Youth hunting rifle suggestions

I can't speak to Remington reduced recoil, but I know Hornady has their Custom Light ammo, and it makes my 7mm-08 very tame.

Also, have you contemplated a recoil reducing muzzle brake? There are some really effective ones out there. But in full disclosure, I think they are kind of ugly and the can make the gun much louder for the shooter. But with that said, if the brake gets you where you want to be, the gun would have a lot of future potential for the young man the young boy grows into being.

And thanks for the congratulations! I'm really excited!:D
 
In equal-weight rifles, a 7mm08 is about 90% as much recoil as a regular .308.

Numerous reports of successful kills on whitetail and hogs with proper bullet selection in .223. With such a load, even lightweight rifles have little recoil.
 
Tallest: I wasn't considering a brake because my sense is, at least for little kids, the anticipation of the report and then the "boom" are actually worse than the physical recoil of the rifle. So I'd be hesitant to make it even louder. Then again, while I dont hunt with ears on, I guess if I have half a brain the kids will. So maybe that's a moot point. At least while still hunting, which is all I'd have a kid doing anyway.
 
I'd be leaning toward the .243.
7-08s are good. .260 Rem is good. 6.5 Creed is good. ...But they're all still pretty close to .308 Win recoil in same-weight rifles.
.243 Win, all else being equal, will soften the recoil a bit more while still being 'enough gun'.


It's not on your list, and arguably obscure and ridiculous, but my real vote would be for 6.5x50mmR Jap. It's such a sweet little cartridge. Soft shooting. Accurate as any other 6.5. But still pushing enough muzzle velocity to be effective.
I would not, however, ever consider it - even the tiniest bit - for someone that doesn't reload. Factory ammo is NOT budget-friendly.
 
FM: I empathize with other 6.5ers (I'm a CM guy). If the recoil of the 7-8 with reduced recoil rounds is even a few #s less than my CM, that seems pretty minimal, even for a kid.
 
I will toss in a vote for 243. And a big caution about a lever in 30-30. Small hands have a tough time letting the hammer down gently on a loaded chamber. If anything slips and someone is on the wrong end of the rifle at the time....it will likely be you. My first hunting rifle was a lever in 30-30, but Idaho restricted the age to 12 years and older.

My choice for my daughter about 13 years ago was 7-08 in a Weatherby Vanguard youth model. It came with an adult size stock to grow into. I didn't research the recoil, just talked to my buddy at the gun shop. Recoil was more than my 9 year old girl could manage. We got a brake installed. I should have went with the 243, but we were planning to hunt elk and deer and I wasn't comfortable with 243 on elk.
 
kids

I've grown more and more fond of the .243 as a deer round for both kids and adults the more I shoot it. First week of Jan I killed a nice 8 pt out at 250yd plus with my Dad's .243 that came my way after his death. Bamaboy hunted it as a kid, killed 5-6 with it, and it has set idle for the most part since then, till this year, when I hunted it again. The 100 gr Nosler Partition sailed right thru, lopping off the top of the heart in the process.

I'm opposed to traditional 30-30 lever rifles for kids and newbies. Lowering the hammer to half-cock seems a complicated step for many, and many folks these days do not understand the correct process. The lever rifles with the safety address that problem, but I cannot warm up to them either, though they are no doubt "safer", at least in the eyes of the tort lawyers.

Bamaboy killed his first two whitetails with a .223 bolt rifle and quality bonded bullets. He was well prepared with me coaching, there is no doubt a proper bullet in .223, and picking shots, can take deer, but I really cannot in good faith suggest the .223 as a deer round, there are better choices of caliber.

Nor do I like the idea of starting a kid with an AR, magazine or not. That may be an appearance thing, and yes, I suppose I should get over it. I have an AR, and am considering building another in 6.5 Grendel exclusively to deer hunt with (probably won't happen). And if someone capable wants to hunt with an AR in the appropriate caliber, great. But somehow, junior with the AR doesn't ring true to me.

