We all make mistakes, bri .....it 's the rare guy that owns it.
Thanks.
And Whistle's downloading of his 25-06 touches on my solution for some of my other kids' ballistic equipment solutions- I had less money for the second kid interested.... Did some shuffling and had the Eldest hand off her 30/30, and I downloaded my 10 lb. 270 win to 2700 f/sec with a130 gr bullet ..... She killed deer with it .... While the new hunter found that she just did not have the killer instinct .... Several opportunities, but just couldn't pull the trigger..... Just not in her..... She still goes shooting, still likes to go along hunting, but just lacks the killer instinct ..... and that's OK ......
.... Three years later, I had a bit more money on hand, and my son (then 11) wanted to hunt ..... I had picked up a Ruger Frontier in 7-08 (for those not familiar with it, it was Ruger's first stab at a Scout type carbine - 16 inch barreled M77 with a compact sized synthetic stock -still pretty heavy, but short enough that small kids could manage it) ....... I worked up a reduced load with IMR 4064 that lost about 150 f/sec compared to factory loads, but with so much less muzzle blast and recoil that even I preferred it ..... It killed deer, still does. More importantly, The Boy loves it. He's near 6 feet tall now, and still claims that gun is "his" .... Somehow I don't recall him forking over the Benjamin's for it...... Maybe I'll gift it to him if he keeps hunting ..... Anyhow ..... I think that if I put a suppressor on it, it could not be beat in the "Little Kids' Deer Rifle" category: Light, Short(ish) heavy enough to mitigate even the mild recoil of a 139gr bullet launched at 2500 f/sec, further mitigated by the can ...... And the report of a 22 mag..... Given efficient bullets, it's a no recoil 300 yard gun, if the shooter is up to it.........
Which brings us to the Last Child ..... She killed her first deer (as I detailed earlier) in 2015 with my AR .... I was not broke, and was prepared to buy another Frontier, or even a GSR ..... But she liked shooting the AR ..... As some of the posters have alluded to..... "Let her choose..." There is some truth to that: people tend to believe in their choices..... Become invested in them, if you will..... Witness the Legions of Fanboys that wage cyber war in favor of their choice and against all others (I've been guilty of this...sorry, live and learn ..... Which is exactly why I am spending the time to share all of this ..... The School of Hard Knocks is THE most expensive way to figure stuff out, ESPECIALLY in this, The Age of Information and Marketing ..... I ain't sellin' nothin', Just advocating for getting more kids (and women, because they are the biggest influences on little kids) into the field .... But I digress ..... back to the Last Child) She liked the AR ....but 2016 laid bare the inadequacy of the 5.56, even when loaded with really good bullets loaded to their max potential and good placement .... Small deer, perfect angles at under 100 yards? One or more of these things iffy or just not.. .... Maybe.....maybe Not .... But all else being equal, more is better ..... I built the PA-10 and it looked similar, if bigger (but she was bigger than she was 2 years prior, too ) ....so it was familiar .... I've always taught good form and fundamentals (ball and dummy drill with a major caliber center fire rifle is the Gold Standard test for good form and fundamentals w/ regard to recoil management) ..... I zeroed it .... She shot some paper to confirm .... And then lots of water bottles and milk jugs at different distances (instant feedback is a plus with kids) .... A couple hundred rounds ..... It worked pretty well...
Are these the "Right Answers"? I don't know..... but they were my answers at the time .... Some worked, some didn't .... But I'm sharing so maybe you can learn something ..... Not because I think that the 270WIN is "the BEST cartridge EVAR ".... Or to say that you should learn to hand load ( you should!) .... But I think that is what gun forums were supposed to be for: gun folks sharing gun information .... As always, Your mileage may Vary- it's your bus and your road and your foot on the pedal ...... Enjoy your ride.....