Milsurp recommendation for my daughter

sallen

sallen

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My 12 year daughter has just informed me that she wants a milsurp rifle for Christmas, so she can participate when the gun club holds our military shoots. She has a lot of experience with her .22, but nothing with bigger calibers. I’ve thought about .22 trainers, however I think I would prefer a something with the normal military caliber. An AR is an option, although non restricted would be a bonus. The shooting is done at 100 meters, and there are categories for pretty much everything military.

I’ve never shot an SKS, so I’m wondering what the recoil would be like if I got her something in 7.62x39. I’ve also heard good things about the 6.5x55MM Swede. Can anyone out there relate their experiences with younger shooters, and/or provide suggestions for something that is going to have minimal recoil?

Thanks in advance!
 
Those two are the best I can think of. A Russian SKS in 7.62x39 or a Swedish M38 in 6.5. Both have very tame recoil, but you know you are shooting a centre fire. The swede will likely be more accurate, depending on condition, but will cost more and so will the ammo. The SKS is hard to beat as a good, reliable, low recoil milsurp that is cheap to buy and feed. They can be pretty accurate aswell, especially at 100m.
 
I'd personally say SKS. A friend of mine has a very petite frame and although she is 24, she looks 15-17. She found the recoil from the SKS to be nothing short of manageable.
 
The recoil on an SKS isn't that bad really, what surprised me was that it was quite loud, so better hearing protection is a good idea. They are heavy though, so maybe have her hold one and if she can shoulder it, it should be fine... you could get a tapco stock though to lighten it up. they run around $130 & the SKS can be found for as low as $159
 
If she were my daughter, I think my Model 1941 Carcano might be in danger if disappearing.

They are a 6.5x52, clip-loaded, 4-motion bolt.

They are supposed to take that weird .267 Carcano bullet, but some are far undersize...... which means that they work just fine with a 140 flatbase regular .264" slug.

The rifles do not weigh a lot and they can be made very accurate. Also, they do not have the "punch" of a Swede because they are not turning out the same power. Power is about a .30-30 level but penetration (if she should decide to hunt) is superb.



Far as the SKS is concerned, I am still "out" on the question: "Does an SKS actually HAVE felt recoil?".

Biggest drawback with the SKS is the fact that the ammo has a lot of dispersion built into it.

These are the two gentlest Military rifles I know of. In the same class would be a Czech VZ52/57 if you can find one.

Good luck!
 
sks in stock config seems to be forward heavy for the younger crowd , my daughter has always liked the ar platform better with the adjustable stock, she likes the cqb ones :)
 
I would say SKS as well. The weight and being a semi auto seems to neutralize any recoil. I just bought a 1954 Tula SKS for my son and we can blast through a couple hundred rounds pretty quick. After about 12 rounds of 30.06 he is ready to quit shooting. So SKS keeps him in it as .22 got a little boring for him :)
 
sallen said:
I’ve never shot an SKS, so I’m wondering what the recoil would be like if I got her something in 7.62x39. I’ve also heard good things about the 6.5x55MM Swede. Can anyone out there relate their experiences with younger shooters, and/or provide suggestions for something that is going to have minimal recoil?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

You just named the two I would try first. Both my boys (currently 11 and 13) shoot my SKS with no recoil problems and the older one is quite recoil shy. He has hunted big game the last two seasons with a sportered Swede Mauser in 6.5x55 using some light recoil loads I made up for him, again with no recoil problems. If you reload you can load it down to popgun levels with decent accuracy with no problems.

I would think your bigger problems are going to come in the weight of the rifles. The SKS has a very short LOP which is often a good fit for kids, but it isn't light and carries much of that weight forward. The M96 is also not that light for a child and may present similar problems in handling the rifle.

If you reload and are willing to really get into it keep in mind that you can load most milsurp calibers down to near subsonic velocities using Red Dot powder and cast bullets with no problems. No guarantees on what you get for accuracy with that, though.


Mark
 
If you don't mind spending more money I would get the Chiappa .22 m1 carbine replica.then you won't need different ammo and it will be cheaper in the long run.
 
^x2

M1 Carbine is frigging expensive, but both my young nieces love it ( 13 and 15 ) with the SKS at a distant 2nd place.

FWIW, they both absolutely HATE my two "other" carbines... an M44 and the No5... but what kind of an evil old Uncle would "let" them try then out?? Haha!!
 
Thanks to all that have responded so far, to answer a couple of questions:

I do reload so I could download if required. She would help a lot when she was younger, so I would probably get her to do most of the work, supervised of course.
I was thinking about the Chiappa .22, as I like the looks of it, however the rules of the shoot mandate that the firearm/calibre must be used or issued by some military force somewhere. While I think I could get away with a proper trainer, I don’t think this would count.
I do have an M1 carbine that I could pull out of the safe and let her try.
I was thinking about the Marstar 3x SKS deal (still sorry I missed the big deal with the dewat) so I could get both of our presents with one order.
 
I have SKS's and a Swedish M96 mauser. The SKS is a good choise for a younger shooter since it's a pretty basic rifle and has very cheap and plentiful ammo. That said the accuracy isn't the greatest.

The Swedish mauser is an amazing rifle. Very light recoil and super accurate. Reloading is almost necessary since bullets are about $1 a shot these days. but it is a super smooth rifle and a real pleasure to shoot. I also need to restate how accurate and well built these rifles are.


but, what you should really do it buy both!
 
What sort of experience does she have with "real" rifle cartridges? Has she been around when you've touched some off? One of the biggest issues with rifle cartridges isn't necessarily felt recoil. For me, it was always the report. If she doesn't flinch from the report, then she may be fine with a Swede M96. There's lots of bolt handle for smaller hands to manipulate. The bolt action allows the child to really learn about how firearms operate. I'm sure you've done a good job on that front, though. The stock on a Swede is nicely contoured for smaller bodies too. I wouldn't rule it out.

I guess I'm just not an SKS fan. The bolt is heavy, the stock is weird. Mausers, Lees, and Rosses are elegant in form and function, but that's my own opinion. It all comes down to her preferences in the end. Has she given you any indication of what she might prefer?
 
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