Suppressed Hunting for Kids

[bluetick78]

After having my son and daughter shoot and hunt suppressed, I firmly believe it should be illegal to do it un-supressed. Take away the noise and recoil and suddenly hunting becomes much more fun for youngsters (not to mention the hearing damage they don't have to deal with). Caliber is too political to offer opinions, just find one you like in a platform the kids can use and go with it.

 

[Yellowknife]

My son took his first caribou with a suppressed 30-06 Tikka using Hornady “Lite” loads.

Although the theory was good and he shot it well on the range, he really struggled with the extra weight on the end of the gun. We were in completely open terrain and using a bipod, and it took multiple attempts to get a shot lined up.

The next year, he selected his unsuppressed Tikka SL .223 and took his caribou kneeling with the gun over his pack. He was able to track the moving animal much better and immediately drop it when it paused.

If you ask him, he’s not going back. The bark of the .223 isn’t bad, and his confidence level from field positions was much better.

Something to think about.

Yk

 

[HandgunHTR]

My son took his first caribou with a suppressed 30-06 Tikka using Hornady “Lite” loads.

Although the theory was good and he shot it well on the range, he really struggled with the extra weight on the end of the gun. We were in completely open terrain and using a bipod, and it took multiple attempts to get a shot lined up.

The next year, he selected his unsuppressed Tikka SL .223 and took his caribou kneeling with the gun over his pack. He was able to track the moving animal much better and immediately drop it when it paused.

If you ask him, he’s not going back. The bark of the .223 isn’t bad, and his confidence level from field positions was much better.

Something to think about.

Yk

From the pic, it looks like the ‘06 has a full-length barrel and that the can is a longer one.
Have you thought about cutting it back and going with a smaller, lighter can?

That being said, I am of a big fan of ”sub caliber” hunting and would say keep using the .223, but I would suppress that too.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Silenced 22s are awesome. Soon I’ll be shooting my 77/22 with a dead air mask on it. I’d like to sell this t1x eventually and get a CZ.

 

[Yellowknife]

From the pic, it looks like the ‘06 has a full-length barrel and that the can is a longer one.
Have you thought about cutting it back and going with a smaller, lighter can?

That being said, I am of a big fan of ”sub caliber” hunting and would say keep using the .223, but I would suppress that too.

It's cut to 18.5" and the can is a light weight 11 oz / 8" Gemtech. It's my mountain rifle, so as short and light as I could reasonably make it on that set up. OAL of the combo is right about 26"

For a dedicated youth gun, I'd want it shorter for sure. 16" + 7" on a short action. I may do one set up that way, as I have more kids coming along.

 

[JiminAZ]

My guys shot a Kimber 82 22 bolt until they could hold a quarter sized group at 50 yards. I happened to have a good "man sized" 22. We still use that 22 to tune ourselves up. Whenever I get promoted to grandfather, I will have them shooting a Tikka T1X suppressed which is a really great gun also.

Then we shot a lot of ground squirrels with a bolt action Browning in 223 with a heavy barrel.

Then they killed a bunch of deer with a 243. If you're used to shooting ground squirrels at a couple hundred yards a deer looks awfully big in the scope.

Only thing I would do differently is that I'd go straight to a 6.5 CM instead of the .243 if buying that rifle today. Make no mistake the 243 was plenty gun for those first deer hunts (and for that matter is still plenty gun for deer). But the 6.5 is the right answer for today.

Now they use a 7RM for Elk and the 6.5 for deer.

Now that I own suppressors, I'd maybe cut down the 6.5 to 18" or so and hang a suppressor on it.

 

[HandgunHTR]

It's cut to 18.5" and the can is a light weight 11 oz / 8" Gemtech. It's my mountain rifle, so as short and light as I could reasonably make it on that set up. OAL of the combo is right about 26"

For a dedicated youth gun, I'd want it shorter for sure. 16" + 7" on a short action. I may do one set up that way, as I have more kids coming along.

16-18" on a single shot (Encore, Contender, CVA, etc.) is even better. I have an 16.5" Encore that I use with my SpecWar, which is long and heavy, but overall, it is still an easy to carry and maneuver set-up.

 

[Packin_packout]

Started my kids with cz 452 suppressed for rabbits & squirrels till 12. 223 intro into AR operation and marksmanship then 300 blackout for deer & hogs in Texas. 16-18" 7-08 / 308 for mule deer & elk by age 15 and 100 lbs. All shots under 250 for them with 7-08 and 308 with accubond and partition they have dropped cow elk, kudu, oryx, springbok, mule deer, whitetail deer and hogs without issue. All depends on what you have money wise. Ran savage and tikka youth rifles and just restocked as they got bigger than me. Other than stuff in Namibia was suppressed. Best decision I ever made for kids setups. Now they are bigger than me and run my '06 and 7 rem mag. 1 can per kid all, all rifles on common mounting system. Area 419 + Tbac ultra 7 or dominus as go to.

Savage is a little easier to get started with because you can swap barrels so easily and can get/find short cheap threaded barrels easily.
Liked savage better for recessed tang safety and tikka you have to take safety off to run bolt. Kids have pretty much switched to tikka 100% at this point. Accuracy and as plasticky as tikka stock is, it is still store than savage axis.

Both are easy to find full size stocks for as they grow and can be hacked on to throw arca plates on for them to be able to easily run off tripod.

SAM splint for comb solution ( not my idea someone else here ) but a good one.