bets caliber for youth

Longwalker said:
Both my sons started with 7mm08 rifles, and both still use them almost 20 years later.
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It's a caliber that can be used for a life time of hunting and why I went with it. I bought a Browning X bolt micro midas that has a short LOP and comes with butt spacers that can be added in as they grow. I will add that this was the first 7-08 I ever bought and like it so much I use it myself for deer now as well.
 
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Prairie Plinker said:
If you reload then there are a myriad of choices, anything between and including .24 to .30 caliber with 40-45gr of powder pushing it along will do the job nicely. If you don't reload keep it to something on the cheaper side ammo-wise, as the more shooting he can get under his belt the better. If I was choosing a new rifle, for a young new hunter today I'd personally choose the 6.5CM if I didn't reload as there are different ammo offerings everywhere.

The most important thing in my opinion should be the rifle itself, not the caliber. Most 12 year olds aren't yet built for a full size stock. My first rifle was a Rem. 788 7mm-08, excellent rifle in an excellent chambering, but I wasn't big enough yet to hold the rifle properly (length-of-pull was way too long), and the first few years it really "seemed" to kick me around a lot, even relative to the other couple centerfires I had a chance to fire back then.
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What he said.... fit first, and not too front heavy. I lean towards 308. A few scout 308s in the EE ads
 
If you limit yourself to 200 yards the 7.62x39 is anything but marginal on deer.Never had to shoot big bodied AB deer more than once.Non-corrosive FMJ ammo is cheap in bulk and handloads miserly with a 25gr charge of H4198 and a 123gr SP.Can switch up to .311/150gr SP for bigger stuff like bear and moose kept to 100 yards or so.Dead on arrival.I shoot a CZ527 and get dime sized groups.For chickens a cast 93gr Tokarev pistol bullet and a little Bullseye.
 
Prairie Plinker said:
If you reload then there are a myriad of choices, anything between and including .24 to .30 caliber with 40-45gr of powder pushing it along will do the job nicely. If you don't reload keep it to something on the cheaper side ammo-wise, as the more shooting he can get under his belt the better. If I was choosing a new rifle, for a young new hunter today I'd personally choose the 6.5CM if I didn't reload as there are different ammo offerings everywhere.

The most important thing in my opinion should be the rifle itself, not the caliber. Most 12 year olds aren't yet built for a full size stock. My first rifle was a Rem. 788 7mm-08, excellent rifle in an excellent chambering, but I wasn't big enough yet to hold the rifle properly (length-of-pull was way too long), and the first few years it really "seemed" to kick me around a lot, even relative to the other couple centerfires I had a chance to fire back then.
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I do reload but still I want to go cheap as my daughter will want to target shoot. Already tried .22 and she likes it.
 
6.5 or 7mm08.

243 is lighter recoil but is much less forgiving for good shot placement. 30-30 and 7.62x39 have a lot of disadvantages and no benefits over a 6.5 or 7mm.
 
I started my son with a 243 youth and limited his shooting distance to 150 yards at first and we practiced shooting every 2 weeks through the spring and summer and after a couple years he moved up to a 7-08 standard LOP rifle and has had a good experience every step of the way with success I might add.
 
My kid is 11. pretty tough kid compared to others his age.

He shoots a Trapper 30-30 with a fastfire3 red dot on it, reduced 150grn loads.

He has a Finnlight 243 set up for him with a swarovski, but it's too long and heavy to freehand when hunting. Fine off a bench/rest tho


If we weren't in BANaduh, he'd have a light, short AR in 6.5 Grendel. Probably a Christensen Arms. 16" carbon fibre
 
I used a 243 to shoot a muley doe on Thursday. 90gr Accubond Nosler factory ammo. That was the first time I've shot at medium game with less than a 308 with 180gr bullet. It's my wife's gun (Savage Lady Hunter) but no one was watching and I wanted to try it out for fun. 1/3 the recoil of my 300 WM and just as good a trajectory out to 300 yards. Sighted in with a max bullet path 2" high it is only 5" low at 300. It's not just for kids and women when it spits 90gr bullets at well over 3000 fps! That's good performance in anyone's books. And it was great carrying a short, light rifle up and down the coulees.

That 90gr Accubond seems like a bit too tough of a bullet even though the deer keeled over without travelling too far. It was a double lung shot but there sure wasn't much damage to the lungs and the critter didn't react much to the shot, just started trotting along again. The exit hole was just about 1", same as the entrance. Distance was about 170 yards. After seeing that, I'd trust that bullet even on an elk or moose and maybe switch to Ballistic Tips on deer.

Of course, the other 308-sized cartridges can do the job, too. But as much as it pains me to admit, the 6.5 Creedmoor is probably a better option over the 260 Remington for someone who doesn't reload, based on ammo price and availability. Creedmoor ammo is no more expensive than 308 Win. It just makes sense to use it and the high BC bullets like 143 ELD-X carry more energy out to further distances w/o needing a super high muzzle velocity.
 
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