Looking to purchase a .243 to set up and have in camp for our growing grandchildren as they become ready to deer hunt. Between myself and my buddy, we have 3 grandsons ranging from 10yrs old down to 4yrs old and so far one our adult daughters is interested as well. I expect there will a handful more little ones over the upcoming years.

I want to buy and set up a good .243 to have on hand that will last and can be handed down and passed around and available as a backup camp gun in case someone has gun troubles.

I certainly wouldn't say money is no object, but I don't want to go bargain basement here.

I'm not too concerned about modularity in regards to swapping stocks as they grow as they can simply graduate to something new and this one can stay for the next young one.

I'm looking at the Tikka T3x Compact, Savage Axis II XP Compact, Weatherby Vanguard II Compact, and maybe a Remington 700 ADL Youth.

I have a couple of Tikkas and love them. I'm not sure how the others compare. I'm certainly open to other suggestions.

I appreciate your experience and opinions!!

I can't begin to emphasis how much I dislike the Savage Axis.

If this is going to be a camp rifle that will be passed around, you might want to go with stainless metal for ease of maintenance.

Maybe a stainless Remington Seven with a shorter LOP "Youth" stock?

I’d look for a Model 7 Predator in 243.

Add Savage 11 Trophy Hunter XP Youth to the potential list.

I'm like stainless but don't think it's a must. We keep a cleaning kit in camp and are pretty religious about cleaning and maintenance.

The Rem Model 7 was another I found to be a contender. How does it compare to the 700 youth?

I want something with a decent trigger as it will help with accuracy and confidence.
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Kimber Hunters (the plastic stocked models) can be had for under $700. Cut 2" off the stock, install squishy 3/4"-1" recoil pad and you'd have one heck of a "small-framed shooter" rifle. Nice and light, great trigger, and a long enough bbl to get the sound out and away from tender young ears. If noise/recoil is a concern for any of them, load up some 80-85gn bullets @ ~2800fps.

I've got several 700's and 7's. The ejection port for the 7 is tighter and harder to manipulate ammo in/out of the belly IMO/IME. For a new shooter I'd defiantly be looking @ the 700 over a 7.

I’ve got a tikka t3 compact in 308 for my daughter, great rifles.

RAR is a good one. My daughter has a muddy girl Savage and it’s fine as well.

I bought a Walmart closeout 243 Vanguard last year. Replaced the 1” pad with a .4” pachmayr had Johnboy on here do a spiderweb paint job and redneck cut and crown the 24” tube down to 21.5”. It’s a great handling rifle that is a solid MOA shooter with Federal blue box 100’s. I’ve got $350 tied up into the rifle, another $100 into a Nikon prostaff 2-7.

The thing that deters me from most youth 243’s is the short barrel. The muzzle blast/percussion, even with good hearing protection, can startle new shooters.

I thought that the ejection port on the Remington 7 was larger than the short action 700.

A 700 ADL Youth package gun in 243 with a no-name (throw-away) 3-9x40 scope should run you under $400 at Wal-Mart. The small dealer wholesale price for these 700 ADL packages is around $395, so Wal-Mart's ability to buy in large quantities will generally get you a lower price than your average dealer can sell them for after shipping and retail mark up.

Marlin sold the XS7 with a youth length stock in 243 and 308. The last time that I looked CDNN still had some 243 packages for $270. I have at least one XS7 Youth stock off a rifle that I bought as a donor action for $30 plus the actual shipping/insurance. I think that I have a couple NIB XS7 Youth models, one in 243 and one in 308, on the shelf that I probably won't use if either would work for you. The 243 is a KY built rifle and the 308 is a CT built rifle.

I don’t know if howa still offers the youth package that comes with a full size stock when your kids gets bigger.
Id also look or consider at shorter barrel version like 20”
I gave my boy my tikka 223 and put a youth stock on it.
and the 22.4” barrel seems little long.
I like 243, but the 6.5 CM is so popular now days I got a box of S&B ammo 140 fmj for 10.99 and 140 SP for $12.99.

