What rifle to buy a child ??

[rmist]

I have a grandson who is only 1 1/2 yrs old right now. I would like to get him a rifle for when is older and I feel mature enough to have one. It would be financially better to get one now rather than wait 10-12 years from now with prices always going up. So my question is what would you get for the little guy ?? The rifle's main intent would be for hunting and start paper shooting. A .243 comes to mind right off the bat for low recoil and ease of reloading and components (for now). If he wants something bigger, I could let him shoot my other guns later. But want something for him to get comfortable with without getting spooked from the super loud heavy recoiling rifles. I have a .22 he can have when he's a little older already, a 77/22. We can't use semi's in PA to hunt with.
Thanks for replies,
Rmist

 

[effendude]

A 6mmBR would be an excellent choice for paper and hunting up to deer size game. A .223 is easy to shoot as well but a little lacking in the big game hunting dept.
Scott

 

[ARshuter]

257 Roberts, 7 x 57

 

[GSPV]

My only gripe with the 6BR is feeding from a magazine. Other than that, it's an awesome round.

If you want him to be able to deer hunt with it a 243 would be great. I have a Tikka T-3 in 243 that is awesome. Can't say enough good things about it.

If deer hunting isn't a requirement, a 223 would be a good choice. Low recoil and inexpensive to load for.

Personally, I'd open a Roth IRA for the kid and put an equal amount of money in it. That's just me, though.

 

[bdale]

I would probably go with the 243 or 260 Remington, 260 will add a little more knock down power with the better sectional density of the 6.5MM round but 243 are quiet capable of taking larger game with the improvement of bullets you have today I have both and don't notice much difference in recoil.

 

[VaniB]

I reread your opening post twice thinking that perhaps I was missing something or not reading it properly.

I feel like we are really jumping the gun here (no pun intended) from the info you are providing. if your grandson is only 1 1/2 now, and you may wait until he's a little older, then how old are we talking about? 2-3-4 years of age? Either way, I realy don't think a 3-4 year old is typically romping through the woods with his .243 It would seem to me, to really break him in at a young age in baby steps (no pun intended again) he should feel comfortable with the rifle, and it should be comfortable for him....

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=357218118


The chipmunk would be a fine small rifle to aquaint him with shooting, and NOT physically overwhem him. If you are going to wait so long that he's already a grown youth that can easily handle a full size 7lb hunting rifle then I think you are really overthinking this whole thing and should just wait until then. I mean using that logic; why not buy him a Harley or nice sports car now too....it would be cheaper then 16 years from now.

 

[jonbearman]

I would get a savage and aquire a few different take off barrels and an extra complete bolt.First I would buy a complete .223 to get him into it and then the .473 bolt so you can buy any family cartridge to fit it.22-250,.243,260,308,338 frderal.358,284,6 br,etc. Buy a barrel vise and a reciever wrench and headspace gagaes as you need them. Bingo a multi faceted hunting/target gun.

 

[BigDMT]

257 Roberts, 7 x 57

257 Roberts is what I killed my very first animals with at the age of 12. Large mule deer buck, mule deer doe, and an antelope buck. That rifle was so accurate with 120gr pills in federal ammo. It was a Browning BLR with a 3-9 Burris Signature scope.

Personally, Im gonna outfit my son with a full custom rifle when he turns 12 and is able to hunt big game. Figure that I use full customs for hunting, why shouldnt he?

 

[bheadboy]

With 3 children and 10 grand children, i offer the following

- a marlin 22 single shot youth model to start with at age 5-6yr - accurate and safe small in size
- a remington 700 cdl dm in 243 or 7-08 ( the clip makes it safer for them to unload and carry empty)
- put a Luepold 3x scope on the 700 as that is all they need as a starter

bob

 

[normmatzen]

I just built a small ring Mauser 7X57 for my 12 year old Grand Son. Loaded with 140 gn bullets and a light load it is still lethal for most game he will hunt with it. When he grows a bit, full loads will kill any North American game.

Same for the 7-08.

 

[model 12 toby]

I like the 223 and bolt head idea the best.

 

[FergusBailey]

I have been through this with my son, and FWIW this is what we did. Firstly, he shot rifles like a rimfire and a centrefire .17 cal on and off from 5 to around 7 years. At 8 years he hunted Southern Africa with a friend's 222 Rem and shot small game and some small antelope and had a great time. We visited another friend's property in Namibia and had an opportunity to hunt large antelope. The only rifle available for him to use was a 325 WSM (with suppresser). He killed his antelope with one well placed shot, but (not surprisingly) was never really comfortable with the power of the .325.

We have since bought him a 308 Win and had a good muzzle brake fitted. This gives him the ability to hunt virtually any big game animal excluding DG species. He has always used hearing protection of some type while hunting, and he received a set of electronic ear protection last Christmas which he will always use with the braked rifle. At 9 years old, he can shoot 20 rounds of 308 comfortably with the braked rifle, and has a lot of confidence with that setup.

 

[chevytruck_83]

I agree with a 308. its a great do everything round. if you don't have time to reload you can usually find high quality ammo close to where you live. I would get it in a Remington 700. kids love to accesorize.

