Most youth friendly ELK caliber
- Thread starter TiGuy
- Start date
TiGuy,
I have four children that all hunt, with my kids I went with the theory that a small caliber in the right spot was much better than a larger caliber in the wrong spot. We used a 22-250 on deer and went up to a 243 when they could handle it. Here in central Montana the 243 is used quite often on elk and quite successfully, I agree that its on the small side and draw the line at 25 calibers for elk, my last bull was shot with a 25 caliber wildcat that is just slightly faster than a 25-06, 115 partition worked perfectly, DRT.
Lately I have been playing with a 6.5x55 and if I were to start all over again and start new I would have gotten a 6.5x55 for my kids, great caliber kills way out of proportion to it size. load it with 140 partitions at 2600-2800 fps and it will do the job quite nicely with minimal recoil and great penetration. If the 140 proved to have to much recoil I would step down to the 125 partition.
I have four children that all hunt, with my kids I went with the theory that a small caliber in the right spot was much better than a larger caliber in the wrong spot. We used a 22-250 on deer and went up to a 243 when they could handle it. Here in central Montana the 243 is used quite often on elk and quite successfully, I agree that its on the small side and draw the line at 25 calibers for elk, my last bull was shot with a 25 caliber wildcat that is just slightly faster than a 25-06, 115 partition worked perfectly, DRT.
Lately I have been playing with a 6.5x55 and if I were to start all over again and start new I would have gotten a 6.5x55 for my kids, great caliber kills way out of proportion to it size. load it with 140 partitions at 2600-2800 fps and it will do the job quite nicely with minimal recoil and great penetration. If the 140 proved to have to much recoil I would step down to the 125 partition.
I agree with Bluedot,
Pick the shot and place it with a rifle they are comfortable shooting and can shoot well. I think you are better with a slightly smaller caliber that they are confident with as apposed to a "cannon" they are scared to shoot.
Wife uses a 243 with partitions, I use a wildcat 25 with 110 gr accubonds.
Good luck and enjoy
Pick the shot and place it with a rifle they are comfortable shooting and can shoot well. I think you are better with a slightly smaller caliber that they are confident with as apposed to a "cannon" they are scared to shoot.
Wife uses a 243 with partitions, I use a wildcat 25 with 110 gr accubonds.
Good luck and enjoy
my vote for the 6.5x55, if you can't find one, then get a 260 rem. you can load them with the 85 hp from sierra to practice with, then switch to the 120spt sierra to elk hunt. i used this bullet in a 264 win mag on an elk cow recently, and at 300 yds very effective. in a 260 it will be much slower, but that bullet is an awesome choice for elk, deer, etc.
Tiguy plus 1 on the 260 Rem. Nosler makes partitions for this caliber the lightest one being 100grs.
My son started using a Rem Mod.7, 260 when he was eleven. We load our own using 100gr partitions and the recoil is very mild and easy to handle.
He has taken some very large hogs and has had a lot of complete pass throughs with this bullet.
The partition comes in 100, 120, 125, 130, and 140grs in this caliber. A 125gr partition at 2700fps would be some bad juju for a wapiti.
Good luck and good hunting to you and your son.
My son started using a Rem Mod.7, 260 when he was eleven. We load our own using 100gr partitions and the recoil is very mild and easy to handle.
He has taken some very large hogs and has had a lot of complete pass throughs with this bullet.
The partition comes in 100, 120, 125, 130, and 140grs in this caliber. A 125gr partition at 2700fps would be some bad juju for a wapiti.
Good luck and good hunting to you and your son.
an oldie but goody would be, 7X57 Mauser round. It has low recoil but will get the job done. It's harder to find rifles in this caliber so the next choice I would say is a 7mm-08. The 154-thru162 grain bullets should work good.
I have shot 2 cow elk with 7mm-08 and 140 gr. Nosler Accubond. One at about 250 yards, the other at about 120 yards. Both were broadside lung shots and both were one shot kills. That caliber and bullet make a great combination on elk, and recoil is extremely mild for the performance you get. When my son starts hunting elk in 2 years, that will be the rifle and load I set up for him... no question. He's been shooting my 7mm-08 since he was 8, and he handles it just fine.
Why not put a muzzle brake on a 308 or 30-06 and never worry about recoil bothering the young shooter...I went thru all the gyrations of trying buy/make a low recoil deer rifle for my son when he was 9 yrs old...if I had know about muzzle brakes then we would have been shooting the 308Win...and never look back..
I have convinced many shooters of hard recoiling rifles to try a brake...and 100% were elated at the recoil reduction..
Just my $.02 worth
I have convinced many shooters of hard recoiling rifles to try a brake...and 100% were elated at the recoil reduction..
