Iam wanting to git my son a ML for next year what do you guys think. He is 11 and about 80 pounds so recoil will be a issue.

probably a cva wolf or even a cabelas hawken carbine.

I second the CVA Wolf. Great little gun.

I'm pretty sure i seen the wolf at the cabelas site in the bargin bin
if you are looking to buy right now

I would say the Wolf for sure. I don't find thata muzzleloader kicks that much with 80-100 grains of powder, so if he has shot a 20ga shotgun or a reg. rifle caliber, you should be fine.

Sorry to disagree with the rest of the Wolf clan, but I would want my son to learn the basics first. I would want him to shoot Pyrodex RS or even black powder. And with moderate projectiles the recoil would be light. Since recoil is a factor, I would look at some of the youth model rifles or a traditional rifle. All too often the traditional rifles are over looked.

If your determined for an inline the Wolf would be considered, but I would also look at a Knight Wolverine Youth model. While it is older technology, it would be hard to find a better shooting more dependable rifle for your son.

If traditional is your thing, look for a Traditions .50 caliber Woodsman Hawkins. They are not a heavy rifle or overly large rifle, but because of the excellent stock they soak up recoil beautiful. Loaded for roundball, it would be a perfect 75 yards and under rifle that your son could learn on and treasure all his life.Because of the 1-48 twist, mine will also shoot powerbelts and can be loaded up to stronger charges, as your son gets bigger.

There will always be inline rifles out there. Traditional rifles will become harder to find I believe. Plus a traditional rifle will really works a young man's imagination and desire to shoot and hunt.

I taught all of mine on 45 cal Traditional either Hawken or under hammers. Lee

I don't know if you want low cost also, but you can shoot very light loads with a Savage and get excellent performance out to 100 with lighter bullets. I have heard of like 35g of 5744 behind a 200g XTP or 200g Shockwave or a 195g Barnes is a very manageable load for a youth. Also a hawken or renegade in percussion would be excellent. An Omega is great also, since there is no safety to mess wth and pulling the hammer backs cocks the gun. Best Wishes for your new Huntin buddy, it is the great thrill of life in my opinion, giving your son a love of God and a love of the outdoors.
Chap

overall length is a huge issue. My 13 year old nephew had a hard time shoulder my optima and omega. Something compact and light weight is what he needs.

We used to have weekend shoots at a cabin back in the woods and all the guys would bring their kids. We had some very small young men shooting Renegades, Hawkins, Kentucky long rifles, Bobcats, and a Cabela's Hawkins. All we did was load them down with a patched ball and let the kids use a shooting stick or the rail of the porch and they were blasting away all afternoon.

Actually those were good times. We taught them gun safety and were encouraged by all the parents that if we caught their child doing anything even remotely dangerous to reprimand them in a stern manner. Also we taught them how to shoot, how to load, how to solve problems, funny thing is most of them kids still hunt with traditional rifles today.

Then we had a big cook out.. those were the good days.