Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Youth rifles

Went by sporting goods store today looking at youth rifles for my 8 yr old son. His older brother 10 year old shoots a Ruger American Compact in 7 mm-08 with reduced loads. It shoots good only complaint is 18” barrel where other youth models have 20” barrel. We looked at following models.

Ruger American Compact
Remington 700 youth
Savage Axis youth
Howa youth. It was muddy girl pink but surely you can get other colors.
Weatherby vanguard youth
Browning

I liked the Howa but didn’t like that safety had to be off to bolt for child.
Liked Ruger slightly more than Remington except shorter barrel and both more than savage.
Weatherby was nice but didn’t play with as much.
Browning is really nice but more than I would like to spend on first deer rifle.


Will probably get another 7 mm-08 but not for sure.

Any thoughts. I wound also consider Mossberg but they didn’t have one. I know it comes with spacer.

I had a REm. 700 youth in a .243 . It chot like crap and rusted very easily.

The Remington 700 Youth is a great platform. They are accurate and usable, and you can always upgrade/build on it later.

I’m sure there are other good options, but the Wby Youth model (in our case, .243) has been very accurate and effective for years.





Sighting in at 100 yds:

Are you sure about the Howa safety?

I've had a couple of them, still have one, and all have had 3-pos. safeties. Even the Timney replacement on an earlier one was 3-position.

The Howa would be a strong contender if I were choosing.

Looks like MarineHawk's crew is rolling them up! Congrats.

A few days back, Brownells had lightweight Howa 6.5 You-Know-What barreled actions for about $350. They also have their own wood stocks for about $215. Just a notion.

Another Howa option for youngsters (and maybe Gramps) is the Mini 6.5 Grendel Youth if you can find one. Should be on a par with reduced 7-08 loads. Requires a bit of tape to secure the crappy magazine in the field.

All the children I’ve taught have much preferred shooting 223’s to anything bigger, with the 6.5 Grendel being #2. They also have all preferred the Tikka compact to anything else. Being able to easily load the magazine themselves and the easy bolt lift and travel are the primary reasons.

I’d be solidly in Tikka T3x Compact 223 with 1/8” twist shooting good bullets.




Barring that, have you looked at the Howa Mini action in 6.5 Grendel? The whole thing is sized smaller, and children can work it much easier on their own. The factory stock can be reshaped by a guy on here to be very slim.

I would agree on the Tikka and Howa, based on price.
The Remington, Savage, Mossberg, Ruger are all viable options.

A PLUS is the option of purchasing an aftermarket, full size stock, when they are grown.

Whole heartedly endorse the .223, with 62-64 gr PSP or HP bullets. I have started 7 kids out with Rem 700 in .223.
All at 8 years old. All have taken deer and hogs, out to 250 yards, all with one shot.

Shot placement is critical. The low recoil greatly aids the shot placement.


Reloading larger cartridges down is a viable option, also.

My grandson moved up to a .30-06, this year. I have been loading light .25-06 equivalents for him. ( 115 hr bullets @ 2400 fps ). Very mild and accurate

My son started with a Ruger American in 243. "Full size", for the longer barrel, and I got a youth stock for it. The [bleep] magazines drove me nuts until I got one that worked 100%. He's never needed a second shot anyway, but there's always that chance. He loves the thing and won't give it up, and it now wears the longer stock. It's not what I'd do now. Form's advice is good particularly for a smaller kid; 8 is small.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I would definitely like to consider the Tikka compact. Pay a little more for a better rifle. The store I went to didn't have any. I had 3 kids with me and was trying to gun shop/kill time before a birthday party. My four year old was distracting while checking out each model. I would have like to handled the weatherby more.
As for the Ruger American, my 10 year old has that, and it shoots good with reduced recoil loads. Bolt and magazine are ok but not great. I like it's bolt and magazine better than the Savage. Remington was ok. I doubt it will shoot any better than Ruger. The main drawback to Ruger vs others is 18" barrel and wondering if 20" would be much less muzzle blast or if you could tell difference. I really liked the Howa. It's stock seemed nicer than others. This particular model was muddy girl and would have to order another color. Not sure if all safeties on Howa are like this, but this one wouldn't let you operate bolt until safety was pushed forward. It was not 3 position but some models may be. It was just push forward/back like Remington but locked bolt. Other than that I really liked it best. I will go looking elsewhere and look again. His birthday is in September and plan on the getting him the rifle for it.

