Small Cali for an 8 yo

[Back2Dakota]

I have never shot any of the smaller caliber rifles like the .22-250,.243 ect. Son already has a .22 and Grandpa handed down a .308( He is very anal and that thing looks new) but thats a little much for a 67 pound kid. He loves shooting and would like something that "could" be used for deer here and yotes and praire dogs on my uncles farm in SD.Any thought? I use my 7mm for all three..ha

[troutned]

I think that anything up to a .243 would be okay for that age/weight. .22-250, .220 swift, .223, .222 rem should all be fine, but they are considered marginal (by many) for deer. Yotes and p-dogs . . . fine for sure. If you want to go with a 22 cal centerfire, do some research about rounds for deer hunting. Most factory ammo for these rounds are geared towards varmints and have too rapid of expansion for deer. The cartridges can be fine for deer, but bullet design is crucial. If you go the .243 route, which I think would be fine for this youngster, deer-ready ammo will be less difficult to find. Also, if you go with a .243, make sure the eye-relief (distance between the aiming eye and the rear lens of the scope) is adequate. Getting slapped in the face by a scope, even from the relatively light recoil of a .243, can be enough to make a young shooter flinch and make them less able to shoot well. Let us know what you come up with, and good luck!

[bmc]

It sounds like you have a deer rifle for him, the hand me down .308. Definitely get a Sims Vibration Labs recoil pad for the .308, it will make an unbelieveable difference in recoil!

As far as a gun for 'yotes and prairie dogs, a .223 would probably be your best bet. Again, I'd throw a SVL recoil pad on it. I had a H & R Handi rifle in .204 Ruger that was a blast to shoot and no recoil. It might be a bit light for 'yotes, but lots of guys swear by it for them. It's a flat shooter and you could shoot it till the barrel melted down, w/o feeling any recoil pains in the shoulder.

My 11 year old daughter (skin and bones) shot her first deer last fall w/ a H & R Handi rifle in .243 w/ the SVL pad. When we went to the range to sight in, she had so much fun shooting it, she went through 2 boxes of shells and wanted to keep shooting! LOL

Brian

[Archerysniper]

The best gun for him would be the 243/6mm that is what I got for my first rifle and still shoot it till this day. My dad and I have take 30+ deer with the 6mm and have not lost one we shoot factory 100 graim remington corelocks for deer and hand load 70 grain hollow points for coyotes and have taken yotes out to 500 yards with them.

[Gordie]

My son shot his first with a 243 rossi but IMO the 308 would be perfect with the recoil reduceing pad and if its a bolt action or a pump you could have someone down load the bullets for it. A guy that I used to deer hunt with did the same thing for his daughter and she stared shooting the gun when she was 9 it a Ruger m77 and it has hardly any recoil with the down loaded bullets.

Dont try this with a atuo as it probally wont cycle the shell thru

[Borch]

Personally I like the 7mm-08 for deer sized game for a young hunter. I like a little more bullet to get the job done. The smaller calibers will do the job fine as long as you wait for the right shot. Younger hunter just don't have the experience yet and are more likely to take bad angle shots. Hit the shoulder bone with a 95 gr bullet or a 145 gr bullet. If the bullet frags at least there's more room for error with the heavier bullet.

The .308 is a great caliber and if the gun fits him well the recoil will be tolerable for most young hunters. Another option besides the recoil pad is having him sight it in with a lead sled or other gun vise. He won't notice the recoil when shooting the gun in hunting situations.

My daughter is still convinced that her gun literally doesn't kick when you shoot it at deer.

[picksbigwagon]

Has he shot the 308 yet? the 243 is a very versatile caliber as many here have stated. If you go with the single shot (H & R or Rossi or ruger) get a heavy barrel model since more weight in the gun will reduce more of the felt recoil......

[klecker]

Is there much difference in the recoil between the .308, 7mm-08,.243? Since they all use the same 308 casing? A guy would think that they would all be very close. There can’t be much difference in the amount of powder. Maybe just different burn rates. Or maybe the same rates.

Thoughts?

[paul pachowicz]

I just bought a 7mm-08 to fill the gap,bullet weight wise, between my .243 and .06 & .270. I realy pondered the .308 for over a year and a half but, found the 7mm-08 offered lighter bullets (120-130-140) then the .308. But, I'm thinking you could break the kid in with the .308 with lighter bullets. I would not hesitate to use the 125 grain for deer considering it can approach 3000 FPS with decent sectional density and bullet coeffecients. You could actualy have the stock cut down or put a youth stock on it, save it and let him grow into the 13 5/8 lenght of pull. You are fortunate to have that handed down. Cherish it.

[troutned]

Is there much difference in the recoil between the .308, 7mm-08,.243? Since they all use the same 308 casing? A guy would think that they would all be very close. There can’t be much difference in the amount of powder. Maybe just different burn rates. Or maybe the same rates.

Thoughts?

Absolutely there is significant difference. Recoil is directly related to energy, which is related to (among other things) bullet weight. Think of it this way. If you have a .30-06 and shoot a 110 grain bullet, it's going fast, but the recoil is fairly mild. If you take that same .30-06 and shoot a 220 grain bullet, it's moving more slowly, but the recoil is much more formidable. The difference in the amount of powder does not seem to be much, and the burn-rates are different, but these are a little bit tough to quantify (in terms of recoil). The thing that matters is that you're pushing a bigger bullet in the latter case, and it's gonna whallop you harder.

I have no personal experience with the 7mm-08, but I do with the .243 and the .308. With "deer" loads, the .308 is definitely going to generate more recoil!

--Paul: good point on the 125 grain loads. It may be a great way to get a lower-recoil load from a .308. Although the BALLISTIC coefficient isn't quite as good as it is on a .243 100 grain or a .308 150 grain (if I'm not mistaken). Really those differences in BC are minimally important (IMO) for all but the most experienced long-range shooter/hunter. I've not looked into it, but I would be more concerned about the construction and intended use of the .308 125 grain bullets. It seems like it's bordering on a varmint weight for that caliber, and some may be engineered for rapid expansion rather than big-game penetration. On this subject, I could easily be mistaken, but it might be worth a look.

[paul pachowicz]

I guess my point was economics. Why buy another gun? As I said, I wouldn't have any qualms about using the 125 grain on deer at resonable distances and well placed shots.