Rifle Recommendation For A 10 Year Old

[C Broad Arrow]

My friend is getting his boy a 243 for deer this year.

I think it might be a little to light for deer that generally run in the 200 lbs range.

I suggested a 308 with Remington's Managed Recoil loads. That way as he gets older he can shoot full loads in the 308.

Likely a youth model

What do you folks think would be a good starter rifle?

 

[Ridgerunner665]

The 243 will do great on 200 lb. deer...

90-95 grain bullets will get it done in fine fashion.

My oldest son started on a 243...my younger son will also, in a few more years.

 

[DrMike]

I built one grandson a .260, which will assuredly work for moose and elk. My ten-year-old grandson has a .243 coming to him. It is quite adequate for deer. One of the young men in my congregation dropped a good black bear with his .243 this spring; that lad is eleven. One shot was enough to convince the bear to give up the ghost. I'm shooting a 6 mm Remington for a customer at this time. I'm so impressed with 90 grain E-Tips and 90 grain AccuBonds that I would not hesitate to pick up one for myself. The managed loads will work for a young man or woman, but the .243 is a reasonable round within appropriate ranges and with a bullet that maintains its integrity.

 

[Thebear_78]

I agree the 243 is definitely up to the task but I went with the 308 for my son. Reduced loads with trailboss make it as easy to shoot as a rim fire, and plenty of room to grow.


My son is left eye dominant so I started him off with an encore single shot with a collapsable m4 style stock.

 

[Guy Miner]

Interesting choice, that single shot. I like it!

Yes, I'll join the crowd recommending the .243 Win. Light recoil. Great accuracy. Plenty of "oomph" for deer. Put a good expanding bullet in the boiler room, and you've got venison.

We've mostly been using the 6mm Rem, which has very similar ballistics. Been using it since the mid 1970's, and I can't remember a time when any deer had to be shot twice. My son loves that little rifle and took another whitetail buck with it just last season.

Am a huge fan of the 95 gr Ballistic Tip, loaded warm. It is accurate, penetrates more than enough, and expands readily. I think it's the perfect all-around deer bullet for the 6's.

Dr. Mike, that 90 gr E-Tip is the bullet David's son used on elk a few years back, with the 6mm Rem as I recall.

Guy

 

[wildgene]

...I'd split the difference & recommend the 7-08, should be available in most of the same youth rifles chambered in .243/ .308...

...or a 6.5, more & more rifles are showing up chambered for the various 6.5mm cartridges, like the various Savages in 6.5 Creedmoor...

 

[JD338]

I too agree that the 243 Win is up to the task. Loaded up with the 95 gr BT, it will kill the biggest of WT deer.
I do like the idea of a 7-08 or 308 loaded down and giving the lad a lot of room to grow. All that would need to be done is swap out the youth stock for a full size stock when the time comes. I'm thinking a M7 would be just about perfect.

JD338

 

[Dr. Vette]

I'd think about a Vanguard or Howa youth sized 243.

Or, I bought a full size Vanguard in 243 and swapped a Hogue youth stock onto it that I purchased from Legacy Sports, the people that import the Howa. Now when my girls grow up I have a nice stock for them, or I can swap it and use it myself.

 

[FOTIS]

My daughter runs a Marlin xs-7 in 7mm-08. Started her out with reduced loads and now she fires full bore loads.

 

[Tobey284]

243 is a great deer rig, I vote for the 100 grain Partition, kills like lightning. My kids love it, heck I'm 41 and its still one of my favorite rounds to hunt deer and antelope with. That being said, the deer situation in new mexico sucks, my oldest boy and several of the youth hunters I help out with have taken several elk but never had a crack at a legal buck. As such, I tend to recommend the 7mm-08 as a starter rifle, can be loaded with light varmint bullets for practice and has an edge on the 243 for the larger species with heavier bullets. 120 grain ballistic tips shoot flat hit hard with little recoil, my buddies daughter killed a heck of a bull last year with my 7-08 and 120 ttsx. Same thing with the 300 savage if you want to go old school, kids are still killing elk with great grampas rifle. Nothing wrong with a 308 either, recoil management during practice is the big thing with young shooters.

 

[Dwh7271]

First high powered rifle I bought was a 6 mm Remington. Pretty much a twin to the 243.
Lost count of how many deer I shot with that gun. Travelled all around and never felt undergunned. Usually a bang-flop. Darn thing drops deer like they got hit by lightning. :grin:
Long winded answer to say the 243 in the right hands with practice will handle deer just fine.

 

[Blkram]

Can't really say anything more than what's already been said above about the 243.

