Rifle Suggestion for a Young Shooter
- Thread starter South Pender
- Start date
duncansuds
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Weyburn, SK
Yep. This is a lot more important than which .308 based cartridge you choose. Recoil Managment and accuracy are practically the same thing. Not too many bad choices in a short action. Focus on fit.
I just switched to an Howa ultra light in a 6.5 Grendel. lol… it’s so awesome out to 350/400y. There is no recoil and it’s adequate for literally anything you trust the .308/.243 to accomplish. Gives weird shooting positions a fighting chance in the field
Thanks guys. You've all made some good points. My grandson is about 5-10, 150 lbs. so a normal stock will fit him. The suggestions of a 6.5 Creedmoor make sense, and if I can find a good .243 or 6.5 CM--right weight and fit--we'll be good to go. Actually I'm hoping a nice used Husqvarna or Sako will show up, but that's just the traditionalist in me. Frankly I'm not that impressed with the current crop of new rifles. I do reload, and so we could go with a Husqvarna 6.5x55, I guess, and I could load it down a little if necessary to start, providing I can find a lightweight one.
Last edited:
I'd take a look at some of the Kimbers. 243 or better yet a 7-08. Slim and light. Plenty of light bullet options that would get the recoil down to 243 levels, and heavy bullet choices that he realistically may never outgrow for hunting purposes nor need to. Some real nice wood options that should meet Grandfather approval. Controlled round feed and 3 position safety, a first class trigger and pillar/glass bedded.
I'm sort of getting tired of taking new rifles home to finish building them.
I'm sort of getting tired of taking new rifles home to finish building them.
duncansuds
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Weyburn, SK
7-08 is a no compromise cartridge. It’s my overall personal favourite.
I checked out that rifle. I think it would be risky to purchase it from the auction without having it in hand to carefully inspect it. It's hard to be sure from the pictures, but it looks to me that it has been refinished after a fashion. The finish on the wood looks after-market to me, and the blued floorplate has the gold from the engraving missing--as though it had been reblued or maybe cerakoted. The Browning butt plate has been replaced with an after-market recoil pad. It definitely would not be of interest to a Browning collector, but may serve as a shooter for someone. The other concern is the possibility of it having a salt-wood stock. Many (probably the majority) of Brownings made between 1966 and 1972 had the salt-wood stocks. This led to pretty extensive corrosion of the metal that came into contact with the wood,along with some deterioration of the wood. So it would be important to get the serial number of that rifle; you could date it accurately from that. However, in addition, I think I'd want to get the metal out of the stock to check for sure. About the last thing I'd want would be a corroded gun from the salt wood. I've asked the auction folks for the serial number, but I'm not sure I'll get it. Failing that, this would be a very big risk for any bidder unless the salt wood issue didn't bother him.
My business partner is 5'4" 125 lbs and just turned 21 years old. She started her hunting career with her dad and a .243 Savage youth model that she has now handed down to her little sister because I bought her a Browning micro 7-08. Last year she got her first 4 point buck and this year she killed a great moose with it. It doesn't hurt that she spends more time at the range than 90% of the hunters, of course
She has also shot all my hunting rifles from .223 to 375 Ruger and while the magnums rock her, and she doesn't want to shoot many rounds, she could use them for hunting. I don't doubt your grandson could handle anything in the .308/6.5 etc range. Get a gun that fits him and you are all good. 5'10" and 150 lbs is sorta "average" for a man anyway. Since you handload it's easy to start him off with light loads. And to be honest light loads in cartridges in that range will kill anything anyway.
But honestly if your only quarry is coastal blacktail and you handload...A .223 with some good bullets or a 6.5 Grendel is all he needs. But if he will want to go for moose one day, it's better to get him into the bigger stuff
7-08 139gr Barnes LRX 245 yards. Not bad for a first moose. She is like my little sister and I taught her to shoot effectively so watching her pump two rounds into that bulls lungs in rapid succession and seeing him drop was one of the best days of my life!
Last edited:
These things are a handful though also... i own one.
its a scaled down normal sized rifle............... to me the montana feels like a 22 spec, rifle..........
being so light, evnei na 7mm08 with full house loads, its jumpy an if not held the right way everythime, theres a different bullet hole each time...
i feel its more a specialist rifle, someone who isnt behind it alot, packs light an wants to send one now an then.... thats all my opinion though... liek a butthole, it often stinks.
