Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Youth first long range rifle

My oldest son wants to get into shooting long range with me. He turns 8 this fall and has been shooting 22lr and 223 for some time now. I’d like to get him as low of a recoiling rifle I can that will grow with him and can be used to take deer and antelope when he is ready.

Any suggestions? My initial thought is an AR in 6mm arc or a chassis rifle in the same or 6mm creedmoor.

Sounds like you already have your answer.

Been thinking about an ARC barrel for my AR. Leaning 22".

A GOOD 22LR. Hint.............

Fast twist .223 with the highest BC bullets

Get him behind a Vudoo V22..

Hard to argue with a first class 22 to teach the basics of marksmanship, breathing control, trigger control, etc... that will easily transfer over to any centerfire you put him behind. After that I would consider adding a fast twist 223 to the stable for cheap practice at longer ranges with high BC bullets...

I heard BC is a placebo for marksmanship.

Go with a slingshot and glass marbles.

Another fast twist 223 vote. But in a bolt action vs AR. Tikka has youth stocks for their rifles.
Plus he can use it for deer

A fast twist .223/.223AI has so much going for it...youth or adult. Aside from rimfire it's hard to beat it for cost to feed, ammo availability, good component choices, barrel life, low noise/blast/recoil, platform options, etc. All those things make it possible to shoot more...and nothing beats shooting more. I like the AI option and no downside to be able to shoot plain jane .223 is a plus....but even standard .223 twisted fast is great.

Considering growing with him...it's not just fit of rifle. If he likes to shoot/hunt, he'll never grow out of the usefulness of a .223.

Considering fit of rifle, I'm not a big chassis person but after using one with my 3 kids..and myself...the MDT LSS with an adjustable AR stock has a lot of flexibility in LOP. One thing to keep in mind for a kid, that often gets skipped over, is cheek weld. Kids often get a stock with a shorten LOP but no thought given to drop on comb. It's an easy fix to raise it with bear tooth or stick on neoprene pads for ar stocks.

Reading comprehension 101. Already has been shooting a 22 and 223.

243, 260, 6.5, or 7mm-08 in a bolt action that fits him well. Better yet if it has a youth stock option or adjustable LOP

Perhaps a RAR Predator 6mmCM in a light chassis?

As JPro, says 6mm Creed is what will work well from length of a corn cob to a 1000 yrds. Rio7

A 223 set up for long range is a gun you will never grow out of. And will probly be the one thats shot the most.

mud bogger, I'm 83 yrs old and when do i have to worry about growing out of my 6mms?

Nothing wrong with a 6mm. I doubt I will ever be without a 243! That said a kid..or anybody..can burn up alot of ammo. Hard to get cheaper than a 223. And the more trigger time, the better.

Hell, i had my buddies kids maybe 13ish years old. Shooting a few rifles of mine across a canyon. I had a blast watching them learn how the drop chart, reticle and rangefinder all worked together. They shot the hell outta the 223 until they got to try my sendero 300rum in a krg chassis. Lil [bleep] burned through 50 rounds of 300 ammo pretty quick. They loved it, but I sure wouldn't wanna keep those kids stocked with that ammo

I read that as he's been shooting one...not necessarily one that fits him or that is "his".

That's what I got out of it too. Also a big difference between the normal 223 schit killer vrs a rifle set up for plinking way out there

The 223 he’s been shooting has a classic 3-9 variable. It is a fast twist barrel, so maybe not a bad idea to just swap the scope and get him dialing.

I shoot everything thus far mentioned and a lot that hasn't been. It's fascinating how many have never even seen,let alone shot a GOOD 22LR and with all the wares lined up side by each,the 22LR never isn't not gonna STREAL The Show. Hint.




Just saying.

Hint.................

IMO, that would be a great direction to go. However, it would help if you had one with a stock that fit him so he doesn't have to learn all over again as he gets older. A fast twist youth model or a collapsible stock AR would fit the bill. Don't discount the value of a good .22 in his size to teach the muscle memory you need and include the fun factor to keep him interested. A squirrel hunt or two might also be helpful to transfer the lessons to real world results...