Spent some time shooting a .357 Max with my youngest (11 year old) this past weekend. 21" light contour barrel on a Contender frame. 180 gr A-frame bullets over H110. He enjoyed it but we only shot a handful of rounds.
Spent time shooting a 21" .223 AI bolt gun, a 16" .350 Legend (AR), an 18" 357 Mag (77/357), and a 16" .223 (AR) in the same session. Shooting steel at 100 yards.
He shot all of them fine, again only shooting about 5 (+/-) shots from each. The 21" 357 Max has noticeably more recoil than the others but also notably less muzzle blast. The design of most Contender stocks results in a bit more muzzle rise so that's something that's important to remember....I forget about it until I shoot the first shot. He preferred the shooting the .357 Max to the others. I think the touch more recoil than the others was a little exciting to him (but he's been shooting a number of years).
The only one with lower muzzle blast than the 357 Max in this group was the 18" 357 mag. Both of them were lower than the other 3. Should note that the 77/357 has a terrible trigger, a 2.5x scope, and I was playing with some different ammo that didn't shoot well at all for either of us.....he's enjoyed shooting it in the past but the trigger as always been to heavy on it. The new ammo was very irritating for both of us. The cleaner, lighter Contender trigger and great accuracy (4x scope) made the Max a lot more satisfying to shoot. I should have grabbed the "known" 357 mag ammo for use in the 77/357 but I wanted to see what the other would do.
He's not a big fan of the AR. He shot them great but doesn't like the action and muzzle blast. He prefers the bolt and single shots.
He's been shooting the .223 AI bolt gun for years. Very little recoil, simple action, great trigger, easy to manipulate, scope on 6x. He likes it a lot but it's a known gun to him. I think the "new" on the 357 Max and the little more recoil (without being to much) was kinda a draw for him. The low muzzle blast and thump on the steel probably added to the attractiveness. He'll probably hunt with it this year.
Surprised me as I was expecting him to prefer the standby .223 AI bolt gun that he's been shooting for years. Leads me back to the recommendation to let your nephew shoot as many as you can (without over doing it) and see what he shoots best and prefers.
