Youth Rifle?

[VikingsGuy]

Don, honestly when I was about her age, I could do 10-12 shots max out of that .30-30 before I'd give it a rest for the day.

If you are looking for a gun that a small frame first time shooter would enjoyably shoot more than 12 times at a session, even a .243 may be too much. If you want volume target time then you may want to get 2 rifles - a .223 for practice (or a venerable.22lr) and a .243 for the field.

More generally, fwiw, felt recoil is a combination of velocity, gun weight, bullet weight, powder weight, fit/shooting posture and clothing layers - typically in that order of impact (no pun intended). Chuck Hawks has a good table if you want a general reference.

 

[Washington Hunter]

I bought my 11 year old daughter a Savage Axis youth model in 7mm-08. Cabela's had it on sale for $200, and I got a $50 rebate through Savage. It's been a great rifle. She got a cow elk and a 3 point mule deer with it this year. I have her shooting 120 grain Barnes TTSX bullets at a muzzle velocity of 2800 fps. Recoil is minimal, and she handles it just fine even though she is smaller than the average 11 year old girl. For most of her target shooting she used 120 Nosler Ballistic Tips loaded a little lighter, about 2600 fps.

 

[Chesapeake]

I have 2 young boys. 1 is 14 and has harvested a few deer and a cow elk. The other is 11 and still looking for success.

Son #1 got a Remington SPS youth in 7mm-08. Its a nice rifle, shoots well. But its a bit heavy in the barrel and doesn't have a removable magazine. It has a 20" barrel.
For ammo we use the 140 Remington Corlokt and Hornady American whitetail 139 grain. The Hornady stuff is often $22 a box at local stores. Both shoot to the same point of aim.

Son #2 got a Ruger American compact(?) in 7mm-08. It shoots well, is light, and has a removable magazine. But it rusts fairly easily in wet weather. Its 18" barrel makes for stout muzzle blast.
For ammo we use the Hornady Custom Lite with the 120SST. Its usually $26 or more a box. Its pretty light on recoil.

I like the 7mm-08 cause you can run light 120 grain loads for kids and deer, ect... and then when they grow a bit you can step up to full house 140 and 160 grain loads for elk.

With either rifle its not too much money to replace the youth/compact stock with a full size version.

The kids like the lighter Ruger with the removable magazine. I feel the Remington is a better rifle and the weight in the barrel helps steady their shots.

 

[mrjashu]

As another data point my daughter is 5'3" 115 lbs and she shoots my 6.5 CM (9.25lbs) all day long and asks for more. She also has no qualms about pickup up my braked 300wsm (9.5lbs) and ringing steel with it either. The biggest issue she has is LOP, she needs about 12.5" and is going to get her own rifle soon. I need to find something with a small stock.

 

[BuzzH]

I like the 7mm-08 cause you can run light 120 grain loads for kids and deer, ect... and then when they grow a bit you can step up to full house 140 and 160 grain loads for elk.

No real reason to step up to a 140 or 160 for elk, but no doubt work. The 120 nosler BT is a tough bullet and works well on elk.

 

[T Bone]

7-08 with 120's work.

Here is a short video of my daughter and her elk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0hl...ature=youtu.be

Take your daughter along on the rifle selection and see what fits.

Whatever you choose, double up on hearing protection, noise is large part of perceived recoil with kids.

