30-06?

[onehorse]

During 20 years of professional taxidermy, the biggest bull elk I ever mounted was for a 16 year old kid who used a .243 with Barnes bullets. That's not a caliber that's recommmended for elk, but shows what you could do with the right bullet and good bullet placement even with a relatively small caliber. Here's a picture of that mount. By the way, the big bull dropped dead in its tracks to a heart shot!

[wmi]

Just a thought. Maybe it would be a good idea to look into a T/C Contender or Encore. As you grow or change your mind just buy a new barrel instead of a whole gun. In the long run you will save money and they are hard to beat in quality. I own both and absolutely love them.

[Mosin]

Once sighted in you are OK. Trust me, squeezing a shot off on an actual deer you won't feel a thing!! Good luck with your choice.

[joel the signman]

mosin you really think a 12yr old should be shooting a 30-06?

[Hunting Man]

I would probably start a young hunter with something smaller. 243, 260, I have a couple of 30-06's bolt, pump, I remember watching my 13 year old have tears in his eyes after just 1 shot from my 270 rem mountain rifle, they weren't happy tears. I ended up getting him a Browning A-bolt in 260 rem. This was a great choise for him. The 260 will shoot heavier gr bullets than the 243. My favorite load for the 30-06 is 150 gr with either swift a-frames or nozsler partition bullets. For long range shots out west I'd go to 165 gr boattails maybe one of the new winchester bullets.

[joel the signman]

thats what im saying.no need to torture the kid or create an aversion to shooting.or the dreaded "flinch"

[Mosin]

I did at 13. I think it will be fine. To be honest, between a Remington Mohawk 600 .243 and Remington 700 Classic .30-06, I could not tell little difference. 12 gauge slugs is where the dividing line is!!!!

My advice is, shoot what is comfortable and what you are confident with. Just keep shooting, practicing, and work on just squeezing the trigger.

[joel the signman]

well i guess this is where we agree to disagree.Thats all i got to say anymore on this topic

[Hunting Man]

The real truth is after 50 the 243 looks very nice,very nice indeed. These old shoulders don't like a lot of heavy pounding anymore. In fact I like to use an old Savage 99 in 300 sav. Still a great deer catcher.

[ronn]

I agree Hunting man, the 243 is very capable of taking anything, not to mention deer. Its better to place the shot where it needs to be than knock it over with hit in the rear with a big heavy bulllet.