When my boy was 11 I bought him a new Savage model 11 .243 and he shot fairly well with it but after he got a couple years on him he really started shooting good. Now we hunt Black bear every year so when he was 13 I decided he was going to start bear hunting. I didn't feel the .243 was a bear gun (I know better now) so I traded it off on a Ruger M77 Mk II in .270 which he never shot better than 2" groups at 100 yards and it always frustrated him. The rifle could do 1 1/2" in my hands so I felt he wasn't far off but he didn't feel good about his groups. So this past winter I bought him a new Hawkeye AW .270 and although it had a much nicer trigger his groups were never much below 2" and he just wasn't that confident. So last month I got tired of it and decided that maybe Boxer's advice is the way to go. I bought him a really nice Remington 660 in .243 with a Leupold 2-7X28. Yesterday he shot an honest 1/2" group and also a 3/4" group. His eyes lit up and he left the range really pleased with his shooting. First time I saw that in years. So maybe 'Stick has something about taking the recoil out of the equation and making it fun? I know my boy is connecting them dots now!
When my boy was 11 he shot a Ruger International in 250 Savage with 100gr noslers. Killed all manner of hogs and deer. Today he's 25 and at 6'1" and 180, the 06' is no big deal.
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