 

[MINOOKA]

I know most people using this forum are 7mm-08 people. But i would go with a 6.5 creedmoor. I have owned both, had a 08 and because of neck back and shoulder problems got rid of it and got a 6.5 creedmoor in a savage trophy hunter and had the stock shorten to 12.5 with a sims pad, dont let anyone tell you a 08 and 6.5 kick the same the 6.5 is in my opinion the new youth rifle of choice over the 08 and the 243. Get a 6.5 and dont worry about the 6.5 creedmoor bashers on this and other forums

 

[SoCalRedneck]

An update on this: problem solved, but now how I imagined. We went back home to GA for Xmas. I called my dad a couple of weeks before we left and asked him about letting my daughter try out his 7mm while we there. He then surprised me with the info that he intended to give me my grandfather's (who passed back in Sept) old Sears .30-06, but if I would prefer, my daughter could have it. We got there, and she helped him put the final coat of varnish on the stock that he had been refinishing, and got to try it out once, before she was informed it was coming back to Cali with us as hers. I never seen her more proud! I was worried about recoil, but honestly she handled it like a champ. She had more problem with the weight of the rifle than anything. LOP was even good for her (luckily tall and lanky for her age). Her first shot with it was an inch right, and the next half dozen were nearly as close. We burned through the box of old ammo my dad had, and now looking for a good lead-free option for it here in Cali.

 

[SoCalRedneck]

Side note: I took a couple of deer with this rifle when I was a teenager, as had my dad in his younger days. My grandfather always called my daughter his princess and they were as close as can be from 2000 miles away. I know he is smiling down on this rifle being hers!

 

[OhHeyThereBen]

Congrats! If I were her I'd definitely prefer to have her great-grandfather's rifle over something new. The '06 is a great load and what I've always shot. If you reload I would assume that you could get a very light feeling monometal load to reduce a bit of the recoil, but there will be plenty of others with much more experience on that stuff than me.

 

[Washington Hunter]

Can't beat the 30/06. Try to have her shoot 130 grain Barnes TTSX bullets. Recoil will be light and performance outstanding.

 

[Mo Briar]

The 130gr Barnes works great and the 125gr Nosler ballistic tips also work well and they both have pretty managable recoil.
For a smaller youth I would consider the 110gr Barnes to reduce the the recoil even more if the rife shot them well.
I have never shot the 110s but see no reason why they wouldn’t work,should have minimal recoil in an -06 with plenty of energy for deer.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

I went .243 and 95 grain Nosler BT personally. Tikka T3x, youth stock...it comes with spacers to add LOP as you go.

 

[SoCalRedneck]

Thanks, y'all. I'm going to pick up a box of each the Barnes and Nosler this week and see which it likes better. Gonna be working out of town the next couple of weeks, but should be able to get out to the desert to shoot in early Feb.

 

[BucksnDucks]

I've raised two boys and taught many other youngster just starting out. From my experience I would agree with some other responses that fit and weight are more important than caliber. Recoil pads, muzzle breaks and cartridge load selection (like reduced recoil) are available if recoil is an issue.
Also, be realistic about the type of hunting you are going to do. Do you expect your young daughter to carry the rifle in the field? Are you walking any great distance? Will she be allowed to shoot from a number of positions or just prone supported or off seated off bipod.
My thoughts would be plan on packing her rifle for at least the first season, maybe two. Most kids are going to be more discouraged by lugging the rifle than recoil of it. Take her to the range often, shoot prone supported (I like bipods) and seated. Find a youth or lady hunter model in 25-06, .243. 7mm-08 or 6.5 CM . Don't over think the cartridge. Get a rifle with a scope fit to her. Severe parallax and scope picture are often a problem for kids.

 

[BucksnDucks]

also if you want numbers to compare recoil, search Chuck Hawkes recoil table. All the above calibers with kill any deer or hogs in California.

 

[WalkingBird]

I'd take her around to a few local shops and have her handle as many different rifles as possible to see what she likes, or at least what fits and what doesn't.

As far as caliber, there's a myriad of choices out there. I usually lean short action with my cartridges (although I just picked up a .257 Wby Mag that's awesome). With SA you can choose from the .243 Win, .260 Rem, 7mm-08 Rem, .308 Win, 6.5 Creedmoor (in no particular order) and every one of them will do the job, and do it well. In today's shooting market, the worlds your oyster as far as cartridges are concerned, as long as you don't choose 6.5 Rem Mag