Just my $.02 worth
More then my 2cents worth.
All of you are posting that small children have no problem shooting the high power rifles you provided for them to shoot.
And no doubt they are shooting them.
But
How many of you have loaded that firearm with a dummy cartridge to see how bad the kid is flinching.To say not that bad..... does not cut it a flinch is a flinch.
Now lets hear the whining.
I know all of you will try to justify it somehow.
Same parents will buy youngsters xmas present that is to old for the age.
All of you are posting that small children have no problem shooting the high power rifles you provided for them to shoot.
And no doubt they are shooting them.
But
How many of you have loaded that firearm with a dummy cartridge to see how bad the kid is flinching.To say not that bad..... does not cut it a flinch is a flinch.
Now lets hear the whining.
I know all of you will try to justify it somehow.
Same parents will buy youngsters xmas present that is to old for the age.
CJ6
Silver $$ Contributor
260 rem,7-08, 6.5x55 Sweede all with Nos Part. is what I would recommend for a youngster. My 1 daughter is of slight build 5"2 about 105 pounds when she started hunting and had no trouble with these Carts.YMMV.though SHE didn't take an Elk with these Carts. I have .,hers have been Mulie an whitetails). As for the flinching try the dummy/loaded routine at the range to help with that,light bullet weights also help for practicing.
The light 6.5's and 7's would work but don't rule out the 25 calibers. You might look into a 257 roberts or possibly a 25-06. Muzzle brakes are a good idea as well for guns with heavier recoil.
I ran into this exact problem about 10 years ago when my oldest was ready to start hunting. After much soul searching and research, I built him a 250 Savage. He killed two elk with it and my youngest killed his first two with it as well. Both used 100 partitions. It doesn't have the recoil of the smaller diameter .243. I have yet to recover a 100 grain Partition so there is certainly no need to use the 115s.
Later, Remington came out with the 260. My oldest boy wanted to use it on elk. He killed his third elk with my 260 Remington and had no problem- but he was getting quite a bit bigger by now. He shot his 4th and 5th elk two years ago but used my 300H&H.
I have loaned this 250 Savage to quite a number of folks for their youngsters and wives to use. They all loved it.
Had Remington already come out with the 260, I might have gone that route and just loaded it mildly.
The 250 Savage is about perfect. The 260 Remington is a close 2nd.
Later, Remington came out with the 260. My oldest boy wanted to use it on elk. He killed his third elk with my 260 Remington and had no problem- but he was getting quite a bit bigger by now. He shot his 4th and 5th elk two years ago but used my 300H&H.
I have loaned this 250 Savage to quite a number of folks for their youngsters and wives to use. They all loved it.
Had Remington already come out with the 260, I might have gone that route and just loaded it mildly.
The 250 Savage is about perfect. The 260 Remington is a close 2nd.
It's not that elk can't be taken with the smaller calibers, but there is so little room for error. The .260 loaded is the smallest I would recommend to anyone. I've seen elk soak up so much punishment from even well placed hits from large caliber rounds. Partions are good, swift A-frame, better, but nothing provides the penatration the X. IMHO, there is probably no better bullet for terminal performance than the barnes X. I believe it was 130 TSX in the .260 that Randy Brooks was using for some time as his only elk rifle.
AckleymanII
Gold $$ Contributor
When I lived in Az., it was truely amazing just how many elk hunters used the 243 on Bull and cow elk. They knew that their shots were 100 yds or less, and they were all meat hunters.
I took 4 rifles to the range yesterday:
a) 300 mag 168 gr 3220 fps 10 pound rifle kick eez pad... kicks like a mule
b) 300 mag 168 gr 3220 fps 10 pound rifle limbsaver pad... kicks like a pussycat
c) 338 mag 250 gr 2600 fps 10 pound rifle limbsaver pad... kicks like a pussycat
d) 338 mag 250 gr 2600 fps 9.25 pound rifle limbsaver pad... kicks like a pussycat
a) 300 mag 168 gr 3220 fps 10 pound rifle kick eez pad... kicks like a mule
b) 300 mag 168 gr 3220 fps 10 pound rifle limbsaver pad... kicks like a pussycat
c) 338 mag 250 gr 2600 fps 10 pound rifle limbsaver pad... kicks like a pussycat
d) 338 mag 250 gr 2600 fps 9.25 pound rifle limbsaver pad... kicks like a pussycat
n some elk states .270 is the min cal for elk. in this case I'd opt for the 7-mm 08/ 140 -150 gr bullet at moderate velocity
And what states have this limit????? Never heard of such a thing!
And what states have this limit????? Never heard of such a thing!
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.