Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 8th grade graduation rifle...what one?

My son is graduating 8th grade in June and as my dad did with me at that time, I am going to buy him a new rifle. I want a "do all" North American game rifle. So .270, 30-06, or 308 are my choices. Leaning towards a 30-06. He has a 223 and 243. I'm partial to Ruger M77's but could be talked into anything. I'm looking at Remington's 700 American Wilderness Rifle. Thoughts on this? Has anyone shot one? Accurate? Christensen Arms is on my radar too. My budget is $1200. A few of my friends have Kimber's, but they don't seem to accurate. I'm not looking for sub MOA out of the box, but maybe better than 1.5" groups at 100 yards. Any advise on this would be very much appreciated.

Thank you

Take your son to the gun shop, and let him pick out the rifle.

That's a thought...

He has expensive taste though :>)

But he'll keep it for sixty years because "it's from Dad" and pass it along to one of his kids.

He still has a lot of growing to do, he might be more comfortable in a compact now and a full size in a few years. For a kid 14, I would consider 7mm-08 or 308. Tikka T3 is hard to beat, the compact has a 20" tube, the regular 22". I personally would lean to the 7mm-08, the.308 is fine for under 400yds and cheaper to shoot. 7mm-08 just is a little more flat shooting.

He's 150# Defense and Offensive lineman. He can hold his own.

Wait till shortactionsmoker turns loose with the Barrett special edition 6.5 creedmoor and buy him that. As a special edition, he may appreciate it more than a run of the mill Remington or other brand.

I carry my father's guns and my grandfather's guns. They matter more to me than anything I ever bought new.

IMO......A New Haven, Winchester Model 70 in 30-06. Great safety, great trigger, and proven through time. You may even get “lucky” and find one in stainless! memtb

I like weird rounds and my current do it all is a 6.5 wsm. Easy single pass of 270 WSM to neck down and away you go. I am gettin 3285 fps with a 147 from my 26” barrel. Recoil isn’t much and outside of maybe brown bears up close there is nothing in North America I wouldn’t use it on without worry.

There happens to be a really nice semi custom R77 Hawkeye stainless with 24” barrel on gunbroker for $1k buy now. Guy says he gets almost 3400 fps with 120 TSX (which should not be pushing it at all) and has 200 brass. I was thinking hard on adding it to my safe but wouldn’t be upset at all if you snagged it for your boy.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/755596251

Damn you Matt, I'm just gonna have to get a donor..... that purple swirly I s what I ordered for my 6.5 short build

If he likes the ruger, keep it simple and get him another one. Maybe an older tang safety. Theres enough of an assortment of ruger 77's out there, that im sure you can find the exact model he wants. I agree on 30-06 though..

I would definitely let him pick out the rifle. He needs something that fits and balances well for him.

My father gave me a 30-06 for deer season when I was in 9th grade. I love and still have that rifle and the 30-06 is still one of my favorite cartridges. However, I think I would have been better off back then had he got me something with a little less recoil like a 270, 7mm-08, 308, etc. Funny thing is if he had ask me, the 14 year old kid would have insisted on a 30-06.

Yes, let him pic. I'm a real "feel" guy, if it fits and feels good, your gtg.

I don't know if I would spend that much for 8th grade graduation, after all that is not the end of the education march. I taught 8th grade for 27 years and I saw a lot of boys who thought they were grown at that time. Just my opinion, but buy him a reasonable priced rifle for this graduation with the promise of a really nice rifle for high school graduation and a similar item for college graduation if he chooses that route.

As for which rifle and caliber, a good Ruger, Winchester, Remington, Tikka, etc. would work fine. For caliber, anything in the 6.5 or 7mm range. My pick would probably be a 7mm-08 or 6.5 CM.

I think if I was in his postition and me being pretty young,
that whatever my dad thought was best for me would make
me appreciate it the most.

Get him a 77 and I'm sure it will work for life.

Put a limit on what you will pay and if he wants something more expensive than that he can make up the difference. The rifle will be a gift from Dad plus he will have some of his sweat equity into the purchase.

Let him pick the cartridge though. Chances are he will pick what you suggest or already have, but I remember as a lad the fun of poring over ballistics and rifle configurations trying to pick what would be the best rifle and cartridge for me.

6.5 Creedmoor

I’d buy him a Remington 700 BDL in any 3 of those calibers and then get him a GOOD scope ($500-700 scope budget).

SS tikka 30-06, still one of the most versatile rounds around. Few rifles today seem as consistent out of the box as tikka. I know of a new sako A7 30-06 in the Flathead for around $1k, nice rifle but longer and heavier than the tikka.