My father in law just recently had given my son an older (Stevens) single shot 20ga. He shots it fairly well, my question is what cal. rifle would come in about the same recoil as it. He (my son) says it has a little push/kick but isnt bad. I want to get him a rifle for himself, but dont want to 'over do it'. Primarily for deer. Thanks for any in sight in advance.
-he is 11 (will be in oct. )

jonesin, i would sugguest a remington model 7 in 260, 7mm-08, i bought my wife one, she pretty small framed, in the 260 version my 11 year old grandson will shoot it all day long, it is a real pleasure to shoot, when i went looking i was going fotr the -08, but couldn't find one anywhere w/o ordering, bought this gun from a friend and i'd buy another in a heartbeat...

A 20 Gauge slug will produce 30 + lbs of recoil in a 7.5 pound gun depending on the specific load. That is higher than most 30-06 rifles even light ones. I would get the kid an 06 and start him out on the federal or remington low recoil loads.
These cartridges have ballistics equal to the 30-30 and are effective to approx 175 yards on whitetails. Keep in mind that most 06s are heavier than the 30-30 lever actions typically used in that cartridge and recoil should be nill.
This way the kid will have a gun he can get the full performance from when he can handle it. It seems like not many hunt with the first gun their father got them because they feel it is under powered once they are grown up and can handle more recoil.

How would recoil amount be figured forrem. model 700 in .308, using 150grn win power point shells?

See the attached link, just fill in the blanks leave the sabot box empty. A 308 will hold approx 47 grains of powder and no adjustment is needed.


http://www.biggameinfo.com/RecoilCalc.aspx

It should give a pretty good idea of one cartridge vs another.

wow, came up with 20.4. cool. interesting to know. thnks for link.

This may be just me, but I find shotgun recoil and rifle recoil to be two completely different animals regardless of the numbers. I can fire a 12 ga loaded with fairly heavy game loads all day and only feel the slightest bit of tenderness in the shoulder. 20 rounds from a 30-06 class rifle(especially one with a hard metal or wood buttplate) will leave my shoulder purple. I've never been able to figure out why this is, but I speculate that it's recoil velocity and not energy that causes pain. As far as selecting a first deer rifle for an 11 year old, that depends largely on the build and recoil sensitivity of the individual. Personally, I hate rifle recoil, so I'm a fan of the Swedish Mauser (6.5x55mm). The .260 Rem, 7mm-08, are in the same class both recoil and performance wise. Anyone who can handle sustained fire with a 20 ga will likely be comfortable with the above rounds.

we went out yesterday afternoon, and fired a few rounds, the last one wasnt his best[]-butt had moved, i didnt notice that my son had moved the gun, needless to say that one he said hurt a little, --lil ouch--Thnks for the insight on differant cals. I know exactly what your saying about the differance, my dad had a older single shot 12ga. that kicked like a mule, my 7mm mag, other then being exteremly loud is a breeze to shoot. (little exspensive just for plinking ) As for smaller cals i'm a little lost, I dont have experience shooting them.-hence asking all, what might suitable for a young beginer. Thnks.

The .243 is very popular with youth and women hunters for deer sized game. The other chioces are good as well. It is also excellent on smaller game because it shoots pretty flat.

Sometimes it really depends on the weight and design of the rilfe. I had a savage 110E in 30-06 when I was a teenager and weighed like 90 pounds. It spun me around a little when I shot it, but nothing I couldn't live with. I would say slightly worse than my H&R 20 gauge with 3 inch magnum field loads (those shotguns are pretty light).

Now I bought a remington carbine pump for my step father (7400?). I think it was the one they discontinued and then brought back. This was also a 30-06 but a shorter prettier gun than my savage. Totallly different animal! I hated shooting it pure and simple. It kicked so hard it made my teeth hurt and I would rack another shell from the recoil. The only thing I have shot that is comparable would a be a 3 1/2 magnum turkey load out of an 870.

I also had a 8 mm mauser (military) that was very easy to shoot, and that is simular to a -06 as well from what I understand. I think it really depends on the weight and design of the rifle.

Paul