i started with a 308.....but i was around guns and shooting my whole life....recoil didnt bother me one bit...started shooting a 12ga at backyard trap at 10 or 11....and squirrel hunted with a 20ga 3inch mag turkey loads when i was 12...correct shooting form and everything makes a big diffrence on what the shooter feels....you have that stock positioned wrong and its going to whack the shooter worse then if its planted right....i guess i was a little bigger then most 12yr olds too...just started to beef up around then...but i was about average sized...i was shooting a full sized winchester 88 that year.....and if it wasnt passed down from my grandfather i could still be shooting it.....its in the closet now....too pretty of a rifle to beat up every day hunting...and price keeps going up......but it took thatfirst deer down like a champ...a 308 is a versitale caliber and can even be loaded down tofit a kid....and he can use real loads as he grows.....alot of managed recoil loads on the market too now...i think they are great...buy a kid a 308 with them at first...and he wont need another rifle....