Deer rifle recomendation

[high country]

if dead set on a fixed power, it is dang tough to beat a leupold m8. I would recommend one and I don't push many of their products.

[bobcat]

Have you seen the "Managed Recoil" ammunition by Remington?

http://www.remington.com/products/ammunition/centerfire/managed-recoil/managed-recoil.aspx

They have a 270 load with a 115 grain bullet, and a 308 with a 125 grain bullet. Either one of those would be great for a kid, and as he gets older, bigger, and more experienced, he would have the option of using full power loads.

[DoubleJ]

Have you seen the "Managed Recoil" ammunition by Remington?

http://www.remington.com/products/ammunition/centerfire/managed-recoil/managed-recoil.aspx

They have a 270 load with a 115 grain bullet, and a 308 with a 125 grain bullet. Either one of those would be great for a kid, and as he gets older, bigger, and more experienced, he would have the option of using full power loads.

Can't find the .308 in stock ANYWHERE.  Been sold out and on back order since I started looking in Feb.

[bobcat]

How about Federal? I see Midway has the low recoil ammuniton, at least in 308, and it IS on backorder, but says "date expected in stock" is July 30, 2010:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=683994

Found an article on it here:  http://www.chuckhawks.com/federal_low_recoil.htm

[ICEMAN]

Have you seen the "Managed Recoil" ammunition by Remington?

http://www.remington.com/products/ammunition/centerfire/managed-recoil/managed-recoil.aspx

They have a 270 load with a 115 grain bullet, and a 308 with a 125 grain bullet. Either one of those would be great for a kid, and as he gets older, bigger, and more experienced, he would have the option of using full power loads.

Exactly my thought as well...

[high country]

the 243 is a great choice, it is cheap to shoot, the ammo you need is available in every town. in the off season you can smoke coyotes with it too. odds are that he will be a better shot just due to the low recoil and muzzle blast.

[coachcw]

I have a 260 in model seven youth it works great on deer out to 200 yards . .243 just don't hit hard enough , I would'nt hesitate taking an elk with the 260. my buddies daughter shots a 270 wsm and i couldn't believe how light the recoil is on that round less than my ruger m77 in 270. bocat has a good point with the managed recoil loads , if you keep your .308 loads light on bullet weights there not bad at all. once you buy a .243 your stuck .

[jdb]

I would strongly disagree w/ that staement

[coachcw]

it's a matter of mass in motion . I've seen .243's in action and no doubt if you hit an animal right any round will get it done . that beening said i've seen a few animals lost with 243 . I have a buddie thats a very verssed sportsman and woodsman the best hunter I know . He swore by his .243 that is intill he started shooting a .300. I think if your shooting yotes there fine I just pick 140 grains over 100 on deer any day .

[Birdguy]

The .243 has been a staple for young hunters for a long time. They make loads for all types of game and purposes. If you can get a .243 and get your child comfortable shooting it the rest will fall into line. I bought a .243 for my son (age 8 now 4'1" and 42lbs.)last fall. I looked for about a year then bought a new weatherby (it came with the youth and adult stocks). He loves it and is very comfortable shooting it. I will let him hunt deer with it until he says he is ready for something else, then it comes back to me I put the adult stock on it and I got my yote blaster. My daughter is much larger at age 10 she is 5'5" and 105lbs. so we bought her a .270. I have a good friend that lives to reload and the .270 is his favorite plinking round so he hooked us up with a special load for her that minimizes the recoil, yet is still powerful enough for deer out to 150 yds. The key is find a gun that your child is comfortable with and put him/her in the best possible situation to be successful. I already told my kids that they may not get a shot if it is not the right one.

I applaud you for making this as enjoyable as you can for the next generation. It is important that we (as sportsmen) get others into our sport, and the better experience we make it for them the better chances they will want to go again  .

[Huntbear]

Yea, after researching for the last 3 hours, I have decided on a .243.  Now, what scope?  I want to limit his shooting to 150 yds. and take away a lot of options that will bog him down.  Can I get a nice fixed scope for that range?

Out to 150 yds. any good fixed 4x will do the job well. 

[bobcat]

In a fixed power scope I would look at the Weaver 4x38 for $125. Great scope for the money:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=174349

[Bscman]

My personal preference would be a 6.5x55...I absolutely adore that cartridge, and it's got about the same recoil (10.6ft-lbs based on recoil charts) as a 30-30...which is VERY light. For references, that about 20% less recoil than a 7mm-08 and about 40% less recoil than a .308....yet it still puts 140grs at 2,600+fps.
Harder to find a gun chambered in this round, though.

Nothing wrong with a .243...a very good deer and 'yote round.
Pretty fast, pretty flat, and pretty much the lowest recoil you'll find for "big-game legal" rifles.

We set my lady up with a Howa 1500 and a 3.5-10x40.
She's shooting 85gr Barnes TripleShocks. Sounds a bit light for deer, but it's DARN impressive.
Bullet technology has come a LONG way in recent years...a .243 will do more to deer sized game than most would think--with the right bullet and a well placed shot.

I'd probably consider one of the new redfield 3-9x40's. Inexpensive and good quality...with great looks.

[ML_Hunter]

You have a lot of options as to caliber just a handful of options would include 7mm-08 Rem, .30-30 Win, .308 Win, 7x57 Mauser, .257 Roberts, and you can even get .30-06 Springfield loaded down for recoil reduced loads.  Where I think you may run into an issue is finding one in your price range.  I know Marlin makes a very inexpensive gun and you can get a Weatherby Vanguard for $399, and then ad a Nikon ProStaff scope and that will only be another $150.  Your still looking to spend about $500 by the time the rifle is set up and sighted in.

[DoubleJ]

Now I'm confused again.  Not hard to do really.  Now I can't decide between a .243 or learning to reload and making my own 125gn .308 rounds.