Trying looking into the Harrison and Richardson rifles. My cousin that started back when he was 9, thats the gun my dad bought for him. Since then he's killed 2 bears over 200 yards, and 3 deer. The Guns are only single shot, but are cheap wonderful guns!!! Being the proud owner of a 300 rum, rem 7mm stw, and a rem 270 win mag, i'm now even starting to look into being one of these H&R Handi rifles.
I bought PathfinderJR a Rossi Trifecta (similar to the H&R) for his first gun in .243. He still uses it with the shotgun barrel, but I don't recommend the .243 for much. Particularly anything past 200 yards (which around here is a close shot). He killed one deer with it (a very close range shot) when he was 9. He carried it for the next two years, but actually shot his next two deer with my .270 because of the extended range (268 yards and 205 yeards).
Honestly, the Marlin is almost as light as that Rossi and has just as short a pull, it kicks less, has a much better trigger, is more accurate, holds more than one shot, and only costs about $30 or $40 more than the single shot Rossi...