Feels like there's less room to manipulate things to me.

Browning has a micro Midas abolt. Not sure about xbolt. It would be another good option. I just bought Rem 700 youth but haven’t had chance to use. Browning and Tikka are a little more expensive than most youth rifles but are good quality.

They are still dumping the Remington model 7 predator for right about 400$. Might look at that as an option

CDNN has the XS7 243 package right now for $250. The reviews look pretty good overall. How does this stack up to the other suggestions? Tikka, Model 7/700, Savage, Weatherby? Hard to overlook the price if the rifle itself is good. Scope can always be upgraded as necessary and if one can get a youth stock?

I like it, but is there a youth stock option?

Just cut it down. Save the piece and glue it back on later as the kid grows up

For low dollars, hard to beat a Marlin XS7 or Savage with youth stock. I bought a youth model blue/wood Savage chambered .243 for my oldest daughter. She used it. Her kids have used it. Zero issues over 20 years. I bought a used XL7 in .270 for a grand daughter. Zero issues with that rifle as well. Would expect the XS7 .243 to be same/similar.

Imo the Tikka T3X compact is the best bang for your buck. Most of these “youth” rifles anymore are pretty damn heavy.

My son is only 9 but handles the recoil of his 7/08 T3X compact with no issues using hornady reduced recoil loads and it groups them at about 3/4” as well. The rifle with talleys and a 2-7 Leupy only weighs 6 3/4 pounds so he can handle it quite nicely.

I'm sure you could get a youth stock for little $ and have an option to switch as needed.

Three grandkids have Savages, all shoot sub inch, zero issues. They have wacked many deer and pigs with theirs.

Howa youth is a pretty good bargain.

There are some good options out there, and I can't say anything bad about Tikka or Howa/Vanguard. I have a tendency to lean 700 when I have the chance.

This is my youngest daughter's WalMart 700ADL Youth rifle in .243. We bedded it and painted it (to her specs). Spacer kit is in store for when she grows past the short LOP.

It's the other way around. The Model Seven has a bigger port.

Here is a nice comparison of the two: Seven vs. 700 article with pictures

I like them and since they have almost the barrel tenon specs as the small shank Savage 110 series barrels, they are easy to rebarrel. I have 17 of them, so I guess that I like them OK.

You cannot beat a Remington 700 Compact/Youth Model 243. The one I bought for the grandkids is very accurate, and they've taken several deer with it.

This was last week. The model was a Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam:

"FINALLY got to play with a Mossberg Patriot. Handled a few in the LGS's but that's it. A friend of my son bought his wife a scoped/combo youth model in .243Win. She is a work away RN who is home only twice a month so the only time to get this set up for season was on the afternoon of day they called me. With any firearm whether new or used I like to spend as much time giving it a going over until I feel it's good to go before shooting it. Couldn't happen this time. I didn't remove the bbl'd action from the stock. Ran a bore snake through it. Got the chamber dry. Lubed behind the locking lugs and in the cocking cam slot. Didn't seem to be an excessive amount of oil in the action but I did wipe down what I saw. Checked the action screws. Checked for fore arm pressure on the bbl and found it not only to be free floated but centered in the bbl channel. Scope was canted a bit and the knurled knobs that hold the rings to the bases weren't tight enough. I removed the scoped rings and found the bases tight (guessing they were loc-tited). Leveled the 3-9x40 scope (didn't think to check the brand) and adjusted it for optimum eye relief after setting the focus for her. Although I didn't measure the LOP of the stock I'd say was in the 12 or 12.5 " range. Bore sighted it. ~45 minutes later after having them standing around watching me I felt it was ready to go. LUCKILY my wife kept them occupied talking. The ammo was Federal Blue box 100gr SP's. I had her dry fire it few times to feel the trigger. NICE at maybe 3.5lbs. I've got an old Outter's Varmint Rest mounted on an old 450 dozer cage. Pretty stable. First shot was ~2" low but dead center for windage at 25yds. Gave the scope 32 clicks up which put her second shot ~.75" low and still dead center on windage. First shot at 100yds was almost dead center inside the 1.5" circle. Four more shots were all within the 3" diameter circle that surrounded the center one. She did GOOD for someone with very limited shooting experience. Just goes to show what a shooter can do with a rifle that fits,has a decent trigger,and doesn't wallop them at the butt end. As for that particular Patriot you can color me impressed. In fact if it's okay with my granddaughter I'll order her one except without a scope as I have one for it."

