Youth Hunting

[timrpayne]

I have a 9 year old who loves to go deer hunting. He used a borrowed 243 youth rifle last year and liked it. I now need to buy him something. I have looked at 243 and 7mm-08. He is concerned about recoil. Any words of wisdom before I spend the money?

[joel the signman]

poke around here as this topic has been brought up before,my advise is to bring him with so he can fit the gun,remember he 's gonna grow so may want to keep your costs down

[on_the_fly]

I bought my 9 year old whom is 10 now a Rossi (triple threat) his came with a 243 barrel a 22 barrel and a 20 ga barrel. all are single shot very easy to inner change. and also comes with two keys for the hammer lock (witch is nice feature for a youth model gun). All three are good shooting the only down for him is the 20 ga has a realy short barrel witch makes it feel almost like a 12ga witch is a little strong for alot of the smaller shooters, but after a few shots to get its patteren figured out from then on its one shot so not too bad on the littles ones then.
there are many barrel combinations you can choose from. check their web site out. I dont think you can buy direct from them but I know dicks sporting goods carries the youth rossi's. the one we have was bought from a mom and pop pawn shop they sell new guns as well. ours was new in the box for right around $400.oo but we did a little trading with a custom woodin crikett 22 and they had a 30% off x-mas sell so we ended up paying $145.oo ans a youth 22 for it. not bad at all for realy three guns. if your intersted I can post a few pics of it.

[HunterBrad]

if he is woried about the recoil the get him some "low-recoil" shells

[farmallHTA]

i would get a .308 i had a rossi triple threat a couple years ago and the barrel got stuck. im not saying their bad guns but i wouldnt risk it

[International_Tractors]

I have a 7mm 08. good bit of recoil. I recommend a .308 you can also buy low recoil shells but im not sure what calibers they come in

[Theaton]

Sweet. I don't own any rifles except for a .22. My dad owns a 30.06, though. That destroys ground - hogs.

[onehorse]

I would recommend sticking with a .243. You already KNOW he can handle the recoil, and it's plenty enough gun for deer (it's also been used successfully for much bigger game although not recommended for that). Stay away from the .308, it just might be too much gun for the youngster. Keep in mind that as recoil increases, accuracy decreases even for experienced shooters. One of the things that makes the .243 such an effective gun is that it's relatively mild on the shoulder and therefor controlable/accurate. Whatever you get, if recoil is any concern, put a good pad on the stock - something like a Limbsaver or Kick-eez.