I'm looking for a deer gun for my son who is 12 and is left handed. Wanting a bolt action and probably something between 243 and 308, any suggestions? Tikka, Remmy, etc.
He's paying for half so costs are a consideration and would likely like to keep price around $500 or less.
I bought my son the Remington 700 compact in .243. With Federal Premium ammo and TSX bullets it is plenty effective.
He liked the shorter length of pull and it comes with spacers to increase it over time. Most importantly, he enjoys shooting it and is always up for rifle practice. Less likely to develop a flinch with the .243.
Remington 700 Youth in 7/08 or .308. Buy the reduced loads to begin with and never look back. In a couple years he'll be shooting full power loads with an adult stock you can buy later.
Awesome alternative: savage 11/111 with Nikon Prostaff scope already onboard for under $500. Above calibers available lefty.
Remington 700 Youth in 7/08 or .308. Buy the reduced loads to begin with and never look back. In a couple years he'll be shooting full power loads with an adult stock you can buy
243 youth rifle .In a few years he will still be shooting the 243 and killing deer. Almost any commercial load will work ,Partitions ,Ballistic tip or Barnes TTSX.
Precisely what I did and I'd do it again (7mm-08). BassPro, Gander Mountain, Cablelas and the other big shops sometimes run specials on the youth model 700's, often in stainless or camo. I think the lefty Compact 700's are only available in black, but that's nothing you can't fix with some Krylon Fusion and an Aluma-Hyde top coating.
I'm looking for a deer gun for my son who is 12 and is left handed. Wanting a bolt action and probably something between 243 and 308, any suggestions? Tikka, Remmy, etc.
He's paying for half so costs are a consideration and would likely like to keep price around $500 or less.
Many thanks.
I've got a Rem 700 Youth SPS in .243 on layaway for the exact same situation. I handled it and fell in love with it. Those LH kid size rifles don't exactly grow on trees do they? FWIW price was $549 at my gunshop.
I'd go Savage, probably as a youth package, and in .243.
I have a reduced recoil (not to be confused with reduced capability) load for the .243 if you're a handloader. Gets 80-grainers movin' 'bout 2,700 fps, has very little report, and "huh?", for recoil.
If you're a handloader, I'd be more than happy to offer you the load.
*Based on the IMR Smokeless Powder Reloader's Guide, April 2004*
Not a tack driver (case volume is low), but certainly adequate for hunting. One of my Granddaughters has flattened two Wisconsin Whitetail bucks with this load - one, shot at 200-yards, which for a 70-pound eleven-year-old seems better than okay.
I started my son with a NEF single shot .243 (a grandpa buy- not my choice) I also worked up a reduced load with an 80 gr soft point. Just wasn't impressed. Bought the .308 youth the following season with a reduced load. Low recoil, he loved it. To each his own I guess. Started my daughter on a 7.62x39, she's now shooting a .308 also. (13). Hammers 'em. My .02.
*Based on the IMR Smokeless Powder Reloader's Guide, April 2004*
Not a tack driver (case volume is low), but certainly adequate for hunting. One of my Granddaughters has flattened two Wisconsin Whitetail bucks with this load - one, shot at 200-yards, which for a 70-pound eleven-year-old seems better than okay.
I shoot this combo a lot ( at least with other brand 75 to 100 grain bullets)...
another good load off of the IMR Brown Sheet, ( and I use a little less) is IMR 4198...I use 30 grains with bullet weights from 75 right thru to 100 grainers...in their Managed Recoil loads, in the 06 on down, Remington uses IMR 4198..
but 30 grains of H4198 or Rl 7 can certainly be substituted...
these loads are more than accurate for 200 to 250 yd deer hunting... and for closer shots the MV won't cause blood shot meet like some faster loads for the 243 up close will...
It looks like a 7mm-08 110TTSX or 120BT can make 2,600-2,700 with a max load of 4198. That should recoil about like a standard .243win big game factory load and be plenty for 200yd deer shooting. Unlike the .243, the 7mm-08 has power in reserve for when a kid reaches the teenage years. Not knocking the .243, but a light-loaded 7mm-08 or .260 just makes more sense to me these days, especially if you want the kid to still be hunting the rifle as a primary big-game gun several years down the road.
I started my daughter with a Lefty Savage .243 at age 12. Cut down the stock and added a nicer pad. Figure I can always restock later. But it probably won't happen. Now she had decided to move up to efty .270 at age 14. I bought reduced recoil loads for practice and am adding the better pad again. But we will always hunt with a .243 for pigs and coyotes, so it wasn't a loss.
