Youth rifle help

[fire arrow]

My oldest son is going to be 10 soon and I wanted to get him his rifle so that he is squared away with it by the time he is 12. Tonight he shouldered a Rem youth .243. Fit him perfect. Only problem is I am worried that it won't fit him in two years as in LOP and the barrel is on the short end. I was also hoping for a larger caliber. So should I get him a full size 700 in a .260 and have the factory stock cut to fit him, and then upgrade to a better stock as he grows? Or get him the youth 700 in a .243 and when he grows out of it up grade the stock and get a new barrel and have it chambered to what we want.

 

[huntinrod]

I bought my boy a Remington 700 youth in 243. He loves it. I love it. Fine rifle.

 

[fire arrow]

How long has he had it, and if it's been a while does it still fit him?

 

[JG358]

Most kids have a really hard time holding a full length barrel steady so unless your child is only shooting prone the youth model is probably the better of the two options.

The factory Remington stock on my sons youth rifle came with spacers to make the lop longer as he grows.

 

[DoubleDown]

Look at steyr pro hunter mountain. Great accurate shooter, available in many calibers have removable spacers on butstock so it can grow same time with your son.

 

[mtswampfox]

just put together a contender in 6mmtcu for a pals kid who is still in the crib, but when able it will be perfect as no recoil and driving 80 gr bullets around 3000fps which is perfect for the small deer here in ga and al. plus he can add or subtract anything from rimfire to shotgun. single shot arguably the perfect trainer.

 

[MuleyFever]

HOWA youth in 7mm-08. Comes with a full size stock too so you can switch them out when he gets bigger. I bought my wife one as she is smaller and I really like it. If she ever decides to not use it I can swap stocks and use it myself. If you wanted too you can also get reduced recoil rounds for the caliber to start out with.

 

[Arrowslinger]

Buy the youth one, then when out grows it, I'll buy it from ya for my little guy.

 

[fire arrow]

Buy the youth one, then when out grows it, I'll buy it from ya for my little guy.

Wouldn't sell it to Ya, but I would let you have it. Wouldn't feel right charging you for good memories with your boy.

 

[dieNqvrs]

I just picked up a 7mm-08 Rem model 7 with a youth stock for my 8 year olds future rifle.

When he needs a bigger stock I can get one for around $100. Could also get one and cut it down for reasonable.

http://www.boydsgunstocks.com/

 

[Daniel_M]

Personally, I would take a real hard look at the Ruger Compact Laminate in .243. I carried said rifle a for a good bit and loved it. Super compact, excellent for kids growing into the sport. Excellent out of the box shooter, 3-pos safety and Mauser-style controlled feed.
6.5# for Laminate, 6# for Synthetic.
http://www.ruger.com/products/HawkeyeLaminateCompact/models.html

 

[JG358]

I bought my boy a Remington 700 youth in 243. He loves it. I love it. Fine rifle.

I did the same for my kids. Got a couple B&C stocks and new barrels to chamber in 260Rem for when they're ready to go full size.

 

[T43]

I've been looking at the Marlin x7y in 7mm-08. They run just over $300, seem to be pretty good for the money and come with a 22 inch barrel. I've shot one in '06 and for a budget gun that will be used to teach a new hunter I think it's just the ticket.

 

[Vance in AK]

I know you probably don't need more choices, but my 11yr old loves his Ruger American Compact in 308. With Hornady's reduced recoil loads its pleasant to shoot & standard loads shoot to the same point of impact.

 

[fire arrow]

I know you probably don't need more choices, but my 11yr old loves his Ruger American Compact in 308. With Hornady's reduced recoil loads its pleasant to shoot & standard loads shoot to the same point of impact.

I appreciate any help anyone is willing to give.

 

[Travis Bertrand]

My dad bought me the youth 243 rem 700. I still shoot it. It's my coyote gun, nice and compact and shoots well.

 

[1hoda]

+1 rem 700 .243

 

[bbrown]

My rem 700 .243 will be passed down to my daughter granted it will be a while since she is only 5 months.

 

[hodgeman]

I'd get him shooting. You can always buy a stock with a longer LOP later down the road.

It's much harder to shoot a rifle with a stock too long than one too short. Besides, keeping your kids in gear and guns is just the price of admission, my son has outgrown 2 now...and getting ready to outgrow his third! But having him along for the ride is priceless!

 

[MRidge]

My Son is 12, and has had a Youth Rem 700 chambered in 7-08 now for a couple years. With that said, I have a pair of 7-08's & .260's. My wife has a youth model 7 in .260. The other two are Rem 700 in BDL Varminter configurations. Not that there is anything wrong with the model 7, however if I was doing it again, I'd make sure and keep it in the 700 family, as it just seems there are more abundant parts, stock options out there. As mentioned above, overall weight plays a huge factor on the little ones as well. I'm hopeful by the time he's grown enough to purchase a standard size stock, he has the barrel shot out of it, and we can just rebarrel it at the same time.

I'd never negate the effectiveness of the .243 as it a great round. With that said, the recoil between my 7-08 & .260 is significantly different. The .260's appear less to me. If you're not a hand-loader, you don't have many options for .260 loads, whereas the 7-08 is plentiful. Remington also offers reduced recoil loads for the 7-08 which is a great way to get the little guys some trigger time on a larger caliber.