Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles So, I bought my son a rifle.......

........and a shotgun.

My previous post and good, resulting feedback about the Remington 783 all got thrown a curve ball this past weekend.

I found an H&R 058 with a .30-30 barrel and a 3" 20 gauge barrel at a decent price. All metal is very nice. The wood quite nice, as well.

I'm kinda reasoning out that the recoil of the .30-30 should be quite tolerable for my son (he has Down Syndrome and has not shot anything larger than .22 RF as yet). If it's more than he is comfortable with, I can always load him some reduced stuff with light bullets. The wooden stock can be easily shortened if need be. The 20 gauge barrel will swap right in for spring turkey, requiring him to only be one familiar with one gun.

I am leaning heavily toward mounting a 3 MOA Burris red dot on the gun for both deer and turkey duties as I plan to limit his shots on deer to 50 yards or less. Keeping things as simple to operate for him as I can.

Good choices! A boy is well set with a 30-30 and a 20 gauge. I used that combo into my Twenties.

That aughtta do. It's a shame they stopped making those.

To see the look on his face the first time he whacks a deer or turkey with that will be a picture in your head for the rest of your life. Good on ya, dad.

Cool gun actually!

Perfect!

Did not see the thread on the 783, but, I like what you've got here.

K.I.S.S, is a great principal.

I'd say you did well for him.

Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement, fellers !!

I know this isn't going to be the easiest undertaking........ Even though my son is quite high-functioning, there will be many hurdles to overcome, getting him connected on a deer or gobbler. But his desire level is high and mine is higher than that. So long as he tolerates the added recoil, I feel we will be a great part of the way there.

In the process of sniffing out a Weaver/Picatinny rail to fit the gun, as the standard 2-slot, 60a base is slotted too long for the red dot sight. That and a set of 35mm Weaver rings and we oughta be good to get the ball rolling.

I bought an H&R single shot back in the 1990s. It was in 243 Winchester but they had a deal going you could order extra barrels. I got a 30-30 barrel for it but found it still had a little to much recoil. I had a muzzle brake put on it. Man what a difference! You could shoot full power factory ammo and not have any recoil. Wasn't that much extra noise with the shot either. If your boy says it still kicks too much I suggest a muzzle brake. It worked for me.

Appreciate the firsthand info !!

Very doubtful I'd go the way of a muzzle brake. I've recently moved and my reloading bench has yet to become a reality, or I'd brew some proper rounds up for the boy.

I'm highly considering trying some of the Remington Managed Recoil loads until I can roll my own, again.

In your other thread you mentioned needing a short LOP, if the gun has the factory plastic butt plate then having it cut down to his LOP with a good pad would help with recoil, but you probably know that already.

The 20 gauge shells might kick worse, I started both my kids with 1oz pheasant loads and a red dot rather than use turkey specific ammo. They've gone 3-3 one shot bang flops from 18-27 yards. Makes me wonder why I punish myself messing with 2oz 12ga stuff.

That was my first gun as well, 30 years ago. Still carry it in the woods a couple of times a year

You're right on track.

Likely going to shorten and install a Sims pad. They work wonders. I'm also considering finding a .410 barrel for turkeys, rather than using the 20 ga. The new TSS technology has .410's doing unheard of things on turkeys.