Best deer caliber for 10yr old son

J

jmicheals32

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I'm looking at getting my son his first deer rifle. He's been training on a .22 bolt action Savage and my AR15 for the last year.

I've been thinking about starting him with a .243, but not sure. Any suggestions or thoughts?
 
There are many choices good for him. Especially with the new recoil pads and reduced recoil loads. My first rifle around that age was a 30-30 then a 243 a couple years later. Me oldest son started with a 223 and my middle two started with 300 blackout. One of my 9 year old sons stepped up to a 308 this year but he's shooting the reduced recoiloads loads.
 
.243 is probably a good choice. Several gunmakers offer youth/compact rifles in it. As Boogershooter noted, reduced recoil ammo is available if necessary. This stuff has good reviews and many comments address young deer hunters.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/48...unition-243-winchester-87-grain-sst-box-of-20

Otherwise, if he can legally hunt with your AR, premium ammo such as Barnes VOR-TX seems to do pretty well on deer when distances are modest.
 
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Remember, the rifle has a lot to do with felt recoil, not just the chosen round. The old 30-30 is great, but if you run it in the traditional lever rifles, the stock design may make it unpleasant for a recoil sensitive shooter. I am a big proponent (and recent convert) of the .243 Win, and not just for beginners. Whatever you get, make sure it fits your son, especially LOP. If it's too long, the shooter will tend to move the rifle butt off the shoulder towards the biceps to get a good view through the scope.
 
Even a 243 has significant recoil for a kid. Hornady LITE ammo will provide adequate power at the range a kid should be shooting w/o the recoil of full power ammo.
I've allowed my kids and Grandkids to shoot deer with a .223 but only under strictly supervised and controlled conditions. Turning a kid loose to hunt alone with a .223 is just wrong.
I built a custom 6x45 MM(.223 case with a .243 bullet) for Grandson to use this year. He shot 2 deer successfully and the cartridge performed adequately.
I'm currently working on a new 6.8 SPC in an AR 15 that has great potential within the AR platform.
 
Whitetail deer? Is the .223 legal in your state?

All kids are different. I started my boys out with .22LR pistols (about 6), then went to rifles (about 8), then AR15s (about 10). The first two years he could hunt (12 and 13) my older son used a .308Win Encore and just this past season he moved up to .30-06. He is about 110 pounds and 5' 3". He has shot 250 rounds of 12 gauge in a day (bird buck and slugs) at matches several times and does well and also shoots USPSA and 3Gun. My younger son is a little less inclined to shoot rifles above the .223, but he is still just 11. We had him shoot one of the .243Win rifles a few weeks ago and he was perfectly fine with it. Range limitations have to do with skill and experience so that is something you will have to work out. My older son shot his pronghorn at 319 and his elk at 350 yards last year. He can hit a 10" plate out to 500 yards first shot, but I won't let him shoot at game that far yet. At 14 he has shot over 15K rounds, so he has a good amount of experience.

Fit is important. An ill fitting rifle will feel like it recoils more. Having to stretch out to hold a rifle is also a hindrance to accuracy.

Here is a comparative recoil chart: http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

The .243Win is a very good deer cartridge and what both of my boys will use for Pronghorn this year, and likely for doe deer. For elk, if my younger one can not do well at the range with the .308, he will have to pass.

Other than the .243Win, you can look at the .260Rem or the 7mm-08. Both are just a touch more recoil, but still pretty soft and a little better if you are shooting larger deer and could be used for elk with the proper limitations.
 
At 12, I started with a 12 lb 30'06.

A slightly smaller 243 or 7-08 would have been nice. 260 Rem and 257 Roberts also come to mind.

A 308 AR would have been my dream gun and really are not stupid expensive. Recoil would be great in a 308 AR. Looks like $1000 or so, if you had to have it today from PSA.
 
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I believe that the AR-15 is the best all-around beginners rifle (a good one for everyone else too)

Get a light weight AR in 6.8 SPC with a telescoping stock.
It's powerful enough to be legal in every state that allows rifles for deer hunting, which is most of them. For states that require shot magazine capacity, you get a small mag.

The tele-stock fits people from 4 foot 8 inches to 6 foot 5 inches.

The recoil is lighter than a 223 bolt action.
The accuracy is excellent.
It can be made very user friendly for both right and left hand shooters.
Ammo is about the same cost as 30-06 and if you reload (which you should) it cost only about 15-29 percent more then 223.
And for those that kick at the idea of giving a youth an auto-loader, you can buy a mag block that makes them into a single shot which locks open on every shot.

Such a rifle is not just for kids and they do not out grow it as they get older.
 
I agree with wyosmith 100% but a mistake I often see is scope mounting on the ar. You position the scope on the gun for yourself and get it all sighted in then shorten the stock to fit your kid and hand it to him. Sometimes it works great but more than likely the scope will not be correct for them. Just something to keep in mind.
 
Excellent point. But the flat-top ARs are wonderful in that way too, as they have nearly unlimited options for scopes and positions. If ever that was a "one size fits all" rifle, it is the AR15
 
A 243 in a bolt rifle would be my pick. No reason to handicap the kid with a 30-30 which will be less effective and have more felt recoil. Ammo is everywhere and reasonably priced. With todays loads it is as good a deer round as anything and not just a kids gun. While it does recoil more than 223, it still ain't much.

Actually a 223 used within its limitations is an acceptable choice. There are only about 4 states where rifles are allowed and 223 is not so that would be a rare handicap. And I do like the AR's just fine. The 6.5's and 6.8's are an improvement over 223, but for deer I'm not convinced a necessary improvement. Dead is dead, and 223's with good bullets kill deer.
 
I too recommend a good bolt gun in .243win. I started with a Remington 788 .243win at 8 and still use it once in awhile. If you're a reloader, I run a Sierra Prohunter 100gr around 2700-2800fps with a decent charge of 4064. Been using that same ammo setup since the late 80's. If you're not a reloader, Hornady Lite is a outstanding round of choice.
 
You can get a ar in any flavor/caliber you want. The bolt gun may be cheaper but if he's still youth sized there will be no need for a new stock or new gun later. I started mine off with single shots but there are plenty of ways to skin that cat.
 
I see this discussion year after year. Maybe he is not ready to go hunting with a gun in hand. Maybe he does not even want to go hunting. We (Me,cousins, friends) could not wait to go hunting. All of us got whatever was in the closet. Always a single or double 12 gage. Some of my friends were pretty slim at that age, but they were ready to go. My Buddy had two boys a year apart. When they started hunting, I refused to take the one deer hunting. He was simply to immature for his age.
Maybe a .410 starter for squirrel hunting? If a kid can't handle a .243 or 30-30 recoil, he is not ready to go deer hunting.
 
The way gun laws are going the AR is a pretty good idea. When the kid is 30 he may not be able to buy one but be ok if he has one that grandfathers in.

You can get an Armalite in 243.
 
No mention of where you are hunting and what kind of deer. My son's first Ohio whitetail was taken with a 20 guage slug from his Reminton 870 youth model that he hunted squirrels with. Not exactly a tack driver, but there's something to be said about hunting with a gun you are already very familiar with.
 
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