First center fire deer rifle for a boy ?

[Immike]

Don’t put them in a heavy recoil gun a put a break on on it
A gun that fits them the can handle the recoil becas the stock is in the shoulder

I personally don’t think a break is a good idea for young ears. Just wanted to say that, Thank you

 

[savagedasher]

I personally don’t think a break is a good idea for young ears. Just wanted to say that, Thank you

Savage had a great break you could turn it open when on the bench with ear protection and turn it off when hunting
The best thing I ever did was put a break on muzzle loader 150 gr load kicks like a 223

 

[Evan]

243 all the way.

Also, make them wear ear protection. I consider it child abuse to let a child shoot without ear protection. They aren't old enough to make the decision to go deaf for themselves. You wouldn't let them gouge their own eyes out, don't let them blow their ears out.

 

[TC260]

I personally don’t think a break is a good idea for young ears. Just wanted to say that, Thank you

Yes a break is harder on ears than unbraked. However, unbraked is hardly doing our ears good service either. Unprotected, every pull of the trigger does permanent damage to our hearing.

Unless there's a can on it, braked or unbraked, I'm not and my girls aren't pulling the trigger without hearing protection. It's so easy these days to protect their ears these days too with inexpensive electronic muffs like the Howard Leights. 30 years ago I started with ear plugs on a plastic band around my neck that I popped in before the shot. Gravitated to electronic muffs 15yrs? ago. Now I use in-ear protection. They're more expensive but very convenient and I use them through bow season as well just for the hearing amplification.

 

[okie]

Savage had a great break you could turn it open when on the bench with ear protection and turn it off when hunting
The best thing I ever did was put a break on muzzle loader 150 gr load kicks like a 223

thats neat--I need a 12 volt schoolbus fan on the end of mine to see if I made the shot!!

 

[TC260]

We started off our small nephews at 6 years old sitting in our laps with a TC carbine in 30/30 shooting remington reduced loads. Hand the boy a #1 and see if it is muzzle heavy to him. If the boy can handle the rifle well, chances are he will shoot it well. If it is a boat anchor for him to handle, then he will not enjoy it.

For my youngest I'm planning to put together a Contender 7tcu carbine for next season. Probably a tapered 18" or 20" barrel, in other words, something dad wants to hunt with too when they're not there

 

[AckleymanII]

That will be a world class rifle for any age!

 

[bobinpa]

Curious here. My oldest son will probably be getting into the stand with me next yr. I'll probably find a light weight Ruger #1 for him. (cause personally I love falling block single shots)

My question is 243 or 30-30?

I started out with a Rem 788 carbine in 243. It was my first rifle and I still have it. I never had any trouble killing deer with 100 gr Remington core-lokts..... I also killed a lot of ground hogs with it. There are other choices, but in my opinion, you can't go wrong with a 243. Very versatile, lighter recoil etc.... If you get into other choices, there are a lot of cartridges that can be loaded down and still do very well. My nephew started out with a 308. We were all worried about the recoil for him, so I loaded some 125 gr Ballistic tips. The recoil was similar to a 243 and they are devastating on deer too. Just something else to consider.

 

[msalm]

I’ve put together my kids rifles and helped others with their children’s ‘first deer rifle’... probably 8 or more at this point and not one of them was a 243 or 223. Will they do the job, yes, sure they will...will they do the job with a poor hit? There are cartridges that might offer a little more leeway. Yes the Creed is a very viable one, maybe ideal. So far I’ve built a light 250 Savage (awesome!), 6.5 Grendel’s in the Howa Mini (great little rifle!), a couple 7mm-08’s, a 7-30 waters on the Contender frame (worked well for deer and a bear), and lately a couple of the Creedmoor’s. Loaded with 100-120gr bullets it is a low recoil, great deer rifle.

The suggestion of a Howa barreled action with two stocks is a good one, picked up one (in Creed) for a niece last summer and she got her first deer this fall with it. Great trigger, accurate, and relatively lightweight with the 22” sporter barrel.

30-30’s kick, a #1 is not that light, and for a first rifle I think there are better choices. For the money a #1 will run, a nice Tikka lightweight in any of the medium calibers would be a hell of a nice first rifle. 260 Rem or 7mm-08 would be my first picks.

 

[AckleymanII]

Measure the child's length of pull, start there.

Get the child to bend their index finger like they are pulling the trigger, then measure from that point to the crease in their elbow as a general rule of thumb.

Prepare yourself for a shock in how short the stock will have to be for them to properly mount the rifle and see through the scope.

Thompson Contenders have very little weight on the front end, and for this reason, they can be very easy for a child to handle. Plastic stocks for contenders are inexpensive, save the original stock, cut the replacement plastic stock and attach a recoil pad for the correct length of pull. I saw one TC set up for a small child where the owner cut the plastic stock, filled it with foam, then bondo, added a small slip on limb saver recoil pad. He kept adding 1" sections as the child grew until the original wood stock fit the youngster around 14 years old. The caliber was 30/30 starting out with Remington reduced recoil loads.

 

[STRSRLVR]

I started by little boy off with a wood stocked tikka 223 1:8 twist and cut the LOP down to about 11” and made a few spacers. It’s and absolute hammer with just about everything. This year he received a seekins Havak in 6.5 Creedmoor for his first deer hunt. I removed the factory pad and just slipped on a bear tooth cover on the end and added a APA LB brake. He loves shooting it and handles the recoil just fine even though he’s about 55lbs soaking wet. He even managed to break it in with a doe at 436.

 

[fyrewall]

How long is the deer season 2-4 weeks. Get the kid a 6.5 Creedmore and let him learn about rifles & shooting. Buy lots of bullets.

 

[onelastshot]

Bought my son a 7-30 Waters youth model at age nine. Fit him perfectly. Dropped his first deer at 90 yards with one shot. I've never seen a kid that excited.

 

[Bulletbob]

I do not disagree with many of the choices discussed here, and I am a 6.5 lover, mainly the 6.5x47. But my choice to start a kid out on and am going to get my Grandson a Howa mini action in a 6.5 Grendel. No recoil plenty of killing power, even out to 350~400 yards. Which is not a guess it is proven. And there is plenty of really good factory ammo available. Its something to think about.

 

[wkdickinson]

Curious here. My oldest son will probably be getting into the stand with me next yr. I'll probably find a light weight Ruger #1 for him. (cause personally I love falling block single shots)

My question is 243 or 30-30?

I would suggest considering a 700 Mtn rifle in 7mm-08 with a Leupold 2-8X32 VX3 (or similar). The rifle it light and easy to carry, the 7-08 won't beat him up to bad, yet it is a really good deer round and it will serve him well for almost anything he want to hunt, for the rest of his life. My son loves his!

 

[simo hayha]

50bmg.....all the kids at school will be jealous... All of them

 

[RegionRat]

Another vote for 243, since you asked.
He will still use it even after he grows and can handle a bigger rig. It will remain useful for varmint, predator, distance, etc., much more so than a .30-30 would later on.

 

[Rdlningcltchdmpr]

 

[KY_Windage]

For a kid I think a 257 Roberts would be better for deer.

 

[Jdne5b]

C'mon Wade. The real answer is 6.5 Creedmoor.