Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Youth longer range hunting caliber?

Physics don't change even if we are small or not as strong as others.

All bullets slow down as they go through the air, and that means every bullet looses power as it gets farther from the muzzle.

So a "youth long range gun" is the same as a "big mans long range gun."

A cartridge and bullet that is so-so for killing game at 300 yards is not somehow better at 800 yards.

Such a question is parallel and analogues to asking "what barbell is best for my young son or daughter to compete with in the world champion weight lifting contest?" The answer is simple. The same one the biggest man uses.


First off, we do a disservice to the kids by teaching them to shoot at very long ranges at big game. That's the opposite of hunting. It's simply shooting, wounding and killing. Best to teach such marksmanship skills on gallon milk jugs.

I do like to shoot long range and I have done it of about 45 years, but "long range hunting" is like "light weight lead" or "Clinton honesty". There is no such thing.

2nd, by shooting at game at long range just to say you did it, is to give the anti-hunting foes more and valuable leverage against hunting for us all, all over the USA.

But if you insist on doing it, keep in mind that the bullet wound does the killing. The depth and diameter of the bullet hole, breaking bones and going through. If your rifle and cartridge combination does a good job at 300 yards, and results in quick humane kills you need something that gives the same size and depth of wound at the range you want to shoot.

So if we look at 100% penetration (which is far more important at 600-800 yards then it is at 200 because you will most likely NEED a good blood trail, and you will not be able to walk right to the exact spot of the hit as easily) and lets say, a cavity of at least 1" in diameter.

What gun will do that?
Well not ANY that are light, short and have low levels of recoil. NONE!!!!

The ones that do well are the 300 mags with bullet of 200 grains and 220 grains, some of the biggest 8MMs the big 338s and the 9.3X62 does well. So does the 375H&H.and the very best ones are the 416 Barret, 408 CheyTac and the 50 BMG.

So the kids needs to get tough, so recoil is not a problem, and strong enough to carry a heavy rifle, and probably both.

"Long range" is a term that needs to be defined. Is long range 400 yards? or 600? Or 800? Or 1400?
There is often a very notable difference in the effects of a bullet at 400 and 600. There is ALWAYS a big difference between 400 and 1000 yards.

And the target............ is that a 140 pound deer or a 900 pound bull elk?
Elk need bullets that break MUCH bigger bones, and go about 50% to 75% deeper then deer bullets. An elk doesn't die easier just because he is farther away. In fact it's harder to put them down at longer ranges.

And your rifles needs to do the job well if you jump the elk at only 50 yards instead of seeing it at 600. Your rifle needs to cover all the bases. But in reality, such a rifle has not been invented, so we get as close to the "perfect rifle" as we can.

If you self-impost a max range of about 500 meters you'll find that about 85% of the common deer rifles do just fine if you load the right kind of bullet in them. Past 500 meters the game starts to change and it changes a LOT at much longer ranges.

Such guns are the big ones, with the big bullets. Standard deer rifles with excellent bullets are all you need out to about 450, but beyond that, the power lever should go up a LOT and/or your bullet's performance! Bullets that work well at longer ranges usually blow up and do vert poorly at mid and close range, and the real truth is that 85% of all the game you'll kill in your life is at close to mid range. 50 to 300 yards.

If you insist on doing this, the best way to proceed is to have the kid shoot so much that he/she can put a 1st round from a cold bore on a milk jug 100% of the time. At any range they miss is a range they are not stable enough, and they should not shoot from that position or that range.

Have them shoot many many thousands of rounds of good hunting ammo with bullets made to work at 25 to 500 yards, Then have them shoot enough of the "long range bullets" to be able to hit the jug 100% of the time with that load at the long range you have in mind. HUNT with the rifle loaded with the standard ammo. When you decide to take the long shot you have time. So unload the standard ammo and re-load with the long range load. And remember that what is marketed to you as a "long range bullet" may only be a market scheme. Most of the LR bullets I have seen used are a farce to be right out front with it. (there....I said it) The bonded ones do work OK in most cases however. Remember..and EXIT wound is what you will really need want when you make a hit at long range.

"Youth gun" and "long range big game" are 2 things that don't mix well. They mix exactly as well as "Long Range Hunting" and "Hunting Rights". Since this has become a national fad I am seeing a lot more wounded game in the fields and I have found a lot more dead ones that someone lost. Found 4 of the just this year.

The anti-gun and anti-hunting folks know it too---- and they will take full advantage of it.

You are way better off teaching the kid to hunt when he/she is hunting, and to shoot at long range on other targets.