Buying a rifle for a young man

I just picked up a Savage Axis youth .243 with scope for $350 for my 11 year old. He had a great time at the range. He was getting 5" groups at 200yrd. Not bad for his first time with a bigger gun. I think I may borrow it for deer season if he will let me.
 
What type of scope came on this rig. How`s the rifle overall...seem pretty tight, and well bilt?


Dave-A said:
I just picked up a Savage Axis youth .243 with scope for $350 for my 11 year old. He had a great time at the range. He was getting 5" groups at 200yrd. Not bad for his first time with a bigger gun. I think I may borrow it for deer season if he will let me.
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Rory McCanuck said:
I really think bigger people feel recoil more. When the gun fires, its going
to move. If you are pushing back with 280 lbs, its going to hurt more than
if you were pushing back with 160 lbs.

Stead hmmm. I snowshoed through there every Saturday a whole
bunch of years ago.
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Nice scenery in the Belair forest, I snowshoed in there lots too before the kids came along.
 
I used to think a 243 was the answer then years ago I discovered that moving the kids and women that hunted with us up to a 257 Roberts or a 30-30 over a 243 reduced animal loss and resulted in far less tracking on our part.

The slightly larger bullets just seemed to kill better I'm not saying a 243 will not work it obviously does I am saying it will not work as well as a larger diameter cartridge.

I would suggest a rifle in 257 Roberts/260 Rem/7mm-08 and if I were to go up to a 30 cal it would either be a 308 Win down loaded to 300 Savage ballistics or a 300 Savage.

I started my now 27 year old son when he was 10 years old with a T/C Contender carbine in 30-30 when he got so he could handle more recoil I had the barrel rechambered to a wildcat round 308Bellm that gives mid range 300 Savage ballistics = 150gr @ 2620fps.

He now hunts with either my old 270 Weatherby that I gave to him or my 300RUM when we are hunting in Central/northern BC.

On 11/11/11 he shot this nice blacktail buck with his old Contender in 308Bellm.

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speers said:
Here's my opinion and keep in mind its worth what you paid for it, and this is coming from someone who is 20 and 8 or 10 years ago my old man was in the same boat. But if your kid is able to use the rifle then he should be able to pick one out for himself. For example you could go out and buy him the best suited youth model .243 money could possibly buy and if he dosent like it well then....... But if he tags along to the shop with you and absolutly falls in love with a fwt. .270 or a 30-06 for example hes gonna wanna shoot that gun no matter how bad it beats him up. And he'll have that gun the rest of his life. There would be nothing worse then having a gun that you've gotten your first deer, elk, moose what ever with and not being able to keep it and use it for your whole life just cause you have grown out of it. "Your first big game rifle" as in one you pick out for yourself not borrow from a buddy or your dad or whom ever should be one you keep your whole life even if you half to grow into it.

Its like hanging out with your big brother when your a kid, it dosent matter how much you get picked on or beat up, at the end of the day if its still fun and thats were you wanna be thats where your gonna be.

As far as picking out caliber get something that will be cheap to shoot, do the job that needs to be done and that you can pick shells up any where for. In my mind thats something like a .308 .270 .30-06. I'm not saying the .243 .260 7-08 6.5x55 7x57 or anything else you can think of is better or worse then anything else we all know there are some shells that kick more or less then others, no point in beating a dead horse there! But if say a 30-06 that fits him properly is just to much to handle and too painful, then the above list wont help. If it feels like your getting hit by a truck the size of the truck wont matter your still getting hit by a truck. Sure he might not be able to sit down and shoot 3 boxes of shells in a row but thats what a .22 or a .223 is for. IMO up to a certain point with the exception of big bores and magnums and what not most rifles are not painful some are just more comfortable to shoot then others. Shock and noise play more of a roll then pain.

If the kid is excited to shoot he'll want to no matter what. Even if you do pick out something a little heavy in recoil and he can only take 5 shots before his shoulder gets sore who cares, if he only took five shots a weekend every weekend he would be a pretty good shot in no time. Maybe I had it to easy where I could use my deer rifle to shoot ground hogs all summer and once it was zeroed I could shoot a ground hog and 15 minutes later i would find another too shoot, practice had very little shooters fatigue. I dont ever remember a gun beating me up so bad I never wanted to shoot it again and I never developed a flinch. Thats not saying everyone should start with a 30-06 or somthing. A .22 is the best place to start followed by a small centerfire which you've done, when the kid gets his new rifle he knows whats coming, theres gonna be a bang and a shove. Thats not gonna cause a flinch 40 rounds in a row with a sore shoulder might or a shot from a .375 or the like that will rattle your teeth if you hold your tounge the wrong way but an average large game rifle will be fine.