As for calibers, I was mainly looking at .243 and 7mm-08. Possibly 6.5 creedmoor. Does anybody know how 6.5 creedmoor recoil is compare to .243 full power and 7mm-08 reduced recoil loads. I was thinking it would be slightly more than .243 and haven't seen any factory reduced recoil loads for it. I don't reload so I don't want to consider 6.5 grendal or .300 blackout since ammo for either is scarce. I will consider .223. I just don't see him getting over 2 seasons before he moves up. If I can tame a .243 or 7mm-08 down enough, he will get many seasons with a true deer rifle. My 10 year old has killed 8 deer in two seasons with his Ruger American 7mm-08. I would still like recoil to be less, b.ut he has been successful. I put limbsaver on, and he manages it ok with reduced loads. A slightly heavier rifle would help soak up recoil considering the american compact is only 6 lb. I may try adding 1-2 lb (temporarily) in buttstock to see how much affect it has.

If it was this one it has the 3 position safety. https://www.legacysports.com/howa-youth-rifles-now-come-with-moon-shine-camo/


My Howa 6.5 Grendel has the 3 position safety. The middle position is easy to push through. It’s not as pronounced as say a Ruger Hawkeye safety.

If you don't handload, the 7mm-08 does offer more options in reduced-recoil factory ammo. If adding some weight, I'd put in the forearm way before I'd put it in the buttstock. People sometimes act like half a pound on a rifle is a deal breaker, but for me, lack of balance is a deal breaker. A few ounces of handgun bullets bedded in the forend of a tupperware stock might only add 3/8 of a pound to a gun, but it can make it handle a lot better and settle on target much easier. I value that over some arbitrary overall weight on a scale.

I personally like the 700 youth guns, as the spacers allow for better stock fit as a kid grows. My daughter is now 14 and uses that system on her 700, also in 7mm-08,

I might have to check out Howa again. It’s possible I made mistake on safety while trying to keep 3 kids under control.

Mine has became more positive in the middle position with use.

I have the Mossberg Bantam Youth in 243 and like it a lot. It is not a lightweight; with the stock spacer, Talleys, a Leupold VX3i 3.5-10 and a mag full of 100 grain Corelokts, it weighs exactly eight pounds. Heavier than I would prefer but still very handy and easy to carry. Trigger is fine, about like a Savage Accutrigger imo. Mine breaks crisply and I haven't touched it out of the box (I am guessing about 3-3.5 pounds from the factory).

I haven't shot it enough to get a good feel for accuracy potential, but have no complaints about the ergonomics other than I wish it was a half pound lighter. If the Patriots go on sale again this Christmas I may pick up the 308 youth model.

The Weatherby comes with a spacer that extends the length of pull as the young hunter grows. It's called the Compact. About $460.



In the pic of my 11-yr-old at the range above, he is wearing a Past shoulder pad. I actually like the Cabela’s version better, but they both work wonders at the range.

I have had about a dozen children firing normal rifles and adults firing boomers that have, for the first time in my presence, tried the shoulder pads at the range. Every single one of them was amazed, including myself, on what a difference they make in softening the recoil. Two of them cut their group sizes by more than half with a 300 WM and 7mm RM respectively.

Use it at the range, and it won’t matter when not wearing it in the field.



What I do with all of my boomers at the range: I put on a heavy bipod which both steadies the rifle and adds a bunch of weight. It makes it recoil less. If wanted, take it off while hunting.

Padded leather shoulder pad + heavy bipod = pleasant range session shooting a large volume of rounds.

Take both off in the field, and they won’t notice the recoil, and will have a lighter rifle.

Look at the Savage 11/111 Trophy Hunter XP Youth 7mm-08. Decent package setup, 3 position safety and 20 inch barrel.

We have a Ruger American. It works great for what it is. It's accurate as hell, doesn't weigh much, and fits the kids pretty well. It's too short for my 14 year old son now but he has other rifles to use.

That's what I'd recommend.

If buying a Ruger American Compact, there are green Predator stocks out there on the used market, as people are upgrading those rifles. I dropped a SS 7mm-08 Compact in such a stock and it shot well.

https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/243-win-87-gr-sst-custom-lite

https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/7mm-08-rem-120-gr-sst-custom-lite

The 243 version will have a good bit less recoil.