Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles is the 270 too much for a kid to start out with?

dixon,

I bet you are dumb as you look.

Hang a pic..................

I shot my first deer with a 270 at age 11. I still have the scope ring in between my eyes. I was not a small child. Now I am 6'6" and 280lbs.

Started out with a 30-30 Marlin, then had to shoot Dad's 270. Was I big enough, sure, but I did not have enough time behind the scope to be proficient. I had only shot it at the range in the backyard.

I rode the stock and got too close to the scope. I also had a great problem locating the deer in the scope. Did it dissuade me, no, but I could see it turning some kids off of it forever.

With the new mangaed recoil shells and such, it would be better. I really think a lesser caliber in a smaller rifle with a long eye relief scope would be the best. Maybe even an Encore.

The 6x42 shines here,as it do everywhere...............

Look, Larry has some valid points, and if the concentration was on the message and not the messenger, that'd probably get picked up on fast.

There are two problems with going the .270 route, versus the .223 or .243 route as he indicated.

The first is that most .270s are rather heavy. As he indicated, a standard .270 to a kid that size is going to weigh and feel like a 15-16 pound rifle to many of us. That, is not insignificant, and would be a problem from the get-go.

To go the opposite route, and make it light enough to be handy for the kid, you're upping the ante on recoil. A 9 pound .270 to a kid that size, in recoil, is going to be akin to a 5-6 pound .270 to us, and a 6 pound .270 to the kid is going to be akin to an 8-9 pound .375H&H or worse. Again, something to consider.

My daughter is going hunting with me for her first time this fall. She's quite a bit smaller than the kid in question, and the rig she's going to use is a .243. There are several very good loads (light) for the .243 if you handload, that reduce the blast (another consideration for young, inexperienced shooters) and recoil to negligible, nearly inconsequential levels. Seafire posted a few of those a while back. And, they'll kill deer NICELY. The .243 is something that the kid can grow into and with, and really never outgrow, while not being abused up front, either by weight of the rifle or recoil.

I'd not run the .270 route for the kid, as the concessions and the complications are just too great.

Feed a kid's confidence that is fueled by their practice,with good bullets and the rest is easy.

I'm amazed at the percentage of folks purposely doing their kids wrong,in all those departments.................

Agreed.

Of course, stumbling upon a first run Rem.700 ADL carbine in .243 makes the choice easy.

That, coupled with some of Seafire's BlueDot loads, bullets that go exactly where you want them, do nasty things to critters when they get there, and even a 6 year old can fill the pot. That's the idea, assuming the venison cooperates.

This schit, ain't hard.................... though if you try, you can make it so (been guilty of that before).

Set them up for success and the rest is easy..............

That's the goal.

There was a bunch of us kids of similar age in my family and we started out with various 600's, 660's, 788's, and 700's, all in 243win. I killed my first one at 9yrs and 80lbs with a 600/308win, but Pop was smart enough to know that I needed something more appropriate. The next Christmas I got a 243 ADL, B&C handle, dies, and Partitions.

I know a guy who started hunting with his 8 year old grandson last year. He bought a M77UL in 223 and the kid kills reliably with 62gr Partitions.

My dad started me with a H&R topper buck gun in 12ga.. took me about 5 years to figure out that guns didn't hurt when you shoot them.

Up grading rifles is easy.. getting over a flich.. not much so.

Remington youth in 243.. good idea

Or maybe a Marlin in 357. Won't kick much and you can buy pistol ammo in boxes of 50 (even 38 spec reloads in bags of 100). Once he progesses to a bigger gun that little carbine in 357 will still be lots of fun for both you and him.

From a guy who started with a 338 WM at 12 because 'we' (my dad) needed one since we'd just moved to Alaska. It kills on one end and maims on the other. I had a great upbringing but that is one thing I do hold a bit of a grudge on.
I'd second the 223/243 starting gun. In fact I recently purchased a youth 223 for my kids, one is 2 and the other 1 month old. I�m working on breaking it in for them with a full size stock until they�re bigger :);, it will double duty as my walking around coyote gun until then. Shop around pick up a good used starter gun and when they�re bigger you can probably sell it for what you�ve got in to it and move up if they want.

My kids all shoot rather exceptionally and there's no doubtthat is because I put much thought into gearing them for success.

Much to be said for a scoped,high quality air rifle laying by,that they can shoot to their heart's content.

None of this is Rocket Science................

+P, even if not scoped.

I am starting mine on something smaller than a .270.

First a 223 in 1:8 twist, now I'm flirting with a 6.5x45L

I've always had a .22lr to match the centerfire.

I know I'm beating a dead horse but I bought my youngest son a 270 many years ago. It was a great deal and I figured he could use it when he was ready. I started both of my sons out with a 250-3000 which they liked. One day, when he was 11, he spied the 270 in the safe and asked who's it was. I told him it was his when he was older. Kid had more guts than brains at the time and hounded me that he was ready. We went out back, he shot it once, handed it back and said he liked the 250 better. He is now 15 and has used his 270 for 2 years. Shoots it well and can handle it.

Hold up a minute while I get my popcorn ready!!!!

I'd wager that the lad will be more comfortable and confident shooting a .243 than a .270. Moreover, a well-shot deer will do more to boost his confidence and self-esteem thant a gut-shot one from the rifle he couldn't quite handle.

Those first experiences are what will make or break him if he is like most kids.

I started my son out with a gun that fit him, has reasonable recoil, is topped with a good scope and the trigger is adjusted for a good clean relatively light break. I spent at least as much on that rifle as I have on any gun I've gotten for myself.

I'd say in a few range sessions he got further than I did in my first several years dinking around with various guns, chamberings et al. He also likely can outshoot the majority of folks I see at the range. Good stuff really doesn't cost much more than mediocre stuff, and your kid will go farther and faster than you can imagine.



I just need to get him away from the 100 yd berm and see what happens when he stretches out to 300. Then we'll have to see about hanging some steel out to 500.

You can't get a kid a gun that is too accurate, nor teach them to shoot too well. But you certainly can handicap them in an attempt to save a buck, or get a gun "appropriate for a kid".

Another gem there Lee... I referred specifically to the NEF single shot. Clearly you are clueless about how they recoil. They are light and poorly designed. Doubt you will understand that either.
art

ADK4Rick,
If you handload then I suggest that you load a 130 gr. bullet down to about 2200 to 2400 FPS until he grows a bit and developes some confidence in his shooting..That will kill a deer plenty good enough and recoil will be very little..

I started all my kids and grandkids off with a 222 and 60 gr. Hornadys and it worked very well up to about 100 yards or so on our Mule Deer..Later they went on to the 25-35, 6x45 , 250 savage and up..Today they all shoot well and are confident in shooting any caliber.

Just let common since guide you, its no big deal.....