I am looking for opinions on a good deer bullet for a 224 Valkyrie. I know this is not a ideal caliber but it’s a rifle that my little boy can shoot effectively an minimum recoil is a must. He’s 4 now an shoots it an will be 5 by this upcoming deer season.

78gr TSX. 75gr Gold Dot too

You need to let your boy grow up some more years until he can safely handle the firearm by himself. Imho

I don’t let him shoot anything to where I am not with him. He’s a awesome little shot we practice with .22 a lot an he’s very consistent keeps everything inside of a 2.5 inch circle at 50 yards

60 grain Nosler Partition.

Once you see some deer shot with that bullet you will wonder why a guy shoots anything else.

My bud and I shot around 20 deer with that bullet and I bet only 5 or 6 ever made tracks.

Shot my biggest bodied buck with them at maybe 20 yards. Through one blade and then through the opposite joint, a 50 yard death run and he was done.

A buddy with a Valkyrie has good luck on pigs with the 78TSX. I’d be inclined to try the 77TMK after using it for a couple years out of my 223.

Maybe he can drive the truck while being watched carefully also. A 4-5 year old has the attention span of a puppy...and still takes naps. Most have a hard time dressing themselves.

Barnes or Partition.

I'd shoot a heavy for caliber tipped match bullet, 75 to 88 grain hornady or sierra. They work wonders.

Shoot a mono if you want to punch both shoulder bones, but be aware that they kill slower with behind the shoulder shots.

60 grain partition is a good one too.

My son killed his first deer at 5 with a 75 amax out of a 223 AI. It worked very well

He killed his 1st deer this year with crossbow.. he’s a little ahead of his time as a 4 year old. If it has a steering wheel an a gas peddle he can drive it an back up better than some adults I have saw.

I am leaning towards the 75 grain Amax

Your Son, your responsibility....

Don’t forget the 75 gr Scirocco. It has great terminal performance, can be COAL sensitive, but once the “sweet spot” is found it’s very accurate.

DF

That about sums it up.
Not sure why so many try to push their ethics on others.

Me either!!

I would second the 75 grn. A-Max.

Only you know your son..sounds like he has the interest as well as the ability, with your guiding.

Mine was the same..

Sounds interesting but I have not been able to get better than about 4 MOA accuracy from them. That's in 3 1-8" twist ARs, a 1-12" twist bolt action, and (less surprising) 5-6 1-14" twist varmint rifles.

On the flip side, the 70 grain Accubond shoots very well in my current AR, solidly sub MOA.

Tom

The little 55gr Hornady SP will do everything that needs done. Also any Barnes bullet. And don't forget the Sierra 63 and 65gr.

As for his age, my nephew started with a 22lr at about 4. Got his first deer rifle, a Model 7 CDL in 260Rem, for his 6th birthday. He killed his first buck with it that fall using my light handloads. Kids have different interests and mature at different levels. As his father, you know better than anyone whether he's ready to deer hunt or not.

62 grain bear claw

Have heard that some cant get them to shoot.

We normally got under 1" groups.

I've never seen the partitions be tack drivers but I've always been able to keep 3 around 1" in a bunch of rifles.

Thanks I can’t step out of the house without him on my heels wanting to go look for sheds or shoot a 22.. I don’t push anything on him I just let him show me what interest him.. Outdoors,fishing an hunting is all he talks about

As long as it is accurate in your gun, I would just use the 90 gr Fusion load. Especially at the ranges your son is likely to use it at over the next few years.

It’s odd my savage msr 15 224 Valkyrie will not shoot the federal fusion for some reason. 6 inch groups at 100. It will shoot the 75 grain Hornady Black 5 shots into a nickel at 100

Whats wrong with that?

At the velocity it produces, at fairly short range I'd imagine, I'd say you could use a bunch of different ones. If you know the 75gr Hornady shoots that well, I'd be focusing on buying more of those, or loading them yourself by the bagful. Have the boy shoot a bunch, the deer will be in the pictures.

My boys started at 4, hunting at 6. If he's into it and focused, he'll be fine.

agree with magnum bob and battue: let the boy grow up. maybe the dad benefits from it more than the boy

Unlike some dads I very much appreciate my boys an will be with them every step of the way as grow an develop into young men.

I have had a lot of success with the Winchester 64 grain SP bullet in my AR rifle and my single shot.

Yep, and the 64 Nosler Bonded is right there with it. They penetrate and devastate.

I have been able to get deer accuracy out of them with every rifle that was twisted right. My Savage LWH loves them. 25.5 grains of W748 loaded to 2.255 ignited by a Rem 7 1/2 gives .65" groups.