Any experience or opinions on the TC Venture Compact?

There are so many options available it'll make your head spin....but that's a great thing....kind of!!!

I've never loved the Remington triggers. They never seem to adjust like they claim and they're just not good.....to me.

The ability to swap stocks is not a big selling point as this will pretty much be a dedicated youth and smaller hunter gun. The Venture and the Tikka have a spacer that adds 1" LOP so that's kind of handy I guess.

A good trigger out of the box is important as is the stock. I hate the empty, hollow, plastic stocks. I'd much prefer to add a little weight and have something with a little more solid feel.

I sent you a PM.

They were clearing these out at $89 recently!

I've never seen them priced that low anywhere near my Iowa or Nebraska. Any complete Remington 700 priced under $300 is a great deal, the lower the price, the greater the deal.

I called all of my local Wal-Mart stores and they quit carrying Remington....thus the clear out. Nothing left around here.

Been doing more reading and research and I think I've narrowed things down to the following:

Tikka T3x Lite Compact

Weatherby Vanguard S2 Youth/Compact

Browning AB3 Micro Stalker

All are fairly close in price with Browning having a rebate right now as well.

Thoughts and opinions on any of these please?

I have a T3X 7-08 Compact LITE, got it for my daughter to use. I have only shot 120 BT's with a mild charge of H4895 at 2500 FPS. It has been pretty darned accurate and it's nice she can grow into the rifle a little with the stock spacers.

Model 7 and if needed wood youth stock from numrich gun parts. The predator is a steal at 400$ killed lots of stuff with my model 7 243. My son killed his first deer last fall with a AAC micro 7(model 7) 300 blk that I put into a youth stock. This year he is handling 243 much better. Great treestand blind rifle too!

Model 7s lose some of the ejector/loading port to the over hanging scope mounts. This does make it feel smaller or at least more fumbly for me.

In addition to saving small ears I like a longer barrel for kids that are just learning gun safety, much easier to wave an 18" barrel around and point it where it shouldn't be. A slightly longer barrel might be more awkward but serves as a reminder to keep it down range.

I have T/C Venture compact in 243 Win. I have purchased several deer rifles over the past years. Many were shot. and some hunted with. The T/C Venture is the one I will not sell or trade. It fits perfectly with heavy hunting coat yet is very handy especially from a tree stand. Bolt function is perfect although different due short bolt throw. Trigger adjusted down to 3.5 # which is the weight of all my hunting rifles. Accuracy is the best of all hunting rifles I have for large game. Handloads with Hornady 95 gr SST and Sierra Prohunter 100gr Pointed Soft Point using Hodgen 4831sc or IMR4064 group from .3 inches to 1 inch at 100 yards depending on my nerves. Varmint weight bullets group just under 1 inch. The gun is heavier than some which helps to steady sighting. The weight is the only thing I see as a negative for a younger person. The weight might be a factor in off hand shooting and if doing a lot of walking while hunting.

My Dad bought a Remington 760 slide action rifle in .243 for my brother and me to share. It is a little on the heavy side but very accurate and hits hard.

.243 is a keeper!

Sherwood

Decided on the Tikka. My past experience, as I own two of them, gives me comfort and confidence.

Thanks all for the opinions and advice.