Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles The big debate!

Oh yeah, to the question at hand, I would hand him a Kimber Montana and see if his eyes light up. Kevlar/Stainless is the new Wood/Blued, and is about $700 less than the Super America!

I think holding any of the 3 in his hands and knowing that it is his will bring a smile to his face.

If someone was poised to make an uninformed choice its any 12 year old. What can they know?

Instead inform them of all the options and guide the 12 yo to an sensible choice.

For instance what LOP is correct for the young hunter at 12? Perhaps a rifle with a plastic stock might be where to start so that the stock can be cut now and then increased in LOP as required and painted over.

What makes you think this 12 yr old is unimformed?

Its quite possible he is sorounded by adults that shoot alot and he has already formed his own opinion from actually handling/shooting these rifles.....like I said let him make the choice....I'm glad my father did.

Part of me says, he's lucky to get any of them. And what fits him best now may change later since he is growing fast. While it'd be nice to have perfect LOP, etc. ... most folks adapt OK and make do with the avg's manufacturer's give us.

I don't buy the argument he must have what he wants. He should be tickled to death to have any of them. But, all of these rifles are close in price to each other; perhaps even roughly the same depending on the deals available. There is not a lot of difference between (1) and (2) really.

I don't own a Kimber, but I've seen mixed reviews on them. It would be a shame if he got a stinker, pretty and light as the Kimbers may be. Perhaps (2) is a safer bet. Seems like everyone here with one of the new M70's are pleased with them and FN is supposed to have really tight tolerance control in their plant.

OK, long-winded ramble there, but I vote M70 as first choice. But hey, if Dad is the one shucking out the simolians for this rifle, maybe his choice should be king .

As an aside...my personal first choice would be the M7.

Couldn't agree more. I hope it's not the case, but if he's the type of kid who is going to whine/pout if the doesn't get his way. Than he's going to have a long life ahead of him filled with disappointment most likely. All I see is the Super America is the most expensive of the bunch and thus that's what he wants.

I have a twelve year old nephew who wants wants wants, but is usually more than thrilled if he get something sporting related.

Lots of things I wanted when I was that age that I didn't get, just gave me more incentive to work harder in life and sadly there's still a lot of things I'd like but can't reasonably afford.

And as it's been pointed out, at least two outta the three choices will more than likely not fit him well right now. Maybe he can adapt, but if the dimensions are really outta whack than he's going to pick up bad habits that will plague him for years to come. With that said my pick would go to the M7, nice little guns that are more geared towards smaller frames, but are still suitable for adults.

Remington all the way.

Information or being informed is gained by experiance and weighing one feature against another. A 12 yo cannot have much experiance.

I do welcome him into the world of riflemen.

Let the kid choose on Dad's dime??

Iffin' dats the case, they'd all be carrying iphones and driving BMW's and such.

Outta curiosity, when did the M7 become "low" quality? I could see barrel lenght disqualifying it ...

Get the Kimber and he'll have a classic to cherish all his days. I think it's a great rifle for a 12 year old...in fact, I purchased this very rifle in 7-08 for my son, and he's only 4 1/2. Of course, Dad gets to use it until he's old enough to carry it (grin).

Well this morning all of us drove down to Sportsman Warehouse and he got to shoulder a Kimber Super America in .243. He looked at us with this "sad puppy face." Well....my brother dished out his credit card and swiped it across the debit machine. He ordered my nephew the Kimber S.A. in 7mm-08, my nephew with his money that he saved bought a Swarovski AV 3-9x36 for $535 that was on sale as a dicontinued item. It will be a nice rifle!

That sounds like a winner! And a Swaro to ride on top as well..WOW!
Youngster obviously has good taste.

Don't know many folks that don't still own the first gun gifted to them. That one's special.

The lawn had better be cut ALL THE TIME now.

This an expensive place for advice isn't it?

Guess I grew up in the wrong family. My first rifle (which I will always have) was a 1917 Enfield that dad built a stock for, and had the ears ground, drilled/tapped, etc. Believe the rifle sold for $35 and the Weaver scope I painted the house for sold for $28. Couldn't have been happier if it had been a model 70, though I did pine over the Herters catalog for their U9.

I have to admit I�m a little envious� for my first rifle my dad helped putting a $100 on a gun �we� needed. We had just moved to Alaska and �we� needed a .338 win mag. WAY too much gun for a 12 year old with no center fire trigger time. Then he hoodwinked me out of a leupold scope for his $100 share in the rifle. I still have it but haven�t shot it in ~13 years since leaving Alaska. Not too many good memories with that one other than a couple kills (his first moose & my bison).

I'm liking one of these for my wife ... in .243.

Wow, I think times have changed.

I was tickled pink with my used Ruger M77 and Weaver K4. As I said before your nephew is a lucky young man.

Sounds expensive, but my first rifle was a Rem 700 in 270 that cost $100. That seemed like a lot of money at the time. I think we need to accept that a dollar doesn't buy what it used to.

Not too long ago my son asked if he could have one of my rifles. He chose my most accurate big game rifle, which had just been restocked and had a new trigger installed. The look on his face when I gave it to him, made me not care about the cost.

My nephew came home with a happy face and will ahve the rifle in hand in the next 10 day wait period. (stupid I-O-U-fornia law) When we got home we told my sis-n-law we bought him a gun. She was proud that they both are going to spend more time together............until she asked how much it cost, HAHAHA!

"$2500!!!!!!!! YOU BETTER UPGRADE MY FREAKIN' DIAMOND.......YOU SERIOUS!!!!!!TWENTY FIVE F****** HUNDRED DOLLARS????!!!!!!YOU MISTER, BETTER PUT IN OVERTIME AND NO, NO YOU ARE NOT COMING TO BED TONIGHT, HIT THE COUCH IN THE BASEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"