Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Looking to set my 6 year old son with a rifle that'll last a lifetime

I'd get a 6 year old a tack-driving .22. It'll be cheap fun his whole life. Next rifle would be a .223. A .243, 6.5 Creed or 7-08 would follow.

Will never happen...one rifle for a lifetime. Show me just one guy who hangs here who has done that, just one.

For eastern deer and bear hunting, I'd look for a 308 Win 70 and an extra youth stock to use until he grows up a bit.

Winchester model 70 Featherweight in 270, just as effective at 30 feet as 300 yards. Put a 1.5-5 or 2-7 Leupold on it.

I didn't see if you handload or not. Years ago I started my son and daughter on reduced 270 loads. Now he's 25, she's 27 and they both use the same rifles with full power handloads very effectively.

Remington makes "Managed Recoil" loads.

The Marlin 336 is heavy, as pointed out earlier.

Your comment is largely humor, but I think you are right. It would be like buying a pair of shoes for a 6 year old and saying they had to fit for his entire life. A gun has to fit, and something that fits someone 3' tall will not fit someone 6' tall. For example, a grip that is small enough to give him adequate control now would be half the size he needs as an adult.

A little H&R handi-rifle for now, a good bolt action when he is big enough to manage a stock cut off to about 12" and then switch to a full size stock once he hits about 5'6".

caliber choice would be a 260 or 7/08.... even a 243...

action doesn't really matter...

I'd still be tho, that when he grows older, he'll want something different, regardless of your best intentions now...so get ready for that disappointment then...

gave my son his first rifle when he was 12 or 13.... he wanted a 30/06... so I gave him a Browning A Bolt... one I had had for 12 to 15 years at the time...

I've had to down load it to equal factory " Managed Recoil" loads, but he still wants to have a 30/06... when I have 243s, 260s etc also readily available in the gun cabinet..


if you do pick a Savage bolt action, it'll be easier to rebarrel to another caliber as he grows older...

You're probably headed in a good direction. Seems like a 260 or 7mm08 are good choices. I think some versions of the model 7 come with fixed sights,if you can find one swapping out the rear for a peep should be easy. Getting a second stock that can be cut down should also be pretty easy. The Kimbers are nice, I'm have a Montana in .308, but mounting a front sight on the thin Kimber barrel may be an issue, maybe ask the question in the gunsmithing forum?

Guns with hammers have long been recommended for kids since it's easy to see if they're cocked. Problem is, little hands have a hard time controlling that hammer and it's all too easy for a finger to slip onto the trigger during the struggle. One virtue of the hated Marlin cross-bolt safety is that it can prevent a whoopsie, but only if it's used. Best to stick with a light bolt action, I think, perhaps single-loaded, which might eliminate some of the detachable mag guns with small ports.

A decent red dot will mount on a Weaver base and cost less than mounting sights on a naked barrel. Irons on factory bolt guns have pretty much gone the way of the dodo, unfortunately. Rifles stocked for scopes may not even allow the use of irons.

A rifle that will last him a lifetime a 6 years old will have to come with another stock.

That said, something in .243 would be what I recommend.

If I knew mine could only have one hunting rifle in his lifetime I would buy him a Rem 700 SS mountain rifle in 7mm-08.

2nd choice for the ranges/game you mentioned would be a SS model 7 in 7mm-08.
Remington and Hornady both make reduced recoil loads to bring it to 243 levels so Id pass on a 243. Can step up to regular loads when he grows into them.

I got my daughter a model 7 compact in 243 when she was that age. I liked that the stock came with spacers so I could add length as she grows, and plan on replacing it with a better stock when she is done growing.

Although more recently, she's been trying to claim my T3 superlite in 7-08 as her own.

I agree, but would add the sako A7 in either 7-08 or 308.

No kidding, but it is nice to dream.

I didn't take the OP's question to mean that he expected to buy a rifle that would be the ONE rifle for a lifetime, just A rifle that would last a lifetime.

I still have a walnut/blue 12ga BPS shotgun that was the first gun given to me by my parents, and it's still in excellent condition. If it had been a cheap synthetic Mossberg, I might have sold or traded it in my younger days. Now that I'm old enough to appreciate it more for sentimental reasons it will never be sold, and I have many other shotguns. There's something about that first one, and it should be a nice enough one that the child will want to hang on to it.

Remington 700 SS 243 win sps (cheapo) chop off 2" of barrel and put it in a Mountain Rifle stock (Micky, take off or Bell and Carlson type). Bed it and put some nice glass on it. Doubt he would find it lacking in any way.

There is no gun that well suits a 6-year old that will equally well suit a 26-year old.

So, is the kid going big-game hunting now, or are you just jumping ahead in your purchases?

For immediate use, get him a Handi-Rifle with either a 30-30 or 357Mag barrel. He'll keep it around his whole life just for nostalgia.

For future use, get him a pre-64 Win70 Featherweight in 270 or 30-06. He'll keep it around his whole life for the pride of ownership and usefulness.

All else is simply you projecting your own fantasies onto your kid. Let him make his own choice when he's ready.

Mini action Youth CZ 527 Youth 7.62 x 39 come to mind for me. If they were offering this in a Grendel that would be even better in my case. In your situation 100 yards and less the 7.62 x39 may be near perfect.

Open sights if you like are set to go and ready for a scope if you and your son ever desire.

cheeep 7.62x39 ammo is available for plinking Hunting Ammo may be found at a reasonable cost. If you reload your options only grow.

Howa will be offering a 7.62x39 Mini Action in the near future at a very reasonable cost. If you go with the Howa Mini action I would think long and hard on a 6.5 grendel. Popularity of the Grendel Cartridge has been growing relativly Rapidly for good reason.

A lot of excellant suggestions here, all have merit. A youth sized bolt in a light caliber may be the most practical.But to me being a nostolgic kind of feller, I'm going with a mod 64 30-30. Building a deer rifle for two 10yr old grandsons. Had an old mod 64 in rough shape but definetly a shooter. Barrel shortened to 19in, added a pachmeyer de-cellerater recoil pad with stock ending up 1in shorter than origonal then cerakote finish. Just something american shooting your first deer with a 30-30.

I bought my young boys .260 Rem's for now. Great guns that will last as long as they'd like. I'm sure they'll want bigger soon, but that is what lawn jobs are for.

They can buy their next caliber if they'd like another, I don't think it's an end all situation...that's part of the fun!