.243 in one would be nicer an being a littler fella, the gun would feel fine- im a smaller fella too an after using other guns an grabbing a montana it is odd,,,,, after using a montana often an grabbin another gun, it feels heavy lol
plastic stock ones ive not felt "hunter" model, but would be alright
having said all of this, reload the cartridge to a lower charge and it will be awesome- my 708 likes min loads best? not sure if its just my accuracy dictates that or the rifle itself? tend to get real flat primers pretty quick tho....... but im happy with min load 140gr 7mm08 loads for even our biggest deer an would not blink on a Elk or even a moosey as above
Serial # is in pic 4 and looks like it was built in "71". also the sling studs are missing and the holes appear to be plugged. Auctioneer does not mention anything about the additional engraving that Bubba did with the numbers in the floorplate.
Good eye, wireone. I missed that. It does look as though it was built in 1971, during the salt-wood stock period. One (of several) reasons to pass on it. Bid is at $1200 now with 9 days to go. I wonder how high it will go.
I know I will catch some backlash on this but Savage 10 chambered in 6.5 cm. I am admittedly recoil shy, 145lbs soaking wet so yes Im smaller framed. I can put 40 rds down the tube and be accurate and very comfortable. Just a suggestion. Should your grandson ever decide to consider ELR he would have the start of a build.
My daughter started shooting her 7-08 when she was 11. It’s a pretty ordinary tupperware Tikka, though I did put a Limbsaver pad on it. She started calling it her twisty gun, because there is so little recoil that the most noticeable effect upon shooting was the torque, then started giggling for some reason known only to 11 year old girls. Weird; I mean none of my rifles are twisty, or at least not only twisty. My 375 Weatherby loaded to 378 Weatherby levels isnt the sort of thing that you want to shoot with one hand and finger-tip control while tickling the set trigger or it just might end up upside down in the bags. Still I wouldn’t call it twisty, or at least not giggle twisty.
My son shot a Rem 700 compact in .243 for his first centerfire. Now that he's mostly grown it's sitting in a Grayboe stock. I'm still a .243 Win fan, great deer/antelope cartridge, easy to shoot, flips coyotes inside out.
My 6.5 Creedmoor is a Savage Lightweight Storm which is about a pound lighter with a much thinner barrel contour. While the recoil pad is very comfortable, the gun itself is probably too light and "flippy" to be a good youth option.
My 6.5 Creedmoor is a Savage Lightweight Storm which is about a pound lighter with a much thinner barrel contour. While the recoil pad is very comfortable, the gun itself is probably too light and "flippy" to be a good youth option.
I share your passion for the classic wood stocked rifles. Intersurplus has several 6.5x55 1600/1640 Husqvarna rifles, they are a quality lightweight rifle. GNG surplus has one. They also have a .270 Win in a 1600, that would be my pick. As you handload, a turned down 130gr. handload for range practice would be easy to handle. Full house 130 or 140's for hunting, he'll never notice the recoil taking a nice buck.
Last edited:
Just be aware that hunting big game in BC with 22 caliber is illegal. Which means 243/6mm is the minimum legal caliber for hunting big game is BC. (Unless the regulations have changed since I last looked at them)
If the lad decides to add black bear to the list, then the 6.5 will be better suited than the 243. And any of the mild 6.5's will work just fine (260/6.5 CM/6.5 Swede) and the lighter bullet weights (120/123/129/130 gr) will provide good on-game performance, with mild recoil.
If he is on the coast too, he will be typically presented with shorter distance shots on deer (and/or black bear) in the coastal forest, unless out in the logging blocks, so he isn't going to need faster, flatter loads with heavier bullets for better penetration at distance.
Other points to consider:
To help him with the recoil, have him wear ear plugs and muffs when practicing at the range, as many flinch as much from the noise as they do the actual recoil of the firearm.
While muzzle brakes reduce felt recoil, the muzzle blast can add to the "flinch" from muzzle blast for new shooters. If equipped, explain this to the new shooter and experiment with and without the brake to determine which they prefer.
And shorter barrels bring that noise back closer to the shooter, so longer barrels are better here (22" or 24" vs 16" to 20" barrels).
While the Tikka Hunter has a wood stock, the grain is usually pretty plain. Sako is always a great option (IMO), but as mentioned above Browning or Winchester are other options.
Then there is the Remington, Ruger, and many others for the lad to try to see which fits and feels best to him when he shoulders the rifle.
I've been hunting for a decade and 22cal centrefires have been legal for that entire time. You can legally hunt moose with a 17 hornet. Only Bison has caliber restrictions beyond being centrefire.
Coastal rainforest kinda begs for a stainless rifle to me. It gets real wet sometimes. That said I don't have a stainless rifle, but that's in part because I bought a used lefty in 7mm08 (which I rarely see available) and beggars can't be choosers.
Last edited:
