Yellowknife
WKR
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2012
- Location
- Fishhook, Alaska
So my eldest (9) is about to graduate from rimfires to real scoped centerfires this year. He's got two sisters that will follow him, so I'm going to need a trainer rifle in the house for the next well... quite a few years.
I do already have a Remington 700 Youth in 7-08 sitting in the case that can be used for big game, but I'm a big believer in training via lots of spent rounds and a 7-08 is going to be a bit much I think. I also have a cabin in the mountains with miles of land to set up targets on, so this won't be much square range shooting from a bench. The idea will be to let the kids burn through a case of in-expensive ammo on steel targets without beating them up.
What I think I'm looking for is a relatively light .223 or 5.56 bolt rifle in a youth or "compact" configuration. I have ZERO experience with lighter calibers and very little with youth rifles, so help me out.
What I've come up with so far for requirements:
- Lightweight
- Fast Twist (I want to be able to shoot heavies)
- Adjustable LOP if possible. That seems pretty common.
What I DON'T want:
- Really cheap package rifle. I'm was fairly underwhelmed by fit and finish this 700 ADL Youth, and I don't think I want to drop even further down to an Axis or 783 or Mossberg, etc. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this.
- Lousy fitting stock. It irritates me that most these rifles are full size guns with both ends whacked. I can already tell that a big challenge with most standard stocks is going to be the long gap between the trigger and the grip + dealing with poor cheek contact.
Options I've come up with so far:
Tikka Compact. I'm all ready pretty familiar with Tikka's, so this would fit right in. Twist seems to be listed a 1:8, so it checks all the boxes. Price would be at the upper end of what I'm looking to spend. Drawback is like most "compact" rifles it's really just a full size stock with the butt end hacked off. That means the pistol grip won't fit his hands at all, and will likely also be a bit barrel heavy from field positions.
T3x LITE COMPACT | Tikka
Ruger American Compact or Ranch rifle.
These have a slimmer stock which I might fit kids hands better? Twisted right, and the Ranch versions are threaded for a can (which a I have).
Ruger(R) Ruger American Rifle(R) Ranch Bolt-Action Rifle Models
Have also looked at the Savage "Lightweight Storm" which while technically not a youth rifle does have removable spacers and a very trim barrel. Availability in Alaska may be limited though, and I wasn't impressed by the last generation Savage I had. 1:9 twist.
Savage Arms - 110 LIGHTWEIGHT STORM - P01572
Does anybody have any experience with any of these, or others that might fit the bill? Anything outside the box I'm missing? Chassis systems?
I do already have a Remington 700 Youth in 7-08 sitting in the case that can be used for big game, but I'm a big believer in training via lots of spent rounds and a 7-08 is going to be a bit much I think. I also have a cabin in the mountains with miles of land to set up targets on, so this won't be much square range shooting from a bench. The idea will be to let the kids burn through a case of in-expensive ammo on steel targets without beating them up.
What I think I'm looking for is a relatively light .223 or 5.56 bolt rifle in a youth or "compact" configuration. I have ZERO experience with lighter calibers and very little with youth rifles, so help me out.
What I've come up with so far for requirements:
- Lightweight
- Fast Twist (I want to be able to shoot heavies)
- Adjustable LOP if possible. That seems pretty common.
What I DON'T want:
- Really cheap package rifle. I'm was fairly underwhelmed by fit and finish this 700 ADL Youth, and I don't think I want to drop even further down to an Axis or 783 or Mossberg, etc. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this.
- Lousy fitting stock. It irritates me that most these rifles are full size guns with both ends whacked. I can already tell that a big challenge with most standard stocks is going to be the long gap between the trigger and the grip + dealing with poor cheek contact.
Options I've come up with so far:
Tikka Compact. I'm all ready pretty familiar with Tikka's, so this would fit right in. Twist seems to be listed a 1:8, so it checks all the boxes. Price would be at the upper end of what I'm looking to spend. Drawback is like most "compact" rifles it's really just a full size stock with the butt end hacked off. That means the pistol grip won't fit his hands at all, and will likely also be a bit barrel heavy from field positions.
T3x LITE COMPACT | Tikka
Ruger American Compact or Ranch rifle.
These have a slimmer stock which I might fit kids hands better? Twisted right, and the Ranch versions are threaded for a can (which a I have).
Ruger(R) Ruger American Rifle(R) Ranch Bolt-Action Rifle Models
Have also looked at the Savage "Lightweight Storm" which while technically not a youth rifle does have removable spacers and a very trim barrel. Availability in Alaska may be limited though, and I wasn't impressed by the last generation Savage I had. 1:9 twist.
Savage Arms - 110 LIGHTWEIGHT STORM - P01572
Does anybody have any experience with any of these, or others that might fit the bill? Anything outside the box I'm missing? Chassis systems?