Youth Rifle Recommendations for Big Game

[singleshot]

 7mm-08 full sized. Realistically in five years he will have grown substantially and maybe have drawn one elk tag. If he want's to go bad enough he will learn to shoot it well. Let him grow up with a full sized rifle instead of changing it all the time.

[PRDATR]

13 minutes ago, singleshot said:

 7mm-08 full sized. Realistically in five years he will have grown substantially and maybe have drawn one elk tag. If he want's to go bad enough he will learn to shoot it well. Let him grow up with a full sized rifle instead of changing it all the time.

The shorter stock will serve him well with a coat on and a backpack in the colder months.

 

[oz31p]

1 hour ago, az_runner said:

Thanks folks… lots of great information and responses.

I had a Rem 700 in a 270 year back that I wish I didn’t get rid of as it would have been great for my boy and even made me start looking at them again. I currently have a Savage in a 22-250 for pig that is accurate as all heck but has too many known issues and big biggest is having to rubber band the mag since constantly falls out. My Tikka 7mag is probably one of my favorite guns, so I’ll probably try to stick with Tikka for him too and after reading your comments it will be the 7-08. I’ll just have to decide on a compact or full size.

Again, I really do appreciate all the feedback.

L

[PRDATR]

4 minutes ago, oz31p said:

L

Kicks like a Mule. Too much gun for a kid but it will get the job done but $175 over priced for such an old gun.

 

[oz31p]

12 minutes ago, PRDATR said:

Kicks like a Mule. Too much gun for a kid but it will get the job done but $175 over priced for such an old gun.

 

Thanks I guess. He did say he wished he still had the same rifle.

as for recoil it’s a gun. There’s recoil.my  small 11y girl uses a 280rem and a 300wm. 

[az_runner]

Thanks guys. Yep, it's a 270 and I'm just a huge fan of those wooden stocks. Ha-ha, but to PRDATR's comment, I do remember that little thing being like a small cannon when compared to my Tikka 7mag. I may hit up the gun show in February before I pull the trigger on a new Tikka for the boy.

I just put him in for the youth cow elk draw, so I'm kind of putting the cart before the horse since he doesn't have a tag though I'm certain he'll at least land a southern bound deer tag if he doesn't get drawn for elk. Much appreciated guys.

[CatfishKev]

If you want to end up changing the stock look at the Boyd's at one stock has an adjustable cheek comb and adjustable length of pull I got one for my son's 7.8 that's a Savage Axis and my daughters Savage fv12. Not to mention they look pretty Sharp!

[Explorer]

I got my son a savage axis 7/08. He inherited a howa 308 from my dad when he passed. He prefers the 308 over the 7mm due to the savage kicks more because it is a much lighter rifle. 

[singleshot]

3 hours ago, PRDATR said:

The shorter stock will serve him well with a coat on and a backpack in the colder months.

 

 Is that how you grew up? Daddy went out and bought you a youth model high powered rifle, in a light caliber, spent extra money on "reduced recoil loads" because he was worried about how the "kick" might affect you? Took you out to the bench at the range, set you up with safety glasses, hearing protection, sandbags, nah probably a lead sled huh? He was worried about the recoil again wasn't he?

 Shot a couple boxes off the bench and then you were ready for the field right? Daddy locked your youth model, short stocked, light load shooting rifle into "the claw" and whispered into your ear "just reach over and lightly pull the trigger". Right?

Probably have a whole shelf of "participation trophies" don't you?

 Buy that kid a a .22 rifle and a couple bricks of Blazers and take him out in the desert and let him shoot cans, bottles cactus patties, sticks , lizards and anything else you can think of to keep him excited. Make him shoot off hand, sitting, kneeling, prone, resting on a tree, resting on a rock. If you want, put a scope on it and make him throw it up, find a can in the sight picture, shoot once and then back to a safe position. Again and again and again. He will develop arm strength, routine, fundamentals and most of all instinct. When he does go out after big game that full sized rifle will flow with him and he won't struggle trying to find a sight picture like a drunken octopus trying to find his car keys.

 Worked for me.

 

[oz31p]

10 hours ago, az_runner said:

I'm looking at around 700-800 before the scope and mounts. I was leaning towards the 7-08, but never thought about the full size but makes sense too just not sure about the cost to change it up.

 

[Delw]

Azrunner

you know your kid better than any of us. if hes a whimpy kid get him a smaller cal. if he doesnt whine alot get him a bigger cal.

personally i would stick with a .243  .270 7-08 .308  as far as stocks go get a wood stock, not a composit. the composits on cheaper firearms suck and they bite a little more with a big kick. stay away from a pussy brakes. youll screw the kids ears up for life. there not fun to shoot and the 1st time you shoot one with out plugs you wont shoot it again.

if you decide to cut down the stock make sure you buy a spare stock and cut it down not the org.

The main thing is you get him a gun he can enjoy and not scare the crap out of him. hes your kid and only you knwo what he can or cant handle.

our son has down syndrom hes about 4 foot tall his favorite gun is a springfield national match m1a1. our 2 girls were shooting .300 winmags in ruger #1 when they were 10, the prefer the 25/06 .243 and .270 .308 in bolt guns.

 

[lancetkenyon]

To be honest, I would buy him something like a Savage Axis, Ruger American, Etc. in 6.5 Creedmoor (as much as I hate saying it).  Recoil will be manageable, and ammo (or reloading) is fairly cheap.  

Then, have him shoot....a lot.  Practice on shooting form, and stretch him out to 500+.  

A 6.5 is enough for elk.  But keep the distances realistic.  6.5 is about as perfect as you can get for deer-size and down.  

When he is fully (or almost) grown, THEN buy (or build) him a nice rifle he can use for the rest of his life.  You won't have to skimp of cartridge choices then.

[HuntHarder]

I think a kid should have their OWN rifle.  I see the new trend is building up a sweet rig for yourself, doing the load development, sighting it in, carrying the rifle and then when you find an animal to shoot at, Dad gets kid behind the gun and they pull the trigger.  I know when I got my first rifle, it was my rifle and that was the only gun I wanted to shoot.  My suggestion is take the kid down to the store, let them hold a few rifles in set price range, and let the kid pick what rifle they like.  Caliber depends on a few variables, but I honestly do not think it makes that big of a difference on deer sized game.  Recoil would be my deciding factor.

[Red Rabbit]

One thought is to get a rifle with a chassis stock so you can easily adjust LOP as he grows.

[Explorer]

Kids these days have it made! My first rifle was a spanish mauser with a steel buttplate and I put a slip on recoil pad on it. Put probably 1000 rounds of surplus ammo through that old thing. I think it was 2 dollars a box or something though.