The guy wants to sell the NE 243. Let me know if you're interested. charliemill@earthlink.net GHD 0 -
My opinion is that either the Remington Model Seven Youth in 260 or the Remington Model 700ADL Synthetic Youth in 308 would be fine. If you handload your ammo it would be even better as you can tailor the amount of recoil to the the shooter. My opinion of the 243 caliber is that it is like a 410 bore shotgun and should be left to the very experienced hunter rather than the novice. 0 -
a 243 would be fine for deer hunting with 100 grain bullets, more kids have started out deer hunting here with a 243 more than anything except maybe a 30-30.just make sure your kid does some shooting with it before season to become familiar with rifle and how it shoots.
doc
I dont give my guns without somebody getting hurt!0 -
If you are hunting regular size white tails, I don't see a problem with the 243, but your kid has to be able to shoot accuratetly and safely. Remember that your 'kids' rifle ends up becoming your compact or scout rifle. If you are looking at new rifles, I would consider the youth model Remington 7 or the Ruger youth model. Another thing to consider would be a full size rifle with a carbine length barrel. Cut the stock to fit and as he grows into it, replace with a factory stock.
As far as the NEF rifle, they are good guns, but I really don't reccomend ANY single shot rifle with a hammer for a beginner. If you are worried about multiple shots, just give him one bullet at a time. The problem I see with kids and single shots, is that you have to cock the hammer when you are going to shoot; if you don't shoot, you have to ease the hammer forward. There may be some difficulty doing this if you are a kid with small hands.
See if you can get some of your buddies to let you borrow there rifles in different calibers. Oncy you son decides which caliber is most comfortable for him to shoot, then buy your rifle.
Make sure he can hit a grapefruit at 100 yards before turning him loose on live game.
Have a great time hunting!0 -
Ditto the Rem mod 7. Calibers I would go with would be 243 at the least, then 260 or even 7mm-08 depending on his recoil sensitivity. Also, these calibers will recoil less, if you shoot some of the lighter bullets offered.
A great rifle with a junk scope,....is junk.0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
11 comments