What does seem like a good idea is some type of bolt rifle in 6.5 Grendel, or as an alternative, 7.62 x 39mm. The Ruger American Ranch is available in either caliber these days and would be an extremely mild, but effective deer killer in either caliber. Affordable too. I hunt a Ruger lightweight M77 in the x39mm chambering and have no hesitation using it inside 150 yds on deer, and do so frequently. Similarly, the new Howa Mini-Action rifle in 6.5 Grendel and the featherweight barrel should be a joy to hunt as well, for a kid or an adult. They run $500 bucks or so if you can find them, but the LW version is feather like.

Weight is an issue with kids.....the weight of the firearm and their ability to manage it. When you get the firearm down to a weight that a 7-8 yr old can handle, a serious caliber like 7mm-08 is a real kicker as others have noted. Even in a full size 8-9 lb rifle, I would not start a kid on a 7mm-08.
Junior needs to be able to manage the rifle away from the bench or the shooting house rail. The single shot H&R rifles were good for that.
 
Ranger: that's a good point, re: the hammer on a 30-30. I tend to think we overshoot at lots of animals, so I consider the .243 a solid deer round, even from a compact rifle.
 
I bought my daughter a Tikka T3 lite 243. She starting shooting around 12. I handloaded for it and started with 58 gr V max to practice and loaded 85 gr partitions for deer hunting. Works great on our Nebraska whitetail. These loads are amaizingly accurate but it don't like any loads above 90gr.

One other thought is a 270 Win if you handload. Factory loads may be too heavy. Not my first thought for a kid but I have been experimenting with a 110 gr TTSX loads. My first loads were light and so was the recoil but plenty of energy for deer. I would say these light loads recoil were about the same as the loads in my daughters 243. But that was also out of my Rem 700, a little more weight to absorb the recoil.
 
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No I did not. Haven't seen them in the local stores.
Click to expand...

I've occasionally seen reduced recoil ammo (Remington and Hornady) in stores, but not enough that I would want to count on them for regular resupply. Likely something you'll just have to order.
 
Doyle: I actually emailed Remington this morning to see what the deal is. No one online has the 7-8 in stock. If it's not going to be made regularly, that's a non-starter. (The reviews I've read of the Hornady are much more mixed and just based on the #s, it doesn't seem to manage nearly as much.)
 
Academy Outdoors seems to have both available (but the Remington is just listed as 120gr instead of Managed Recoil). Other sites I normally buy from seem to be out. Seems to be a lot less available in general than when I was buying ammo before deer season. It is likely just that inventories are low this time of year.
 
hammers and first centerfires

We have a .357 mag carbine, (no safety) an early Marlin and its mild manners seemed like a good first step up from .22's when he learning to shoot. But I was suspicious of the boy dealing with the hammer, and some dry practice aforehand confirmed my fears.....managing that hammer was just to much of a trick for a kid. What we ended up doing was shooting the rifle as a single shot, with me loading and passing the cocked rifle (safely mind you) to him for a shot. And we always shot if the rifle was loaded. No trying to lower the hammer. With single loaded .38 WC the little carbine was a great centerfire starter, UNDER VERY CONTROLLED conditions. Same with bamawife, petite as she is, the .357 carbine seemed ideal. But she could not get the deal with lowering the hammer to half cock .

What worked just fine as a stepping stone for both was a .223 Mini Mauser bolt rifle. Engage safety and open bolt, snick in 4 cartridges, close bolt. Prepare for shot and press one off. Easy. The 7.62x39 bolt was next and it seemed a better killer than .223 on deer. By that time the Savage 110 .243 was not a struggle and he shot it well also.

Now I have to race him for the .308 Hog Rifle, if I can coax him from the girlfriend!!!!!!!!
 
First, there's a difference between a "kid" and a "youth"(in my book anyway). I don't see a need to "start" a kid with a tiny kid sized rifle. A short stock? Of course but not a short, light, harder to shoot, harder recoiling rifle. Surely, you don't expect a kid to carry the rifle far?
A "full sized" rifle with short stock is a better beginners' choice. Carry the gun to the stand and set it on a support. I don't condone the idea of dragging a kid to the woods, parking him next to a tree, and walking away. That's the best way to teach a kid to dislike hunting.
 
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