az_runner Report post Posted January 20, 2020 You're right about that. heck, I didn't have my first gun until I was 18 and had the cash saved up. My boy did opt out from buying lego sets and other crap and just saved enough to get himself a set of Diamondback binos for when he comes out with me. Thanks again for all the suggestions. I picked up a little .22 years back from a gun show for my son, so I may do the same with this spend or at the very least before I hit up Sportman's. I got a heck of a lot of things to think about now due to all these responses. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PRDATR Report post Posted January 20, 2020 I was almost 30 before I owned a rifle. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bojangles Report post Posted January 22, 2020 I’ll bite, I bought my 12 year old the ruger American compact in 6.5cm. I can shoot it comfortably and so can he. 6.5 is a pretty solid round that penetrates deeply. Very little kick. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SunDevil Report post Posted January 22, 2020 7mm-08 mainly because there are lots of factory ammo options including a hornady reduced recoil. also higher grained bullets for elk. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1uglydude Report post Posted January 22, 2020 My kids use a 7mm08. I have a Savage Axis Compact and AR10 in 7mm08 that they both shoot comfortably in the field. For practice I load a reduced recoil round that they both enjoy shooting. Most of their shooting is done with a suppressor, which also helps keep them comfortable. Last week I bought a new Tikka T3X Lite in the compact size and also chambered in 7mm08. It has a 12.5" LOP and 20" barrel, and comes with a 1" spacer to increase LOP when they grow. If you're in the east valley I'd be happy to have you swing by and take a look at it if you can't find one at a gun counter somewhere. The complaints against buying a rifle that they will grow out of are pretty unfounded, in my opinion. When the kid is done you can sell a youth sized rifle for darn near what you paid for it if you originally purchased it on sale. Watch the youth rifles that get posted on here, they never last long. As for the posts complaining about catering to kids, that's some of the stupidest stuff I have ever seen posted on CWT. Keep your kids comfortable. Do whatever it takes to make their first hunting experiences as positive as possible. My first rifle didn't fit me and kicked like a mule. I hated shooting it and I shot like crap. Thank goodness I shot so poorly that I always straight up missed instead of gut or a$$ shooting everything. It took me a long time to overcome my flinching. If I didn't love being outdoors and the thrill of the hunt so much, I wouldn't have stuck with it. With kids who might be on the fence about hunting, you can really win them over for good with a little bit of extra effort and equipment tailored to their needs. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stray Horse Report post Posted January 22, 2020 I got my son a Tikka 270 when he graduated from the course. He still uses it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
257 STW Report post Posted January 25, 2020 260 Remington or 7mm08 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sam Report post Posted January 26, 2020 Started my daughter with a .270 and used Managed Recoil bullets. These bullets are made for numerous other calibers as well. Here is a good article .......... https://www.chuckhawks.com/rem_managed_recoil.htm 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elkhunter Report post Posted January 26, 2020 Ruger American predator 6.5 creedmore, thank me later 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
roninflag Report post Posted January 26, 2020 my first rifle was a sako .243. it was good for everything. to date id has taken 2 elk , 3 antelope , both coues and whitetail, and 50-75 coyotes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
az_runner Report post Posted February 29, 2020 I did end up getting the kid a Tikka compact in a 7mm-08. Unlike myself, he landed a cow tag this year. I just need to find the right box of over-priced ammo for this thing now. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted February 29, 2020 22 minutes ago, az_runner said: I did end up getting the kid a Tikka compact in a 7mm-08. Unlike myself, he landed a cow tag this year. I just need to find the right box of over-priced ammo for this thing now. Good choice! It's a tikka I'm sure it will shoot lots of over priced ammo perfectly fine. What unit? Youth cow tag? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
az_runner Report post Posted February 29, 2020 Yeah, youth hunt in either 7W or 6A/5B, praying for 7W. I just saw my card was hit, but not sure of the unit just yet. I don't know much about either unit for elk so we're going to due some serious camping this summer to learn the areas. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
roninflag Report post Posted February 29, 2020 excellent Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1uglydude Report post Posted February 29, 2020 1 hour ago, az_runner said: I did end up getting the kid a Tikka compact in a 7mm-08. Unlike myself, he landed a cow tag this year. I just need to find the right box of over-priced ammo for this thing now. If you want to go lead free, the Barnes factory loads in 120gr are hard to beat. If you dont mind lead, the cheap Hornady American Whitetail round shooting the 139gr interlock will handle a cow just fine. They are very reasonably priced for what you get. Save your brass in case you ever learn to reload. (Or send me a PM and I might be in the market to buy some of it off of you). 🙂 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
