Youth Rifle?

[HighCountry10]

I am leaning toward the Tikka T3 lite in the .243 for my ten year old son.  Will probably put the Zeiss conquest scope with S & K bases and rings?  Anyone have a better suggestion?  Will this need rifle's stock need to be cut down?

[high country]

what is his LOP?

[JackOfAllTrades]

Wow!  I bet my son wished I could have afforded something that nice for his first hunting rifle.

-Steve

[HighCountry10]

This is what I was looking for?  I assume you mean length of pull?  Not sure?  How do I measure this?

[HighCountry10]

Wow!  I bet my son wished I could have afforded something that nice for his first hunting rifle.

-Steve

I also have a 6 year old who will use it as his first rifle so I wanted to set it up right!  Definately not made of money just don't mind spending on my kids and/or quality hunting equipment.

[Bob33]

Don't rule out larger calibers.  My 8 year old son shoots my Tikka T3 in 30-06, but with reduced recoil ammunition.  Remington makes something called "Managed Recoil" ammunition, and it's phenomenal.  Recoil is probably very close to a .243.  This way he can grow into something that will take any animal in North America.

Good choice on the rifle!

[Buckmark]

The rifles is measured from the trigger to the buttplate.
The shooters is measured by having them hold there elbow against there body (like carrying something) and then measure from the pit of the elbow to the index (trigger) finger, i acutally measured my boys with there finger bent in like in the trigger guard that way when i set the stock length it will still be ok if they had on a jacket etc, if it just fits with a tee shirt it may be to long bundled up, and you can add with slip on pads if neede as they grow till you have to put on the fullsize stock.

[high country]

from the back of the stock to the face of the trigger, should be roughly the same as length from the inside of his elbow to the face of the trigger.....some adjustments for long necks, heavy clothes....etc, but should be close.

[thinkingman]

Cartridge is right, size of gun is not.
Get a youth-stocked gun, Savage, Remington make them.
I love Tikka, but the fit is the issue here.

[high country]

howa youth would be my choice

[carpsniperg2]

tikka's are great guns! if he is a little bigger, then that would be a great gun. if its to big for him, then he will have a hard time shooting it. 7mm-08 its a great all around caliber, mild recoil and good for anything around 243 is good as well but i like the bullet weight range on the 7mm-08 a little better then the 243.

[Crisptrigr]

The two most prominent factors (basically speaking) in fitting a rifle to a shooter (hunter) are 1. over all size (length of pull included)
and 2. weight. Assuming we're dealing with young people (guys & gals), when mounting a rifle or shotgun you want the butt of the weapon to come to rest at the same place in the shoulder in one fluid motion. When this does not take place for whatever the reason then accurate shooting becomes more difficult than it should be. Because of shorter arms and thinner chests young people usually find a rifle or shotgun sized (overall) for them makes mounting and accurate shooting more enjoyable because they're not fighting a wrong fit. Shortening a buttstock for thength of pull is nothing more than a shortcut and will not neccessarily help as much as intended because it may (depending on weapon) shift the balance of the rifle/shotgun creating another problem. This is why some manufacturers actually make rifles and shotguns sized and balanced for young/petite shooters. The second factor, weight, is as important as fit because its actually the more "physical" issue. When you're young or petite a few more (or less) pounds of wood and steel make a huge difference in the mounting and sighting dynamic. Good shooting skills and tools (weapons) aren't something we grow into. If you're a parent considering buying your young hunter/shooter his/her first rifle/shotgun a factory designed properly sized weapon is easier to find, easier to learn to shoot, and easier to re-sell than one that is wrong from the beginning and you've modified to fit. Try selling a rifle/shotgun you've modified and you'll see what I mean.
Make your younguns' shooting experience "fun" with proper equipment and that fun will likely continue for a lifetime. Make it a struggle with the wrong equipment and it will probably be a short-lived experience.

[WonkyWapiti]

I started my daughter off this year with a youth model Savage .243 that came with a scope.  She just turned 13 and it has worked well for her.

[spookgus]

I chose a youth .243 for my son from a company that I knew I could readily acquire an aftermarket full length stock for it in the future. The caliber can even be a 30-06 or 300WM. When my father fell from a ladder and broke his shoulder I used the reduced load data from the Speer and Hodgdon manuals to load his 30-06 and my 300WM to 30-30 velocities.