Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What rifle for youth?

thanks, he was pretty stoked!

How about a Marlin or a Winchester in 30.30? That is how I started and it is what my kids will start with too. They really do handle well and I haven't seen a kid yet that didn't like them. I have had kids prefer my 30.30 to .243s and the like in bolt guns.

I like the way you're thinking. I have a 700 MTR in 7-08. I got a cheapy stock off of eBay and had my 'smith cut it down to about a 12" LOP. I loaded up some 120 Sierras at about 2300 fps and my son proceeded to easily kill his first deer. When he gets older, I'll put the original stock back on and use full-powered loads. I just can't imagine a better setup if you're looking for a rifle for a youngster will be able to grow with. Good luck!

I suggested a Savage not because of the price, but for the accuracy out of the box and dependability. The new Marlins also have a great reputation so far.
I do agree to spend the money on a good scope. Leupold's have the eye relief I feel is very important for young people in bulky clothing.
I don't advise the short barrels (like my Model 7 had) because of the muzzle blast. And I do advise adding a quality pad with the stock adjusted for LOP. I did it on both kids rifles and the wife's 270.
Factory recoil managed loads are very light recoiling as advertised in the .270 and 7 mag, but we found the factory federal blue box .243's work well on game and are inexpensive for lots of shooting practice.

jimmy c

wish i woulda started with a 223 or 243. they woulda got alot more use. 223 in a ruger hawkeye with the stock cut down would rock in the hands of a kid.

Paul, can you provide me with details on this one? LOP? barrel length/contour, ect?

Thanks. I really need to order my son (ahem!) one of this mix. (A 20 month old can shoot a 14+ inch LOP, right? )

Remington youth .243 is what My daughter started with just recently bumped her to Remington 7/08 bedded in Ti stock as recommended above with 120gr TSX with very little recoil difference than her .243 she loves it.
Topped with Zeiss 3x9x40 both rifles have been great!

Not trying to start a pizzing match, but I am not too fond of the .243 in an area of a "once a life time" buck. To me it is akin to taking a youth pheasant hunting with his dandy little .410. Lots of .25-.26-.27-7mm short action rounds out there that I feel are more better for medium sized game.

That being said, my 10yr granddaughter started with a .243, but moved up to a .250 Sav the next year. Both are Sav Mod 99's.

I think that it is your responsability to buy his first rifle. Before you start thinking about changing stocks later on, you might consider that he may want a larger cartridge and a new rifle when he needs that longer stock. Good luck.

My 12 year old is fairly small. I have a M700 243 w/22 inch bbl, with a VX-II 2-7. I lightened, stiffened, and cut the tupperware stock down, put a flip-flop recoil pad on it. Weighs 7 lbs, 1 oz total.

I bought the rifle with my boy in mind 7 years ago , and killed some elk with it to put good elk karma in the rig.

He will be carrying the rifle this year with a cow tag in his pocket.

It's a Rem 7 223AI
PacNor LW contour 8twist finished at 21"
McMillan Rem MTN rifle stock at 12.5" LOP
Black/White/Purple cammo (wife wanted the colors and the boys picked cammo over swirl) we call it the Ravens Cammo cause they are Ravens fans. I call it barney cammo and it pizzes my wife off!
Talley's and a 2.5x Leupold.
I've changed scopes out for a 1.75-6 now that i have the oldest shooting past 200 at steel and balloons.

I'm a 14.5" lop and i can shoot it.

The one in the burgandy/white stock is a M7 Pacnor LW in 250AI at 22" with a LOP of 13.5. I built them both at the same time so that if we hunted somewhere that the 223 was illegal i could just swap barreled actions.

i love that picture!

There is a simply mantra, good bullets, properly placed, always work.

The .243 assists with proper placement, good bullets is up to whoever is procuring the fodder. I still can't fathom the thought of not having a first rifle that can/will be restocked as the child grows. A good .223 or .243 will be their most used rifle for life.

X1000

Good luck to him, I hope he gets one.

I hear ya there. My old man started me with a .30-06 when I was 13, and though I still have the rifle, I got a long way to go to catch up to where I would be had I started with something smaller.

mine was a birch stock savage 110 in 300win. that thing will rattle a 12year old pretty good. ok really rattle the crap out of a 12year old. havnt touched it since then either.

Have my 8 year old Son here with me looking at all this rite now. Remington BM Youth is a little much for the budget rite now at $500+, so looking at the Savage Axis. Read some reviews and like anywhere else, good and bad being said. As he gets older or the bank account gets better..CAN the Axis fit into another stock as he grows?
Whats yalls opinions on the Axis ? ( for those of you who HAVE experience with one)

If your 8 years old is reading this, let him know that 90% of what we argue about here will never actually matter. Killing deer isn't hard, just squeeeeeze the trigger on whatever happens to be handy and he'll be fine.

Well I been trying...but its hard to squeeze in alot in the 4 days I have them.
I think we're looking pretty hard at the AXIS in .243. If I cant change out the stock as he gets older..we'll just get another.

My son is a lefty and there were a real shortage of small rifles for him. So I went with a Win 94 in 30-30 (top ejector). It's small, light, not too bad in the recoil dept. Plus who doesn't love a lever...