Kids rifle, so boring it's exciting!

[mikeyb]

So I decided two things this summer, one, I needed a rifle with a youth stock, something traditional with an adjustable LOP. And two, I really wanted a .243 Win. Specifically something with a twist rate faster than 1-10" as the last one I owned didn't like 100gr bullets, or even 95gr bullets for the most part.

I ended up finding this Remington 700 youth model kicking around for a fair discount over other new-old-stock rifles so I decided to give it a try.

It needed a good detail clean, I figured it had been sitting in that box for some time and some of the grease needed a good hosing out. Especially the chamber. I pulled it out of the stock and adjusted the brutal X-Mark Pro trigger at the same time. I found a nice balance right around 2 pounds 10 ounces, not terrible. Actually pretty decent for a hunting gun.

I had the Talleys forever and the Bushnell scope is my beater - it's been mounted more times than a cheap #### star. The cheapest ammo (and most abundant I could find) was Federal Non-typical 100gr soft point. I had terrible luck with this is in my T3X and a BAR, but I took a sighter at 25, adjusted it below center, fired 3 to confirm, then fired 3 more 3-#### groups at 100.

Color me impressed by this little thing. Factory trigger, factory un-floated barrel, cheap scope, cheapest ammo I could find, windy day out in Selkirk, I'm pretty happy with the result!

Time to drag the kids out to sling some boo-lats.

 

[Jimbobob08]

Nothing wrong with that.

What’s the weight like? I haven’t started researching yet, but my wife finally starting to show a interest in hunting. Little guy is 4, so if she doesn’t actually get out, he will eventually.

 

[Decker9]

I’m curious on weight also, I have a 9 year old girl who’s ready to step into a youth rifle soon. Also curious on the recoil and recoil pad? I had a kimber Montana years ago in .243 and was a bit surprised at the snap it had for its size. But it was so many ages ago lol. Would it be pretty manageable for a younger youth with a rest?

 

[Weatherby Fan]

That’s excellent, nothing wrong with that at all, dead deer right there.

 

[Falconflyer]

Pretty darn decent for a factory rifle with factory ammo!

 

[Hitzy]

Had my kid rifles out on the weekend...CZ527 in 7.62x39 and 223. Nice change from the big heavy boomers I usually take out.

 

[mikeyb]

Nothing wrong with that.

What’s the weight like? I haven’t started researching yet, but my wife finally starting to show a interest in hunting. Little guy is 4, so if she doesn’t actually get out, he will eventually.

I’m curious on weight also, I have a 9 year old girl who’s ready to step into a youth rifle soon. Also curious on the recoil and recoil pad? I had a kimber Montana years ago in .243 and was a bit surprised at the snap it had for its size. But it was so many ages ago lol. Would it be pretty manageable for a younger youth with a rest?

It's a fairly light rifle, but it's not an ultralight. Barrel is still regular contour, still has bottom metal, no fluting or anything. With the Talley rings and a light 1" tube 3-9x40 it weighs a little over 7.5 pounds.

On the other hand, the stock (while not great) seems to absorb a bit of vibration and the recoil pad is the Supercell pad - very nice. Not sure how they hold up after years but out of the box it is quite squishy without losing too much shape. It's also not overly "tacky" which gets caught up on everything. Feels like a good pad.

My son is 14, just really small for his age, but he has enough heft to him that it won't knock him around much. He's also sent a few hundred rounds of .22LR and fired a braked 6.5CM as well so quite confident this'll be cake for him or my wife.

My 9-year-old wants to shoot as well but I'm thinking it might come up a bit quick for her and scare her off.

I'm already thinking of a Grayboe Trekker for it when they're all grown up, could be a great walking 'yote rifle. And maybe it'll get a Triggertech Primary from another Rem700 in the safe.

Ejection is a bit uninspired though, doesn't shuck 'em very hard and every couple will just pop back into the action, sometimes backwards. Bit of investigating needed.

 

[mikeyb]

Had my kid rifles out on the weekend...CZ527 in 7.62x39 and 223. Nice change from the big heavy boomers I usually take out.

I hear you, I brought out a .257 Wby (not even a hard kicker) for some load development as well and the switch to the Remington was not unappreciated. Even though the WBY doesn't kick very hard, it's certainly loud (even doubled up) and I think there is a perception of increased recoil with increased blast. I ran just muffs with the little .243 and it was fun to shoot.

I hope they make these in .300 Blackout too at some point!