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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 6,555
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 6,555 |
Since you do not reload, i would vote for a youth stocked RAR in .223 or .22-250, or an AR in .223. The six position stock would fit every kid with a click of a button. A youth Marlin XS 7 in .223, .22-250 or .243 would also work. Reduced recoil loads in .243 are available, but are pricey.
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 46,748
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 46,748 |
Get another Ruger American in .243. They'll kill the heck out of stuff and make a lot of memories.
Last edited by tzone; 07/21/15.
Camp is where you make it.
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 46,748
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 46,748 |
BM,
I got my kids a Ruger American Compact in .223. I will have to say as much as they love shooting it, I believe I like it more. My next rifle will be a Kimber .223. I can see shooting a barrel out, it's that fun to shoot.
Factory ammo is easy to come by and PLENTY of bullets if you want to reload.
They may or may not be proud of them by looks, but as you said, they're kids and the gun can take a dinger or two and you won't feel too badly about it.
My boy is going to be carrying one this season for the youth season.
Camp is where you make it.
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 44,906 Likes: 13
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 44,906 Likes: 13 |
Will the low comb of the RAR stock have a kid's (presumably smaller) head floating while looking for a sight picture?
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,120
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2004
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I started my brothers and sisters and grand-kids (ages 4 to 12) on a Savage .22LR/410 and Savage .22LR/20 gauge. The .22 ammo is cheap and the ammo limitation teaches accuracy and patience. If you can find these used they will become "heirlooms" and the young'uns will really learn how to HUNT - not just SHOOT!
There are three savage's in our family and I cherish my .30-30 over 12 gauge. When I pass my kids will get a bunch of rifles, shotguns, pistols, and revolvers - but they are already lining up to grab the Thutty-Thutty/12 bore!
Terry
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13
Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13 |
I'd skip the youth stocks if buying for an 11 year old. Especially a girl.
Travis
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual. Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit. My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,063
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,063 |
I'd skip the scopes, unless the kids have trouble seeing. I could shoot the mustache off a mouse with open sights when I was that young. I'll bet a good receiver sight and front bead combo would work great at the range a .223 is effective on big game.
I'll go for the .223, primarily because the ammo is so cheap. A big part of the reason my gang used .30-06 rifles in the 1960s was the ready availability of milsurp rifles and ammo. The Army had just gone to .308s, you could pick from a rack of Springfields for $30 each, and a million tons of ammo left over from 60 years of war was in the markdown bin.
I wouldn't spend my money on pretty rifles. I'd spend it on ammo and Gore-Tex, so they don't freeze their young tushes off.
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 149
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 149 |
We have a week in Mid-October where school is out for a Thurs/Fri. That is the week I will take the kids out. Getting good grades and doing well in school are prerequisites in order for them to go. This both gives them a fun incentive to get good grades and it is easy to remind them they better behave if they want to go. Sure worked for me. Also, when I think about life in the big picture, where will they learn more about life that week, in school or on that trip? Which is a better lifelong experience they will always remember? Thanks. That's a great idea.
Circles
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,340
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,340 |
I like the Weatherby Vanguard S2 Youth in .223 or .243.
Don't roll those bloodshot eyes at me.
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,678
Campfire Regular
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OP
Campfire Regular
Joined: Oct 2007
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Some say 223. some say 243. some say both. Conundrum!
What you do today is important, you are trading a day in the rest of your life for it.
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13
Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13 |
You know the answer. Don't make me have to persuade with pictures.
Travis
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual. Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit. My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 2,059
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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deflave, persuade with some pictures, please!
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dadgum it, I cannot put my finger on exactly why, but I feel pulled to the 243. I already have one? maybe that makes it easier (ammo, no fighting over which one they like better). Am I somewhat unconvinced as to the effectiveness of a 223 on deer sized critters? quite possibly.
We like to shoot, but at this point, we dont shoot as much as we like to as we have to drive somewhere to do it (live on a lake). so does that take away some of the appeal of a two two three?
What you do today is important, you are trading a day in the rest of your life for it.
