Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ruger American compact recoil

My 9 year old son has a Ruger American compact in 7 mm-08 and the recoil is more than I expected. He’s already using Hornady custom lite reduced ammo. He killed 5 deer up close with it last year but worried he will develop bad shooting habits like flinching. Debating on letting him stick with this gun or trade it in on something else and if so what. What can we do to further reduce recoil. Not wanting a muzzle break or suppressor. Do other youth guns have less felt recoil in 7mm-08 or do you change to .243. I did realize that the Ruger has an 18” barrel and most youth rifles have a 20” barrel. Not sure how much difference 2” of barrel makes. As a side note he shoots left handed and the gun is right handed and would be nice if traded to get him in LH gun. All suggestions would be appreciated.

If you think the 7-08 has too much recoil for him, I’m move to a 243 with the right bullet (i.e. designed for deer, not varmints)

Also he has a 7 year old brother and 2 little sisters so I’m not too worried about outgrowing guns as they can be passed down to siblings as he grows. His little brother shoots a .22 right handed target practicing. Waiting another year before he shoots at deer. Both practice with a .22

You could consider the American "Ranch" (the one with the tan stock) in 300 Blk. The barrel is even shorter than your 7-08, but it has a really mild muzzle blast and recoil, making it easy for smaller kids to use.

JMO on the left handed thing - my son is also left handed, but I'm teaching him to use right handed rifles for his own benefit. I figure if he can use common right-handed tools most of the time, he'll have an advantage over other left-handers that think they always need left hand stuff. He's doing very well with it so far, and a lot of lefties can become ambidextrous without too much trouble.

Do you or a buddy handload? If you do, you can dip below the level of the factory lite loads. My daughter started shooting at 6 or 7 with a youth 7mm-08, but they were 100gr bullets over pistol powder. Her load in the field was 140's at 2,100 or so. The 100gr load was like shooting a .223.

As JPro pointed out handloading to lower velocities with lighter bullets is a good option. Since you mentioned he is left handed and you thought of trading a left hand 243 with a 20 or better a 22 inch barrel that weighs 6 pounds or more without the scope might be a good option.

You are doing your son no favors whatsoever. You're right though, left-handers have no business wanting equipment that's designed for them. They especially don't deserve the safety features that come along with shooting a firearm the way it is supposed to be fired.

I have two boys who are lefties. After watching them struggle with basic functions (safety / bolt operation) I decided to get them left handed rifles. Night and day difference. Everything immediately seemed to flow so much better for them. They are shooting Savage Axis ii XP's in 7mm-08 with 20" barrels. They also have generous (factory) recoil pads on them. I started them out 120gr Hornaday custom lite's you did. The recoil is negligible to them and the older boy moved up to 140gr Remington Core Lokt this season without a flinch.

I think part of the problem with the RAC's is the lighter weight (shorter barrel) and short LOP making it really light in the rear. I just recently bought myself a RAC in .308 and even it will get my attention. I think the Savage Axis ii XP scoped weighs in at 7.5 on the scales. But it seems balanced better with the 20" barrel. Heck I like carrying / shooting it. So, I'd say go find him something in left hand and maybe a 20" barrel, or get a slip on pad for another season or two out of the RAC. Regardless, you'll have no trouble unloading that 7mm-08 if you decide to put the money toward something else. They're a very popular little rifle.

There are a lot of people who will say "I'm left handed and have shot right handed my whole life" and that's fine. But go try wiping your rearend for a week with your opposite hand and see which one you'd rather use if you had the choice.

My two kids are lefties but are right-eye dominant. They shoot righty rifles as a result. Easier to train the hands than the eye.

A young friend of mine finally had enough cash saved up to buy his first LH rifle a couple weeks back a Ruger American 223. He is going to bring it out to my place next week and we are going to go call some coyotes. I'm going to be very interested in his comments on his new gun after always having to use a RH.

I have a RAR compact in .243 as a kid gun for my 9 and 11 year olds. We shoot a handload of a 85g partition with RE15 at about 2700 fps. I put some tungsten putty in the stock to add about a 1/2 pound to the rifle. So far they have been OK with it.

