I've seen 7yr old girls have fun with both .223 rifles and downloaded "deer rifles". They couldn't really tell the difference. A 7lb 7mm-08 youth gun can actually have a bit of kick to it with full-house loads, but not with blue-dot loads and varmint bullets. It gets a person familiar with a rifle and lets them grow into it. Does it have the downrange ballistics of a varmint rifle? No, but it can still be a good tool for practice. I also download my Whelen single shot for primitive weapons season, simply because I don't like the recoil with full-power loads. Kills just fine at .358win carbine speeds.
