Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire First Deer Rifle

.308 recoil the same as 7-08, if using the same weight bullets. Physics…. Don’t like a .308 with 150’s? You won’t like. 7-08 with a140 much better. Like a 7-08 with 120’s? You will like a .308 with 125’s just the same.

Recoil is a function of the weight of the projectile and the amount of powder pushing it. To a lesser extent the felt impulse is affected by stock fit and powder burn rate. But the lion’s share of recoil is because you have a certain amount of powder pushing a certain amount of projectile. There is not enough difference between a .308 and the 7mm08 to make a bit of difference if similar bullet weights are used.

Mine was a Interarms mark V mauser in 30-06. One of the ones P.O Ackley offered. If possible I'd spend a bit more and buy him a 6.5 cm or 7-08 Tikka... New or used. On the cheap I'd snag a used Marlin xs7 in 243 or 7-08.

Swede.
Plenty of horsepower, minimal recoil, very efficient. If learning to reload is somewhere in the future many more variations will be possible.

Osky

Seems like he's already figured it out.

How come our sockpuppet troll d-bags never participate in threads like this or similar ones.
Even better if ya ask em to post a pic of anything outdoor related.

🤔🤔🤔🤣🤣🤣

I hunted with a mossberg 500 12 gauge using slugs. My dad didn’t want me to use a rifle until I was old enough. On my 18th birthday I was at the local gun store when they opened and purchased a Ruger 77 Mkii all weather in 270 win. I’ve used it now for 17 seasons. I would recommend a ruger m77 Mkii or Hawkeye, there a little higher than your budget but there quality made and durable rifles.

Oh yeah. He's got the fever.

My first deer rifle was also a model 94 in 30-30 with buckhorn sights and a saddle ring. Still have it.

I started with my first full bore deer stalking rifle - 270 Steyr Mannlicher Mod. M. Age 14. I was a stocky child and back then there were few left hand rifles.

Not so sure ,/ keen on light fast bullets. Know placement is critical but things go awry. I had no problems with Normal factory 150grain rounds.

Now, if I was going with a youth rifle, think .25-06 with 130 grain bullets, 270 with 140 grain and 6.5x55 plus .308Win with nominal 145 grain.

It does depend on the size of Brady, terrain/ typical shooting distance say max 150 for a beginner and their physical size / strength. Would not go too light on rifle due to recoil. A good fixed 6x scope is fine. Still like them for under 259-300 yards which even in Scottish Highlands is plenty. In is stalking not long range target shooting

I had an extra tikka t3 in 308.... I found a youth/compact stock.... handloading some reduced loads with 110 grainers and a Leupold 6x on top. It's a puzzycat. My boy is 11 and daughter is 13.... also have a bunch of 222's and 223's they have been shooting but didn't want to cut any of them down.... they both have their own 22's and 410 shotguns but I'll probably just have them share that tikka because my boy will probably be able to handle a full size stock in a few years so I'll just give the tikka to my daughter .... also have a semi custom 700 in 270 that is my wife's .... it was her first rifle from her dad..... I had it coated and bedded into a custom lop McMillan mountain stock so the girls will be covered.

I think the main thing is the correct lop on the stock.... wife was alway complaining how unnatural it was .... her 700 was a Remington factory youth stock and the one we ordered is about 1/2" different....could have fixed it with a saw but we decided to go with a new/liganter stock.....now it points very natural for her and she can get on target a lot faster.

That would require them posting something real and tangible. Fantastic land is mucho better for them that don’t and can’t do.

🦫

Mine was a Savage 99 30/30. Still have it, still use it occasionally, still kills deer, and it turned 99 yrs old this year. It was also my Father's first deer rifle - he passed it to me when I turned 16 (minimum big game age when I was growing up).

I also still think that the old medium calibers like 30/30 and 32 Win Special are good beginners/youth choices. Moderate recoil, good performance on game - but availability of rifles is getting pretty limited if you don't like the old stuff.

These days you'll have a lot more choices in the 6 to 7mm range: .243, .260, one of the 6.5s, and 7mm/08. You can also take a look at the old 250 Savage and 257 Roberts if you come across one. Any of them will kill deer if you teach him to hunt and shoot, recoil and muzzle blast won't be excessive, and there are lots of choices in pretty much any price range. Buy an extra stock to cut down until he finishes growing.

