Decision on youth gun What to do ?

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buckmag

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In the new year I want to purchase a rifle for my kids to use. Hope to get my daughter out for an early season mule deer in youth season. So Affordable ammo & rifle is one big factor and must be a youth size preferably light. I have 3 kids 12, 8 & 6 the daughter being the oldest then 2 younger sons that I hope will share the rifle. It would be nice to be able to drop a moose if an LEH was drawn but mostly for deer. I feel they need to shoot it a lot to get comfortable so ammo cost is a factor. So I have heard 243 & 7mm-08 as a common good gun. Had someone ask me why not a 308 I was surprised to hear them compare them similarly to the other 2. So what are your thoughts ?


Thanks for reading
 
My kids are roughly the same separation but my oldest in 14. I experimented back and forth and settled on an iron sighted 30/30 lever action. Easy for them to carry. Light weight and cheap to shoot. Ammo at Wholesale for the 170gr Federal is $14 a box. My kids primarily hunt with bows but they like rifle hunting as well...
 
Tomorrow I am going to try my grandson with a standard SPS mounted in a youth stock. He has shot the rifle with an adult stock so we will see how much difference it makes. Will let you know . . . I might have one for sale.
 
The way to increase the versatility of any cartridge is to handload for it. A .308 or a .30/06 can be a fine beginners rifle with the right loads. My grandson and my nephew both shoot .30/06, loaded with 130s to 2600. My grandson is just getting started, but my nephew has taken a couple of deer with that load.
 
I soon will also be buying a gun for my young son. My plan is to get either a Stevens 200 or one of the cheaper Savages in a .243win. The reason I'm choosing this combination is that I can cut the stock down to whatever length fits and as he gets bigger I can replace it with a new one easily because their are lots of Take Off stocks from Stevens 200's around. I'm going with the .243 because when I checked out the numbers if I recall it has around 9-10ft lbs of recoil where a .308 is somewhere around 18 and the .243 has plenty of energy to take a deer at any reasonable distance. But like Boomer said other larger calibers could be a good choice if down loaded. I too also thought about going the .30-30 route but feel that because of the stock shape of the leavers there seems to be more felt recoil.
 
.308 with a good recoil pad is a beaut to shoot. If your not a handloader, commercial reduced recoil loads are available.

On the other hand, i'd be willing to bet most guys here were taught using a .22 and .30 cal of some sort shooting whatever bullet dad had next in the magazine. Teach your children to shoot properly with a .22, then slowly introduce them to something bigger. Theirs no need in my opinion to start with something mid sized when int he future you know you'll be wishing you had the potential for heavier loads.
 
Morpheus32 said:
I experimented back and forth and settled on an iron sighted 30/30 lever action. Easy for them to carry. Light weight and cheap to shoot.
Click to expand...

Another vote for the 30-30 lever. It really is the perfect starter gun.
Not much recoil and very safe.
Easy to break down and to maintain.
To cycle a lever gun quickly and be accurate is a very difficult thing to do.
Not many people can. :D
 
TACTICAL111 said:
Another vote for the 30-30 lever. It really is the perfect starter gun.
Not much recoil and very safe.
Easy to break down and to maintain.
To cycle a lever gun quickly and be accurate is a very difficult thing to do.
Not many people can. :D
Click to expand...

The problem I found with most bolt guns, was the weight. Typically they were not very enjoyable to carry about due to the weight. If you used a light weight rifle, then the recoil was greater. A seven pound 30/30 with iron sights was a snap to use an carry. It was the right balance of weight and recoil. Plus, he is learning to shoot close with irons. I might consider a scout mount but we will have to see.
 
blasted_saber said:
.308 with a good recoil pad is a beaut to shoot. If your not a handloader, commercial reduced recoil loads are available.

On the other hand, i'd be willing to bet most guys here were taught using a .22 and .30 cal of some sort shooting whatever bullet dad had next in the magazine. Teach your children to shoot properly with a .22, then slowly introduce them to something bigger. Theirs no need in my opinion to start with something mid sized when int he future you know you'll be wishing you had the potential for heavier loads.
Click to expand...