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 11,666
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 11,666 |
.223 can mean more shooting. That said, one son started with a .243, another with 7-08, and my daughter immediately fell in love with my wife's 6.5x257. The oldest doesn't shoot much, but the other 2 shoot very well. Trigger time is the key, IMO.
Broncos are officially the worst team in the nation this year.
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13
Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13 |
Berettaman, I hate to do this, but you leave me no choice. A young delinquent and his first centerfire. A .223:
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual. Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit. My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13
Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13 |
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual. Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit. My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13
Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13 |
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual. Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit. My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13
Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13 |
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual. Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit. My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13
Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13 |
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual. Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit. My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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Joined: May 2014
Posts: 1,122
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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Amazing that folks suggest rifles for "kids" that they wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole.....
Having taught quite a few kids, boys and girls, and having them shoot every rifle/combo thus far mentioned, there is a recipe that works and a bunch that fail consistently.
Travis is a meany, however he is correct- you need a 223. The 223 is a certifiable murderer with good bullets because it promotes fun, which promotes practice which promotes dead things.. Hitting and killing animals is about round count (away from the bench). Round count is about fun. Solid 223's setup right are the funnest guns around and ammo is cheap.
Recoil bothers them soo much more than it does adult males. What's worse is to "make daddy proud" most try to fight through it, which drops the fun meter, which drops the round count, which drops hiring. When put in an environment where they can freely shoot at will any/all guns and cartridges lay'd before them it's quickly apparent that good setup 233 bolt guns and AR15's get smoldering barrels while every other cartridge isn't touched but once. Bigger than 223, 243's are the next thing and get shot 10-1 over any 260/7-08/308. The 243 with good bullets is a MONSTER and will kill every animal in NA without issue.
High end is a Kimber Montana in 223, but you've expressed concern over price, so Tikka T3 are awesome shooters and children seem to prefer them as much or more in my experience. Most find it easier to load the mags, than top loading an internal. That's important because the only kids that I have been around that develop a life long true passion for shooting and hunting all had things in common- namely that they were encouraged to do everything themselves (and were able) without a parent or mentor just handing them a rifle and saying "shoot that one".
If both the Kimber at around $1k and the Tikka at $600 are too much, than the Ruger Compact All Weather is where I'd land. Those rifles have proven to do well, they're sized appropriately, are lightweight, typically quite accurate, and a bunch of fun at less than $400.
Top it with a straight 6x Leupold or SWFA SS. Kids REALLY get into dialing turrets and ringing steel or popping balloons at 400-500 yards.
In closing, for shooting and deer/antelopes/etc I'd be in Montana/Tikka/ RAR all weather compact mode in 223 with a SWFA SS 6x. They will wear the barrel out, and more than likely you will too.
When ready for elk an identical setup in 243. Form, My eight year old handled and operated some 12 different rifles I had. Savage, Marlin, Ruger, Zastava, Remington, and Tikka. Her final analysis was the Tikka T3 was by far her favorite. She is now the proud owner of an 8 twist 223 Tikka Superlite. I'm thinking about lopping 2" off the barrel and 2-3" off the stock. The kiddo is only 8 and I'd like to get her started on the 223 pretty soon. To date she's only worked with her Davey Crocket 22 and has run several thousand rounds a year through it starting at the age of 3. Do you have any recommendations on getting the T3 more user friendly as far as the stock is concerned. I've never owned a SS 6X42. How is the eyebox compared to the leupold? All my SS have been 10X42s. As far as safeties go I've seen so many rifles go off that were on safety growing up Ive lost all confidence in the mechanism. I've taught my daughter for years to only chamber a round when she's ready to pull the trigger. I also hunt with an empty chamber and only chamber a round when I see something I want to shoot at. A good friends rifle went off while on safety and fired a 30/06 165 grainer several inches from my head once. I generally hunt alone now as other folks walking around me with a loaded round is a bit nerve racking. Its a bit different and I know its different strokes for different folks. Thanks Shod
Last edited by Shodd; 07/24/15.
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