Youth .243 options

[leechlake]

I was in your same position a few years ago. I'm kind of a Remington rifle fan but I bought my son a Savage Youth rifle .243 at the time, it's really accurate. My son was ten and he shot the rifle a few times here and there and everything seemed fine. I had bought him a Caldwell Sled Bed rest so he could practice with basically no recoil and gain confidence with the help of the Sled Beds accuracy. My mistake, but he seemed fine without using the Sled Bed and we never actually used it.

Long story short first deer hunt when he finally got the chance to shoot, he was scared to death to pull the trigger. I never would have imagined it, he had shot the gun for two years a few times, but obviously I dropped the ball and he didn't shoot it enough.

So the next Summer we brought out the sled bed and after he finally got the nerve to pull the trigger the first time he was hooked on shooting that rifle. No fear, really tight groups, and a kid excited again about deer hunting. He even did a project when school started on something he was an "expert" on and it was titled Shooting a Deer Rifle.

Looks like your getting a lot of opinions on rifles and calibers, I would stress that that is important (weight of rifle, managed recoil, milder calibers)making the practice sessions a thing he enjoys rather than fears is really important. I always figured that the adrenaline pumping at shooting at a real deer would overcome any fears...I was wrong and it made for a frustrating three days for me and my son. We ended up starting over again and now he's an "expert" and we're both truly looking forward to November.

Also, I'd steer clear of a lever action, my favorite is a Browning BLR in .308. I wouldn't want a kid cocking the thing and then attempting to uncock it, too hard for a kid. The Savage has a three position safety which I also like so he can unload with it on safe. I've never liked even adults having to take the gun off safe to unload.

[harvey lee]

Not a used one, but Howa makes a bolt action youth rifle that comes a youth stock and an adult stock. This gun will have a 3-postion safety. They are good functional rifles that won't hurt the budget too much. I have a Howa 1500 in 308 and really like it. The stock is built by Hogue. It is kind "rubberized" so it does not slip easily. It also has one of those "squishy" recoil pads. I assume the youth model would be the same.

I had the chance to shoot a Howa this past weekend in a 243 cal. Nice gun for sure.

I use to think that a .243 was not enough of a load for deer until I used one for 2 seasons. No issues kicking the you know what out of the deer. Both dropped pretty fast.

[looneyducer]

I'd look at a post 64 Winchester 88. It's a lever gun, so it's fine as-is for left handers. It's most commonly calibered in .243. Many of them shoot quite well, though they can have a pretty goddawful trigger. You can get into one in nice shape for between 400 and 500, and since it's an "old" Winchester, you are unlikely to lose any money on it, so long as it's treated well.

[nonteepical]

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[swamptiger]

The new Savage Edge comes in a couple of youth models also. I've seen the regular Edge models advertised for under $300, complete with a scope.

As with any new model, you would want to check it over carefully before buying. A couple of things I saw when reading the reviews on the Edge is that the clip is made of some type of plastic, and the recoil lug is installed in the stock, rather than welded onto the barrel. Whether these points will be a problem or not remains to be seen. There have been several entry level rifles introduced in recent years, and some of them have turned out to be good buys. I know the Stevens 200 is a good rifle for the money and also the Marlin XL-7 and XS-7. Hopefully Savage has not cut too many corners on the Edge.