 

[P1ZombieKiller]

I used to think a .243 was the way to go too. But I have a VERY small 10 yr old. He only weighs 49 pounds. He just isn't that big. He LOVES to shoot the .22, but it was really hard to get him to shoot the .243. Thats when I discovered the 300 blackout. For Texas.... this is the PERFECT gun. It's has zero recoil, and enough knock down to take a whitetail at 200 yards. It's basically a 30-30 with a real hunting bullet instead of a round nose bullet. I choose the bolt action version instead of the AR style. It's more my thing. To each his own.

I load a 130 grn Hornady soft point with 18.0 grains of Lil Gun which will shoot it at 2200 fps. This gives a ZERO sight in at 100 yards, and only a 7" drop at 200 yards (still with 800+ pounds of energy at 200 yards). So you could actually sight it in 2" high at 100, and have it only 3" low at 200. A kid doesn't need to shoot at anything farther than that any way.

This is the gun (since I gave it a make over).

This is a pick of the bullets expansion.

This is a pick of the whitetail my sone shot at 65 yards. She ran 35 yards, and laided over and expired.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Just another option, but a 7mm-08 in a gun that is light enough for him/her to handle. It really depends on his size and age. When I was nine, I laughed at the old guys cursing the recoil of a 300 win mag, but it seems like the older I get, the smaller my guns get. ??? I think that as long as they are ready, that kids can take it better than the rest of us. That said, let me emphasize the words, "as long as THEY are ready"--Mike

 

[Cort]

I recommend Jonbearman's solution but in a Remington 700 rather than the Savage. Jim Briggs has "Remage" barrels and barrel nuts in all kinds of calibers. I would start with the .22 LR that you have, then move to a 6 BR and then to a .308 in the Remington 700. At that point, your grandchild should be ready to do anything. I would buy a short action, .308 bolt face Remington 700 action and have it squared up. I would add a Jewell trigger and the 6BR barrel; maybe the .308 barrel also. Buy a good stock (Hogue or HS Precision come to mind) and bed the action in the stock. That rifle should last the lifetime of several shooters and be very accurate to boot.

Cort

 

[BigDMT]

all good ideas

On another note, but since hunting is part of the subject, I think it's important to get kids into archery as well. A well balanced sportsman is usually more sucessful and has longer hunting seasons by using the different weapons.

I just bought my 8 year old son a Diamond Archery Infinite Edge compound bow. this might sound crazy, but it has the capability to adjust draw weight from 5 to 70 lbs, draw length adjusts from 13-30", and total weight of bare bow is only 3.1 lbs. Plus at 70lbs, it still has an IBO speed of 310 fps so he will be able to use it until he decides to buy his own bow as an adult. its also a great bow for women and people nursing shoulder injuries.

 

[rmist]

Thank you all for the replies. A lot of good information to take in. I'm not in a great rush for him to shoot anything until he shows signs of a little responsibility and acts safe enough around firearms. That will be taught to him. I started shooting 22's around 6 yrs old so around 5-6 yrs old is when he might be ready. As far as him shooting anything bigger than that I will see how he does around the 10-12 year old timeframe !! His grandmother (my wife) has already started his savings plan with the bank and other sources. That will hopefully grow enough for him later in his life. Something we couldn't do at the time our kids were that age. I currently own enough small caliber firearms he can use with to get used besides all my 22's...,22 Hornet, 223, 22-250, 220 Swift, 6mmRem, 30-06 and assorted handguns. Most have single shot followers in them now. I do have a barrel vise now and thinking that will be a good route to take with just changing barrels on the short action as he grows into bigger bores. I don't own a 243 anymore since I went to the 6mmRem that's why I thought of it to start with. Having a adjustable bow also seems realistic.
Again...Thank you for some insight.

 

[GSPV]

A savings account is better than putting it in a coffee can, but really think about opening that Roth IRA for him. Better yet, both a Traditional and a Roth.

The Roth is much more flexible. OTOH, it's better to have both taxable and untaxable streams of income when you retire. Thus, the Traditional *and* Roth.

Just spread that money out across a few broad market ETFs and let it ride. Just throwing it all in an S&P 500 ETF would be awfully good.

It will be a gift that keeps on giving.

 

[Bulseyetom]

A jillion years ago I started hunting deer with my dad using a hand me down 7x57 Model 93 Mauser with peep sights. I shot the 175 grain factory load and finally killed my first deer at 13. I have now hunted with everything from a 22-250 to 45-70 to muzzle-loaders and my rifle of choice is a 25-06. It really doesn't take a large caliber to cleanly take a deer. A 243 would be my weapon of choice for your grandson unless you are a family of shooters and reloaders than a 6x47 (original one based on 222 mag) would be my choice. In the meantime a good 22 long rifle that is similar to the centerfire rifle so he can shoot 100's of rounds without fear of flinch-itus setting in. If I really was going to buy one of my grand daughters a centerfire rifle (unfortunately my daughters never developed the love of shooting) I would reach deep into the pocketbook and buy a CPA Stevens with a 22 lr barrel and a 24 caliber wildcat barrel. The Stevens is a single shot with a hammer you must manually cock after loading before it will fire. Maybe I am old school having grown up with rifles and shotguns with hammers but the Stevens 44 1/2 in my opinion is the safest rifle around and it's ease of switching from rf to cf would make for a great training rifle. My shotgun of choice is a Model 97 Winchester and my favorite deer rifle is a HiWall in 25-06 so I am definitely prejudice. Tom