Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Thoughts on new rifle for the kids.

Hello All
Been thinking about a new rifle for the kids to use in WV for deer. First thought was a 243 Win, but second thought was a 308 Win loaded down to 30-30 levels for now. This allows the rifle to grow with the kids. Any expierences or thoughts?

Nelson

Ya never grow out of a 30-30!

+1

260 or 7mm-08 would be a good choice also with a tad more growing room than the 243,although nothing wrong with 243 for later either.

I think you have a good idea, but i think i would do it with a 30-06. jmo

Kevin

I enjoy hunting deer more and more with my 243 fwt as time goes on, especially with the great controlled expansion bullets available now. Light weight and no kick.

Agreed.

I took my son and his friend shooting today and they were having a blast shooting my Marlin Cowboy in 45LC. A nice little pistol round like that in a Marlin lever-action would be a great short-range deer rifle to start with and would always make a nice brush/plinking gun as they got older....

.243 all the way, hands down. I saved up and bought mine when I was 16 to use on antelope and coyotes. tried it on deer and it's still my go to rifle almost 20 years later. light weight, light recoil, flat shooting and drops critters DRT. plus it's cheap to reload for.

mine is a ruger m77 MKII with a spec-tech trigger and burris 3-9 signature scope.

My 243 is good on mule deer out to about 400 and coyotes, too.

When my youngest son was ready to start hunting deer, we took my old 6mm Rem 700 out of the original stock, popped it in one of those downsized Remington "youth" stocks with a cushy recoil pad and got him quite a bit of range time.

He took his first deer with one shot, 95 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip, at close to 300 yards. Kinda pleased with things in that photo...

He still uses that 6mm, nearly 10 years later, but also has any of my rifles available to him. As he grew, we put the old 6mm back into the original, full size stock. It's worked out great for varmints & deer.

Regards, Guy

Darn, what a huge doe.

Well, a consideration is---does it fit them? After that, if you handload, you can pretty much make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

Hello All
Thanks for the input so far I do have a 243 that could be re-stocked, was just thinking about bigger heavier bullets even if at reduced velocity.
nelson

The .243 is an excellent cartridge, if a youngster gets one now they will likely be using it 40 years from now, it will get the job done, and done very well.

.260 Rem

I assume that you want something that they can use for big game hunting. Deer, bear and pigs?

A 243 requires more skill than a 308 to take big game animals which makes a 308 preferable for younger shooters. If your kid is reasonably strong then get them a heavier 308. I was just looking at Savages and Remington 700s with relatively heavy 20 inch barrels which would be just about perfect. You might want to replace the stock with something a bit more solid though.

A stock maker can cut the stock down and years later he or you can glue/pin it back on.

The 95 gr ballistic tip has shown itself to be a pretty dependable bullet on small to medium sized deer. At moderate velocities it won't recoil too badly.

I would be a bit concerned about trying any of the heavier 6mm bullets in a typical factory 243 at reduced velocities. I am not sure the factory barrels could generate the RPM necessary to stabilize the longer bullets at anything less than maximum charge rates.

I'm sorry but I would have to disagree. what "skill" is required when using a .243 as opposed to a .308? shot placement is critical with either of them.
a heavy barreled 308 would not be the choice I would give a kid either,I don't see a 12 year old lugging around a heavy barrel anything, but that's just me.

I've started several young shooters with either the 308 or 7-08 and reduced loads. The 308 is a little easier in that bullets for the 30-30 are readily available. There are several powders that will safely load down into 30-30 territory but H4198 has become my favorite. 2,000 to 2,300 fps works quite well, and the recoil is manageable for most. A youth model 700 Remington or a standard model 700 w/a youth stock would be my choice in rifles.