New Hunter- youth rifle suggestions

spriest

spriest

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My daughter will be turning 12 this year and will start hunting with me. I have started looking for her birthday present (she already knows about it so it's not a surprise) for August. I like the 7 mm-08 for a caliber so far from my research and I like the Savage and the Howa the best so far. Does anyone have any experience with either of these or any recommendations?

We will be starting out with antelope and deer and moving to elk later.

I appreciate the assistance.


Steve
 
I just ordered a Howa .243 for my 12 year old daughter. She is fairly recoil shy, and I'm not a hand-loader. I'd rather have to bump her up and purchase a 7mm-08 in a few years than possibly extinguish her desire to shoot and hunt by giving her too much recoil. Kids handle recoil differently. If she could handle the 7mm-08 I would have preferred it.
 
For a 12 y/o girl, I'd be a little reluctant to start out with a 7-08. Maybe your daughter is a robust, athletic sort with some firearm familiarity, but I'd be more inclined to start out with a .243. I own a couple, that's a great, flat-shooting cartridge in the same family as a 7mm-08. Completely adequate for antelope and deer. It's what I'm planning to start my kids on. It's recoil is negligible, so their not likely to develop a flinching problem. I figure they'll tip over a few deer and I can graduate them to something bigger. That's my thought it, anyway. .243 is a bit light for a bull elk, but I know a couple of guys who have done it. 7-08 would certainly be more appropriate for elk, but still not really thought of as more than a medium game cartridge.

And as far as brands, I'd Howa or Savage would be great. I've owned both, lean towards Howa, but you can get some great deals on savages and they're pretty darn accurate for the money.
 
My two oldest boys 15 and 9 love the 7mm08. Both shoot savage guns, the youngest 7, shoots a .243. In my opinion 7mm08 is an excellent round for anyone of any age, they really pack a punch but very little recoil.
 
I would suggest trying the .243 Federal Premium 100 gr. Nosler Partition round. If the rifle likes them, it is a great round. We carried that round for work for several decades. I used it on countless injured deer, several moose, and dogs found chasing deer.
 
spriest said:
My daughter will be turning 12 this year and will start hunting with me. I have started looking for her birthday present (she already knows about it so it's not a surprise) for August. I like the 7 mm-08 for a caliber so far from my research and I like the Savage and the Howa the best so far. Does anyone have any experience with either of these or any recommendations?

We will be starting out with antelope and deer and moving to elk later.

I appreciate the assistance.


Steve
Click to expand...

I think either rifle would suit you fine. Another option would be a Remington model 7 with a compact or youth stock. Both my daughters have those, one in .243, the other in 7mm-08. But both of mine have the 20 inch barrels instead of 18 1/2.

My oldest is 19 now and still barely tips the scales a little over 100 lbs. I reload so I've been able to come up with a good accurate, modest recoiling load with the Nosler 120 grain Ballistic Tip. It was good enough for her to take an Antelope a little over 300 yards.

A full load in a smaller, lighter 7mm-08 isn't terrible, buts it's no slouch either. Maybe start her off with some of the reduced recoil loads offered to see how she does. They're more than enough for deer and could pay off in the long run helping her be a better, more confident shot.
 
If you don't handload, this would be the perfect reason to start.

Of the rifle options you mentioned, I think they are pretty equal unless you are talking about the Savage Axis. So, I'd let her decide which one fits her better. Savage makes a Lady's model that would probably be worth looking at.
 
tikka

I've got a Tikka T3 compact in .243 I'd sell you. Black stock with the blued barrel. Its got the box and the extended butt pad that you can change so you can shoot, then change for the shorter length of pull. It's got a Vortex HSLR 4-16x44 on it. It's never been out in the field. I've also got 3 boxes of factory hornady ammo I'd throw in.

This setup would cost you over $1,000 new with the rings. $700 its yours.
 

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If I was buying a lady rifle I'd do the weatherby, it looks better in my opinion.

If she needs a shortened stock buy a youth stock and put it on yourself, that way when she grows she can keep the rifle. Howa used to have a two stock option

Certainly a 243 is a go to but I prefer the 7-08 with reduced loads if necessry. Same recoil and energy with a bigger hole. If you are buying factory go with hornady. The remington reduced loads use corlokts and they aren't going fast enough for good expansion. The reason I like the 7-08, is because when a kid grows into it they have a rifle for about 95% of north american game. Also another thing on reduced loads is you can practice with them and switch to full strength loads to hunt with as long as they shoot similar.
 
Double down on the hearing protection, plugs and muffs both. That goes a long ways with recoil sensitive kids.
 
My nephew isn't a real big kid, and I started him out with a 120 BT in a starting load in his 7-08. Its really mild recoil wise, but still is pushing the 120 at just over 2800 fps.

It worked great for him this year on both a cow elk and a whitetail buck.

As much as I like the .243, it just isn't as good the 7-08.
 
MJE2083 said:
Why not split the difference and get a 260 Rem
Click to expand...
Great suggestion...if one handloads. As Buzz pointed out, the 7-08 (and the very similar 260) can easily have loads tailored for a kiddo to shoot IF one handloads. For the handloader, I'd give the edge to the 260 over the 7-08 due to better light bullet options like the 100gr Partition. However, there are fewer, far fewer, factory rifle options in 260. A 6.5 Creedmoor would have more factory rifle options today and have the same/similar handloading options.

If the OP is relegated to factory ammo, I'd be leaning hard towards the 243.
 
My son, of small stature, started with a savage axis ll in 243. It's been great medicine for deer the first two years of hunting. The package came with a weaver kaspa scopen that he's been able to see through well. I guess due to eye relief. The stock feels kinda like Tupperware, but the dang thing shoots. Other nice thing is its light, so he carries it himself, makes him feel more involved. Of course, your mileage may vary.
 
Just a thought, but for me the thumbhole stocks are a lot easier to shoot with. They're more comfortable and are easier to hold if you have smaller hands. The trade-off is they can be heavier than a normal stock.
 
243, 7-08, 308 are all basically the same. If you want one rifle for deer -> elk choose the .308. The recoil is almost identical. Lots of bullet options. Low recoil options. 7-08 would be okay for either too.

Of course the most versatile North American big game do-it-all rifle is the 270 Winchester. There may be some low recoil loads.
 
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