I don't think long action cartridges are the best starting points, let him make that choice later on. And I definitely don't think anything smaller than 6mm/.243 is good for a beginner - precise shot placement gets critical, leave him some room for error.

Now in my mid 60s, my "deer rifles" are almost all short action 30 calibers - 30/30, 300 Savage and .308, with a 250 Savage hanging around on the fringe. Some are lever actions, some are bolt guns, some are scoped, and some have receiver aperture sights. Believe I'm pretty well covered for any weather I care to hunt in and any range I'd care to shoot at.

Morewood;
Good evening to you sir, please send hearty congratulations along to your grandson!

Personally, I never tire of hearing about some of the next shift of hunters getting a good start.

My first center fire was a Pattern 14 sporter in .303, but I never shot anything other than gophers with it. My first big game animal was taken with a borrowed '06 Model 70 which I much preferred over the first deer rifle I used which was a Model 100 in .308.

When my good wife took up hunting with me, her first rifle was a 788 carbine in .308 again and it was and remains an amazingly accurate arm.

That said, when our two daughters decided they'd like to try hunting, both of them found the blast from the full power .308 loads in their Mother's little carbine way more than they could do good work with.

We ended up finding a 722 that had been rebarreled to .250AI for our youngest and our eldest saw her late Grandad's 6.5x55 in the back of the safe and claimed it.

For whitetail and mulie bucks, the .250AI proved to be a wonderful little cartridge using 100gr Hornady Spire and 80gr TTSX bullets.

Perhaps the lighter bullets "rocked" the bucks a tad less than the 6.5 did with 130 TSX, but in terms of terminal performance on deer it wasn't truly noticeable.

If memory serves I shot at least 2 local deer with the .250AI as well, testing out some of the bullets, etc. and it was easy to place bullets very carefully with, which sometimes is quite handy.

That said Morewood, I was impressed enough watching our eldest smack stuff with her Swede that I unscrewed the .270 Featherweight barrel off of my walking around rifle and had a smith up the valley make it into a 6.5x55.

While I do carry something bigger if I am purposefully looking for moose, I do carry the Swede with an elk tag in my pocket and do not believe I'd be too, too handicapped with it. I've been running either 120gr TTSX or GMX in it and want to say that 3 local bucks used one each at various ranges - none super far though.

If I was helping another new shooter to pick out a hunting rifle, I believe I'd try to include them in the process as much as possible/practical - especially in terms of what controls make sense to them - ie safety position - which stocks fit them best and what they like the look of too.

One daughter loves her nearly 120 year old Stutzen stocked Swede and the other thought her laminated stock, stainless match barrel rifle was the coolest looking thing ever.

Hopefully that made some sense and was useful to you or someone out there tonight.

Again congratulations to your grandson and good luck on all your remaining family hunts this fall.

Dwayne

Winchester 94 (pre-'64), in .30-30 WCF.

L.W.

270, 7-08, 308, all of them work. These days you take what you can find. '06 would work.

The first deer rifle I killed a deer with was a .300 Savage in a 99R. I started my three kids that hunt with .243 Winchesters. That would still be a good choice.

If grandson wasn't getting a .30-06 later I would suggest a 6.5 Creedmoor or a 7mm-08. I gave my kids .30-06's when they got older as well.

As far as a new rifle under $600 I would look at a Ruger American compact. Personally, I would buy used and look for something with backup iron sights already installed. A 700 ADL Remington would work.

22lr

My first rifle was a flat band pre 64 model 94 in 30 WCF

I would buy what I bought my middle son just 2 years ago.

Tikka T3 stainless in 243. 3-9 Zeiss. He is set forever.


Side note: My first son got a 700 Classic in 250 Savage with Leupold scope. Though that package is way to costly now.

Give him the 30-06 now.

First rifle I hunted with was a model 94 with open sights in 32Special. My dad's gun.

First rifle I bought was a Rem 700BDL Varmint Special in 243Win. Bought it from Dad's State Trooper buddy.