I too have an affinity for the 6.5's and 7mm-08 for beginners, for the same reasons...the child can grow with the loads as they graduate to harvesting larger game.

Another choice not mentioned above would be the 250 Savage or 257 Roberts. Great for deer and bear. and within its limits can work on larger game with heavier bullets, well within reasonable distances and proper bullet placement.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

You never outgrow a youth model 243...I'm full grown, 41 years old, 6 feet tall, and a long lean 180 lbs...and I used a youth model Remington for coyote hunting until last year...it's perfect for hunting in a blind.

I only traded because the barrel was nearly shot out and an opportunity came along to trade for a brand new Savage...only have $200 in the Savage, still planning on putting a youth stock on it soon.

Every caliber mentioned here is a great one...I'm not knocking any of them...but you don't outgrow a youth rifle, you just re-purpose it [emoji6]

 

[taylorce1]

I started my daughter out hunting deer with a .223 at nine, and have finally got her to move up this last year. I'd have no problem letting her use a .223 on a 200+ pound deer with a TSX or NPT. She loves her .223 named "Bruiser" and hammers deer with it every year.

I finally got her to move up as she wants to hunt elk in the future, at 11 she can handle my buddies .308 fine for a few shots. She prefers my .243 or her .250 Savage though. I do have a M700 classic in .300 Savage that will be her elk rifle, she asked for a .308 but I was able to trade straight across, I'll probably run 130 grain Barnes bulelts to manage the recoil better for her.

 

[Guy Miner]

Not original with me, but... I do like it when I read something like "The .243 is a great deer cartridge for women and children." Then the author goes on to recommend a 7mm Rem mag or something similar for a "real" hunter... :grin:

A deer is a deer. They die easy. Some run a ways. Never noticed cartridge size making much of a difference in how fast they die. Seemed to be mostly about shot placement.

At one point I thought I'd outgrown the smallish bore hunting rifles. Nope. I like them.

Did notice in deer camp over the years that my deer, and now my son's deer, seem to die awfully fast when hit well with the 6mm Rem or my .25-06... Faster in fact than with bigger cartridges in most instances. Not sure why, but that's what I've seen. Hit them well, they die fast. It's really hard to beat "instant" for speed... No matter how big a cartridge you're stuffing into the magazine of your deer rifle.

This is coming from a guy who obviously is a bit of a nut case, because I leave all the "normal" sized rifles at home and lug a .375 H&H for black bear... Sigh... It's this problem I've got... :mrgreen:

Shoot what ya want, but let's try not to make our kids suffer recoil needlessly.

Guy

 

[sask boy]

Here is another vote for 243 my Son used his 243 for his first 3 years. Here is Saskatchewan you get a crack at good Whitetail every season considerable bigger than 200lbs. I would never hesitate on using a 243 it is a good deer rifle

Blessings,
Dan

 

[Darkhorse]

I used to have a Model 788 .243 that I accurized and built a new trigger assembly for back in the mid 70's, I used it for several years for deer, then my wife used it and finally my son used it. I put a new 3X9 Leupold and a synthetic stock on it and gave it to my son for christmas one year. I told him to cherish this rifle as a family heirloom.
He sold it or traded it for something, I can't get a good answer. Should have just kept it.
Anyway as the years pass I began to notice the .243 had become a lot more effective as a deer round. It all had to do with the quality of the bullets being produced.
I'd be happy to own a .243 for myself again. I'd load that thing with Nosler Accubonds and take it to the woods.
And this is coming from an older guy who thinks only magnums are hunting guns.
I think the problem with buying a kid a rifle, is trying to anticipate what he or she will actually want to shoot a few years from now as there are several calibers that are a good choice. I also like the 7mm-08, but I've always been a 7mm fan.

 

[Jgraider]

You can't go wrong with the proven .243, but I am very biased towards the 7mm08 with 120 ballistic tips. The 120's are very tough, and perform great on deer of any size. The 7-08 and 120's are very mild.

 

[super-7]

Do I have to break out my nephews ( lil Chili ) photo album again?
Get a rifle that fits him well, practice , stoke it with a quality hunting bullet and go kill a deer.



243 win / 100 gr nos PT . Was his 5th animal in 3 yrs. all with his savage youth.

 

[6mm Remington]

My son and I have taken many deer and antelope and a couple of elk with the 6mm Remington. It works great on deer and would be a good choice as would the .243 Winchester. I shoot the 100 gr. Partition in my 6mm and my son is using the 90 gr. E-tip. The 90 gr. AccuBond would be another solid choice. Get him a 243 and you wouldn't be sorry. Good hunting!