This is very solid advice .teach them the fundamentals with a 22 .no recoil for them to deal with and minimal noise.nothing gives young shooters bad habits faster that uncomfortable recoil and a lot of noise.
 
30-30 was my first choice but you say you want to take them for mule deer. 30-30 might not be the best choice for wide open shooting, maybe the 243 would be better in that case. 30-30 is my choice if in the bush.
 
I kind of always wanted a 30-30 but this gun would not be for me. I am thinking the 30-30 would limit any long range shot opportunities. Not thinking 300 yard shots for the kids but 200 I would think could easily present it’s self.
I am as well planning on picking up a youth 22, just for the same reason others have mentioned to build up a good solid shooting foundation, as well as pounding grouse at any opportunity the family loves to eat them. As it stands I have all 3 shooting a daisy BB gun and handling it with all the safety precautions you would with any rifle.

Thanks for all the replies guy’s much appreciated.
 
Don't count the .30-30 out at 200 yards, even with standard winchester power point 170 grain loads it preforms better on deer sized game then paper balistics would make seem possible. Of course it takes some practice to get comfortable that far with regular ammo but theres that hornady leverevolution stuff which couple with a small 2.5x scope would turn grandpa's old deer rifle into a very effective carbine capable from 2 feet to 250 yards. Even with leverevolution ammo costting more then standard .30-30 I pay rougly the same price for it as I do for a box of plane jane remington corelocts for my '06.
 
Get both! I have a .30-30 Marlin for my boys and also a .243 M700 SPS Youth that I bought for them should a coyote show up close (within 2 or 300 steps) from the deerstand. :D

Yes, the .30-30 is easy to carry around, my boys like that, but they also want to option to reach out! Hunting with your kids is the best legacy you can leave them....:)

Cheers,
Barney
 
I have found that it is not just the weight that affects smaller people when they are trying to leard how to shoot, but LOP and more importantly, balance of the rifle.

Young or slight people usually have difficulty supporting a 24 inch #2 or greater bbl.

Also, many of the common stocks are simply too thick at the grip and fore-end for them to grasp the rifle comfortably - then they get scared - and then they dont enjoy it.

if you are using a full size stock - when you cut it down - make sure you reduce the over-all mass of the stock. When it looks like a light, slight, carbibe - you are getting where you need to be.

A friend tried starting his slightly built son on a Winchester lever rifle (not carbine) with full bbl and steel crescent butt. Poor guy looked like he was carrying a telephone poll. Could not hit a deer at 50 yds from a rest with it either. Finally went out and got a Remington Model 7 in 7-08 and 2 shots - 2 deer
 
tc hunter... just buy extra barrels for whatever you need it for they can shoot7mm08, 243 ,3030, whatever th hunt calls for, even shotgun and black powder.
 
I would go with a .308 and reduced recoil cartridges.I have 2-7mm-08's they are an awesome short action,low recoil,effective rifles.I find cartridges a bit harder to find as well as a bit more expensive than your standard calibers.
I would have a look at the weatherby Vanguard compact.
 
My first rifle was a 30-30,but when I turned 14,I bought a 243 and 4x scope with money I earned at odd jobs,because I wanted a flatter shooting cartridge that offered better accuracy.I would never purchase a 30-30 as a first rifle for a new hunter,I would go with a 7mm-08 bolt action.
 
What about a Ruger Compact? I just purchased one in 7.62x39 for my 11 yr old daughter. It's light, has a good length of pull for a small person, and is available in several excellent, light recoiling cartridges.
 
I would have agreed most of the recommendations on here for a 243 but the OP said he wants to potentially use it on moose and I think that 243 is a bit light for moose. I would say get a 30/30 like Morph recommended, it will take moose and is nice and light in a lever gun or get a compact rifle like the Ruger that someone mentioned earlier in 7-08. The 7-08 will kick as much as a 308 in that light rifle so it may not be fun to shoot for a younger shooter so it will be a trade off if you want a light easy to carry rifle with moderate power or a heavier rifle with better knockdown power but more recoil...
 
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