I would move to 243. Shoot an 80grn Barnes TTSX, it will kill deer sized stuff no problem. My friends 12 year old son shot a cow elk two weeks ago at 160 yards with a Ruger American compact in 243 with that bullet, complete pass through and a dead elk. Probably was not the best choice but he was not comfortable with the 7-08 and could drive nails with his Ruger, they kept their shots under 200 yards, picked out a reasonable sized animal and filled their tag. For a 12 year old you could even consider a 25-06, it will REALLY launch out 80 and 100grn TTSX's.

There is currently a Ruger American left hand stainless compact on Gunbroker in 243. Super gun! I had one just like it. The stainless versions in the American line are all discontinued, and the lefty stainless versions were a short term distributor exclusive several years ago.
As a lefty I'd for sure recommend a true left hand action.
Is the length of pull correct on the Ruger compact for him?
Nice thing about the Ruger is, you can eventually put a full length stock on the compact rifle. Simple 2 minute swap.

A few things you could do on the Ruger to reduce recoil-

Limbsaver Airtech pad. They make one for the compact American, and one for the full size stock. Simple two screws, and with no fitting required.

How is the weight? If he wouldn't mind a pound or so extra, that is easy, and would soak up a lot of recoil.
The forend cavities under the barrel can be filled in, with anything from black silicone caulk to bedding compound.
Also, the butt cavity can be filled- anything from spray foam to silicone.

I did silicone in the butt and forend of a Ruger American Ranch 450, and it gained about 1# 4 oz., while balancing very nicely.

But, I really wouldn't do anything to that one if it is going to be his primary gun. Trade for the same one in left hand, either 243 or 7mm-08, and then modify from there if needed.

I agree with you and I'm a lefty.

If you trade it off, for Heaven's sake get him a left-hand bolt, not another RH. Unless he's right eye dominant there is no point in handicapping him.


If .223 is legal in your state I'd consider one, otherwise go .243.

KenMi's suggestion of the Ruger is good, there are also Remington and Savage LH Compacts available.

TThanks for the suggestions. I am going to see about limb saver and adding weight. Does limb saver increase length of pull. I want to keep it same. My thinking on taming this rifle is I could pass this one to younger brother next year and get him a LH rifle. I will have to buy another rifle next year anyway. He pretty much shoots from a rest and can’t shoot offhand anyway so the extra weight probably benefits more than not.

He’s actually mixed. My son writes lh, throws rh, kicks left foot, bats rh, and shoots lh since he’s left eye dominant. Younger brother is rh all the way.

A slip on limb saver will add some length of pull. I use them on some rifles and shotguns to increase length of pull to fit me better. I'm not sure if they make a screw on replacement for his gun if they do that would be a good option. Adding weight will help as well. Felt recoil has a lot more to do with gun fit as well. A gun that make kick like a mule to me may not seem that bad to you and vice versa.

The pre-fit pad will add 1/4-3/8" at most to the LOP, cause it is a full inch, and the Ruger pad isn't

Suggestions:

Do you not have an AR? They're plenty ambi and the stock adjusts. .223 works, it's just a little sub-par on leaving a blood trail sometimes. A barrel and bolt change gets you into 6.5 Grendel. I would suggest the bolt and barrel from 65grendel.com group buys.

Lead wool in the butt will soak up recoil, but that's the worst place to add weight for a youngster if the rear is not supported during shooting.

A Lee hand press, dies and scoops are fairly inexpensive. A neck sizer die is easier to deal with on the hand press. You only need to get it going fast enough to open a 120gr Ballistic Tip. Slow loads tend to group well.

AND, if the kid only ever fires the 7mm08 at deer, having done all practice with 22lr you might not have to do any of this anyway. That's what I do. These kids don't know their ARs have any recoil. To tell it all, a 22lr AR does have the big bolt knocking around, so it moves somewhat like simulated recoil, but I really don't think they notice the recoil from the lighter centerfire rounds when fired at deer.