Kids rifle manifesto

[Yukon Cornelius]

I would say with a high degree of confidence, the suppressor is a game changer, but with those cartridges it changes the game from "way too much" to "a moderate amount too much".

A can will not bring 14-17 ft lb of recoil down to the 8-ish that you really want. I would (and did, and in retrospect wish I had done sooner) sell one of those three rifles to fund the purchase of a .223 bolt gun.

Funny story. Sold the 7-08 American compact and bought a new gen2 556 with 16” barrel.

Decided to keep the 6.5 and 308 options since I’m set up for reloading for those two calibers. Can’t wait to get her behind this 556

 

[Raygun15E]

Well lucky enough for me my son is right handed. But yes, finding lefty rifles is a struggle. I don't have a problem running right handed bolts since I grew up shooting right handed but I'm trying to make everything consistent with left handed rifles for me. This is part of the reason that I love my "custom" builds that I can swap the bolt faces on. I can swap a barrel and bolt face in about 20min and my rifle still feels exactly the same. It's a little more upfront cost but I think you save it on the back end for sure.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure all 3 of my boys are right handed. So finding them .223 Tikkas luckily shouldn’t be much of a problem. I, like you, have decided to keep things left handed for my shooting. I might be convinced to build a “custom” like you in 6CM and .223. I just want to stick with Tikka where if at all possible. Unfortunately that may have to wait a year or two. Hoping to move closer to work in that timeframe.

 

[BMW]

Wow. I am glad to find this forum. Shout out to the Hunt Backcountry podcast for having Form on. Saving me a bunch of money since I'm now not buying a bigger gun as it seems with good ammo and practice the Ruger AR556 will get me started in TX.

Anyway, to the point here, this is a great thread, I have kids 9 & 5... what about starting them with a BB gun, specifically maybe the Daisy 499?

 

[Luke S]

In your shoes I think an AR works great as long as it's accurate. Instead of more/bigger guns I'd get suppressors and/or practice ammo. I do like the 6.5 Grendal because I can easily get hunting ammo for it. Not so easy with the 223 (in Alaska). Maybe another upper? As long as they are legal I'm warming up to AR pistols with a Brace. Our works well with a suppressor.

 

[Tahoe1305]

Did this this weekend for my 5 year old.

I shoot tikkas and got an amazing deal on a t1x. The point there is the components (except a few chassis options and mags) are interchangeable. The factory stocks aren’t bad and can be had used cheap.

For those wanting ultimate LOP control, don’t be afraid to take a saw to that $30 stock. I used a chop saw and it came out great. LOP is 11.5”. I have a compact stock on the shelf at 12.5” and regular is 13.5” ish so covered hopefully.

The pad I used is in the link below for $19. The holes lined up nearly perfect (maybe .1” off) and the studs for the holes on the stock go way back. Pictures show roughly how it worked. Disc grinder to finish.

When I want to work on CF rifles it’s just two bolts. Or when I want to use the t1x it’s two bolts and a full size stock and maybe a pict rail scope change.

Excited to try it out. Only downside I see is t1x is made to be “close” to identical to t3x which includes weight. It’s a tad heavy as it sits.

Amazon.com

Have let me little guy work this gun over the last six months. He’s really taken a liking to shooting it as the video shows can manipulate it pretty well. He’s been consistently successful out to 80yds.

Was contemplating building a 6C tikka since he’s getting used to running it well (and stocks would interchange) but buddy talked me into letting him shoot a 6.5 Grendel a bit to see how he does.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com