RE: Deer Gun for 8 year old
(if i re-state anything, i'm sorry)
Savagearms dotcomhas a few .243's with non-removable muzzlebreaks. they claim it reduces the felt recoil by 30%. I'd also invest in a good recoil pad (Limbsaver is one of my favorites)
and I agree with "liquidorange" noise scares kids. when I was younger I remember hating how loud guns were.(dad's 12ga. comes to mind.) However, I wasn't wearing hearing protection while in the field.