thinking of buying a bolt action rifle for my son for this deer season. rifle season is coming soon, so i'll have to jump on it fast and get him to an acceptable level of accuracy with it before we go out. he can handle my savage .308, but carrying it around is another story. so is shooting from anything other than a bench. it's a bit much for his frame. i know there is a lot of debate on .223/5.56 as an acceptable caliber for whitetail. plenty of folks do it, but it has drawbacks. i'm not certain i trust his shooting to that level yet, so one of our ARs is probably out of the question. what about 300blk? i could get an upper for one of the ARs pretty cheap and run with that for him. this is what i'm leaning toward. any other youth rifle suggestions that won't put me in the poor house?
.243 all the way this is what I bought for me and each of my three boys. https://www.remington.com/rifles/bolt-action/model-seven/model-seven-stainless-steel
Yep. .243 definitely. In a youth rifle of your favorite flavor. Ruger American is a good choice but there are others
.243 is a great caliber. I prefer bow hunting, but sometimes I get my rifle out for a change. Honestly, the woods I hunt are so thick that I rarely get a shot over 30 to 50 yards. Most are under 20 yards. .243 is plenty. And it is a pleasure to shoot. I have a tikka hunter .243
thanks for the advice guys. any specific thoughts on a 300blk upper for his AR? i know he's comfy with the rifle, and i trust 300blk in his hands more than i do .223. would probably be a cheaper solution as well. not sure i want him hunting with a semi-auto just yet, however.
There are effective deer calibers other than a .243. The challenge is getting a light enough rifle that the youth can handle without uncomfortable recoil. Howa makes a mini mauser in 6.5 Grendel. It has lower recoil and muzzle blast than a .243. Within 250 yards I believe it to be more effective on larger game. It is a better long distance cartridge than a .308. You can buy practice ammo for 7$ a box.
I dont know anything about the 300 but have you thought about a youth 20 gauge? Shooting slugs will be good enough for deer. In a semi auto, the recoil is less than the majority of rifles. And he can use it for rabbit, skeet etc. thats what my son does.
My son has a camo Remington 11-87 youth model in 20 ga. I think it was right around your price range. I have been very happy with what it has allowed him to do. He shoots more skeet than hunting but we have hunted with it. I will take him quail hunting with it soon. He's 12 by the way but we got this when he was 10 and it wasnt too much for him then.
He's got about half. But he wears so much make-up you can hardly see them. Talk about a waste of good Christmas presents.
Ruger American Compact in 243 or 300 BLK is a GREAT rifle for young/smaller shooters. It comes with a short butt stock with a length of pull more suited to smaller framed individuals. They are also very economical and intrinsically very accurate. The 243 is great out to 300 yards, the 300 BLK is good to 200 yrds. Both work well inside 200 yrds.
I've been happy with Savage Rifles. I can't speak for a deer rifle but I have a 22-250 that is dead nuts all day 400 yards. I had a chance to shoot at a 600 yard range once and was able to hit that far. Yotes never have a chance. What's the smallest caliber you at go?
Both of my children have had great success with a youth model 243 Simple operating system. Modular capabilities with other caliber barrels, we have the .22 and 20 gauge. My son took his first deer at 7 with it. No fear of recoil. Last year he shot a buck at 350 yds...not without practicing long distance shooting first. My daughter is 18 and still hunts with it. Ballistics of the 243 are within our comfort zone. That said, when I was 14 my dad gave me a Marlin 30-30 that I hunted with until three years ago. Find what your child is comfortable with and go with that.