Sorry for the long winded post and I'm more than aware my spelling and punctuation are far from wonderfull. But everyone seems to forget the fact that if its not fun why bother and if it is fun any kid is gonna make the best of it! We seem to spend to much time reading about marketing ideas and new wonderfull ideas and forget the common sence aproach. Call me redneck or old fashion but thats just my opinion YMMV.
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Sounds good to me.For christes sake no 30-30 unless you think he is not your kid.
 
I was given a 30-30 as a kid and would not have wanted anything else. Worked out well for me and I still have it to this day. It was good enough for the Duke, it was definitely good enough for me. Once you learn to stalk within 30yds, Hunting takes on a whole new aspect and appreciation.
 
RT said:
What type of scope came on this rig. How`s the rifle overall...seem pretty tight, and well bilt?
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For a cheap gun it is good. There is not much selection for youth models. The synthetic stock is a little flimsy but what can you expect for the price. The scope is a bushnell 3-9.
 
Rory McCanuck said:
Stead hmmm. I snowshoed through there every Saturday a whole
bunch of years ago.
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I used to know that Belair county pretty well, but that was some time ago. Does the store still have the "Shop Here in Stead" sign?

When it comes to purchasing a rifle for a novice, two questions come to mind. A) Does the rifle fit the novice shooter? B) Can the instructor provide low recoil ammunition in sufficient quantity that the novice can benefit from his/her range time? I've started a number of young shooters with the .30/06, loading 125 and 130 gr bullets to 2600 fps. But just as easily it could have been with any number of moderate capacity centerfire cartridges similarly loaded.

Find an appropriate rifle, worry less about the cartridge designation on the barrel, and pay more attention to the load in the chamber. Handload if you can. Provided the rifle fits the shooter, is equipped with sights he can see, has a manageable trigger, and is loaded with well mannered ammunition, the rest is up to him.
 
Camp Cook said:
I used to think a 243 was the answer then years ago I discovered that moving the kids and women that hunted with us up to a 257 Roberts or a 30-30 over a 243 reduced animal loss and resulted in far less tracking on our part.

The slightly larger bullets just seemed to kill better I'm not saying a 243 will not work it obviously does I am saying it will not work as well as a larger diameter cartridge.

I would suggest a rifle in 257 Roberts/260 Rem/7mm-08 and if I were to go up to a 30 cal it would either be a 308 Win down loaded to 300 Savage ballistics or a 300 Savage.

I started my now 27 year old son when he was 10 years old with a T/C Contender carbine in 30-30 when he got so he could handle more recoil I had the barrel rechambered to a wildcat round 308Bellm that gives mid range 300 Savage ballistics = 150gr @ 2620fps.
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Gtrussel: pay attention to the above post, typed by a real outdoorsman.

gtrussell said:
Sounds good to me.For christes sake no 30-30 unless you think he is not your kid.
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Check out the Taylor's KO index, and Hornady's ballistic index. Both point to the 30-30 having a lot more stopping power than you think. From my experience deer drop as if struck by lightning. Can't remember what his name is, but at least one famous guide uses one when going after grizzlies with clients.
 
Ditto on the 243 and 270. Now have the 243 and wish I had kept the 270. Ill wager a 243 aquired now with be on the rack 20 years from now.. this young person will have the item to start another young person..just another opinion..
 
Finger Toes said:
Ruger compact fit my 11 year old kid. Laminate is heavy and shouldn't kick much with medium loads in 260 or 7-08
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Good call, a quality rifle there. Front-heavyness is a problem in guns for new shooters, and the Compact should balance back nicely into his hands for him. There is effectively zero difference in felt recoil from either the .260 or 7-08, any difference discussed on the internet had to be discerned by shooters far more sensitive to the difference than my abilities. So I'd buy whichever is available and have a blast.
 
Why not a cz 527 in 7.62x39. Cheap surplus ammo and plenty of power for deer. You can always buy them another later on.
 
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