My son is 8 years old and is pretty small in stature. He shoots an NEF .243 win. I load reduced loads and the recoil is VERY light. 21 grs. of IMR-4198 under a 85 gr speer SP. It gets about 2100 fps and works very well inside 100 yds. (Personal limit) It scored him his first deer this year. No buffer material is needed. Groups of 1 1/2-2 inches normal at 100 yds.