youth rifles

[coyotecreek]

Look into a Boyds at-one stock for a rifle that you already have. You can adjust the length of pull and comb height. Boys outgrow guns too fast to buy youth models.

 

[TheCougar]

I bought my kids a Tikka 243 for deer. My son shot three deer last year with it. He doesn’t exactly like shooting it, but he manages. He was 10 and weighed around 62lbs last year. This year he weighs 70# and I have him shooting a Browning XBolt Hell’s Canyon Speed in 6.5CM. With the brake it kicks less than the 243, and it enables him to shoot an elk. My kids are skinny, and I wanted to get them a rifle they could shoot and knock down an elk, hence the braked 6.5. The Browning would be my “all around” kids rifle if I could do it again. My only beef with both those rifles is the safety. The rifle needs to be on “fire” to cycle the bolt and clear the weapon. Not ideal for kids. I put a kydex riser on both rifles to help with proper eye alignment also.

 

[Chris76]

This question actually comes up a lot. When my son was 9 I got him a 7mm08. I also bought the reduce coils shells. Does not kick at all. She will not be afraid of this gun. We all will have our own advise to give you but for my I am glad I made the choice for his first hunting rifle 7mm08. Awesome gun and he did well with it

 

[howl]

Hard to beat an AR15 for this. An adjustable stock really helps when learning good shooting form. Using field rests should be part of your practice. That's literally what we do. Load one round, put the gun down. Practice through the sequence including getting rested off in a neutral shooting orientation to the target. The 22lr we use for practice is 6.5#, the .223 for hunting is about 7.5# and has less recoil than the 22lr. (22lr moves around a lot as the bolt and buffer move.) The 7# Grendel we also use does have easily recognized recoil, but not enough to be particularly noticed when excited. I detailed the recoil differences because most people have a tendency to describe guns having moderate recoil as having none. Truly low recoil medium game cartridges use ~30 grains of powder or less.

One thing I wish was different about these little ARs is, if dedicated for a kid, I would have got longer barrels. I would spec. a long pencil barrel for a kids deer rifle. Going over manual of arms with a long stick stuck down the bore is good instruction. Kids have varying levels of ability to understand muzzle awareness completely and keep it in mind when excited. And, of course, small powder capacity cartridges with longer barrels are more pleasant in the muzzle blast department.

 

[wentright]

I started out whitetail hunting with my uncles rem 700 7mm-08 took many deer with it. I own a Savage weather warrior I’m 7mm-08 and it is what I’m going to start my kids out on in a few years. Recoil is light and the savage is light weight and easy to handle. I’m also looking at maybe getting a .25 wssm hard to find but have read very good reviews on them and it has a short bolt throw for kids to cycle

 

[NTO]

Remington makes a compact 700 in 7mm-08 great gun and can pick one up cheap. Perfect kids gun.

 

[Retumbo]

I have written why I say this before-

But I would not get a rifle for anyone, 9yo or otherwise, that they can’t, and don’t handle completely on their own. Load it, carry it, shoot it, unload it. Smooth actions without “hinks”, detachable mags, small size, lightweight, and little recoil( sub 10 ft-lbs). In that vain Tikka T3x Compact in 223, 243, 6.5 Creedmoor is probably the easiest and best option when viewed as a complete picture, though the Creedmoor will almost certainly recoil too much for volume shooting- and they need to shoot a lot. For that reason the 223 T3 with 1/8” twist is an awesome option. Zero issues on deer, bear, and even elk with the right bullets.

If not a T3 compact, then the Howa Mini 6.5 Grendel LW with stock mod is really good. The magazine catch can be shortened easily in about two minutes to eliminate what rgroves mentioned. With a stock mod/slimming it’s a true lightweight. They generally shoot very well, have low enough recoil to allow even the most recoil shy person a fun day blasting, factory ammo is really good and inexpensive, and it kills just fine way past where most people will even try.


Slimmed Howa Mini-




Weight with heavy rings, bases, and 19oz scope-

Has your opinion changed at all since 2018? Looking for a full size (but light) rifle for my lanky 16yo niece. I am considering a Howa 1500 Micro Carbon stalker in .223 (4lbs 10oz) to save some weight over the Tikka T3x in .223 (6lbs 8oz).

The same Stocky's Carbon stock in the Tikka configuration sells for $600, so basically the question is:

Is the Tikka T3x with a Carbon Stock swap worth an additional $300 and 1lbs 5oz over the Howa?

Weight References:
Howa @4lbs 10oz: https://www.howausa.com/carbon-stalker/

Tikka T3x @ 6lbs 30oz: https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/tikka-t3x-weight-question.60332/

Tikka T3x Factory Stock @30oz: https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/tikka-t3-factory-synthetic-stock-weight.28377/

Tikka T3x Stocky's Carbon Stock @21oz: https://www.stockysstocks.com/stocks-by-brand/stocky-s/hand-lay-up-stocks/carbon-fiber/tikka-t3.html

 

[Formidilosus]

Has your opinion changed at all since 2018? Looking for a full size (but light) rifle for my lanky 16yo niece. I am considering a Howa 1500 Micro Carbon stalker in .223 (4lbs 10oz) to save some weight over the Tikka T3x in .223 (6lbs 8oz).

The same Stocky's Carbon stock in the Tikka configuration sells for $600, so basically the question is:

Is the Tikka T3x with a Carbon Stock swap worth an additional $300 and 1lbs 5oz over the Howa?

Weight References:
Howa @4lbs 10oz: https://www.howausa.com/carbon-stalker/

Tikka T3x @ 6lbs 30oz: https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/tikka-t3x-weight-question.60332/

Tikka T3x Factory Stock @30oz: https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/tikka-t3-factory-synthetic-stock-weight.28377/

Tikka T3x Stocky's Carbon Stock @21oz: https://www.stockysstocks.com/stocks-by-brand/stocky-s/hand-lay-up-stocks/carbon-fiber/tikka-t3.html

If still do a Tikka 1-8” 223. The action and trigger is better than the Howa, and definitely the magazine. However, the mini in 223 with 8” twist or 6ARC is a solid option.

 

[amassi]

Has your opinion changed at all since 2018? Looking for a full size (but light) rifle for my lanky 16yo niece. I am considering a Howa 1500 Micro Carbon stalker in .223 (4lbs 10oz) to save some weight over the Tikka T3x in .223 (6lbs 8oz).

The same Stocky's Carbon stock in the Tikka configuration sells for $600, so basically the question is:

Is the Tikka T3x with a Carbon Stock swap worth an additional $300 and 1lbs 5oz over the Howa?

Weight References:
Howa @4lbs 10oz: https://www.howausa.com/carbon-stalker/

Tikka T3x @ 6lbs 30oz: https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/tikka-t3x-weight-question.60332/

Tikka T3x Factory Stock @30oz: https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/tikka-t3-factory-synthetic-stock-weight.28377/

Tikka T3x Stocky's Carbon Stock @21oz: https://www.stockysstocks.com/stocks-by-brand/stocky-s/hand-lay-up-stocks/carbon-fiber/tikka-t3.html

That extra $300 is easy money on the tikka

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[JiminAZ]

The one gun in my safe that has killed more deer than any other is the Tikka T3 in .243. With six kids, a lot of youth hunts on that thing. Has a Zeiss Conquest 3-9 (the old US assembled one). That setup has never let us down.

If I were buying for my young family today, I'd likely go 6.5 CM, all else the same.