I have seen lots of friends and family use the remington model 7 youth and has worked great and when they get older change to regular model 7 stock and they have a perfect smaller rifle or always keep pasing it down

Wasn't going to push the .223rem/5.56N as a recommendation. Not making any comment about my beliefs on the .223rem effectiveness on deer in general, but for a young hunter that might not have the best trigger control, shot placement, etc I'm not one to recommend the .223rem.

Which isn't to say there aren't other cartridge options in the AR-15 platform, a 6.8SPC AR-15 would make a FANTASTIC youth deer rifle cartridge (or adult for that matter). But again, all of the other reasons that it's not an ideal choice still apply. Even a 16" M4 carbine with a scope can end up in the 8-9lb range (mine is 11lbs including the bipod).

I am using a Rem .260 Mountain rifle for my daughters first big game hunt! It is small and fits her better then other guns I have. She shoots it well and can probably use it the rest of her life without changing much.

The AR platform is limited by the dimensions of the magazine well. A 5.56 AR will take the .204, .223, 6.5 Grendel (rare), 6.8 SPC, or .30 AR. An .308 AR will take the .243, 260, 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-08, .308, and I've even seen them in .300 WSM. .270 and .30-06 are just too long - pure and simple. Also - note that the upper and lower need to match - in other words, you can't pin a longer AR-10 lower to a shorter AR-15 upper, or a shorter AR-15 lower to a longer AR-10 upper to gain the "benefit" of more chambering possibilities as I've seen posts here suggest in the past.

(edit) - I've put my 7-year-old daughter behind an AR carbine recently. It's a sandbag/benchrest proposition for her. Collapsible stock is great, but handguards too wide for her to really hold onto. No way is she carrying it much farther than from the truck to the bench. I've also had her behind a CZ527 Varmint in .223. That combo seemed far more manageable, incorporating a bipod. For some reason, LOP on that stock is shorter than LOP on the other 527 American I have. She's fine with it, but it's even heavier than the AR - and almost as long as she is tall.

Appreciating all the great feedback! I do have a few AR's, and that would definitely be a possibility. I'm just not sure that is what I want her learning on initially. It's not a huge deal, but I'd like to start her on open sights, then go to the scoped bolt-action. After she becomes well adjusted to those, then I would think she would be comfortable enough to go to an AR. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned!(28) I like the thought of not dropping a ton of cash initially on the single-shot jobs. Then, if she doesn't freak out after her first kill... get her a nice youth bolt-action that has the option of an adult stock transition. And I'll always jump at the chance to get a new AR, so if she shoots that at the range and decides she is most comfortable with that, then daddy is getting a new gun!
Thanks again!
Nate

Nate if you worked the guncoutner for 5yrs then surely you noticed the bring backs and problems with the cheap single shots? Do her a favor and buy a QUALITY gun that she can keep for the rest of her life and one day actually let your grandkids kill their first deer with as well. For my boys I bought one the Model 7 youth synthetic. Not the cheap finish ADL 700 crapola Rem now builds but the truly blued, gray synthetic youth mdl 7 that they quit building for some reason! So as it came time for me to buy one for my youngest son (the mdl 7 like my oldest son has was since discontinued) I looked at the market and decided on the Weatherby Vanguard youth. (Both rifles are 243s) Both have 2x7x33 Nikon Monarchs on them and both will be around for the grandkids to hunt with. Both of my boys are now on to bigger rifles but their 243s are still there ready and willing should the need arise!

Somethings you just can't put a pricetag on!
HL

All great points...I too wouldn't recommend the .223 for the same reasons.

243 for a 5 year old? nate where you from?

RR

The AR platform is a soft shooting gun.

A .223 with a well constructed bullet will do the job, if placed right behind the ear.


Some of these young kids "can" shoot.


I like this for a truck gun and will work for kids also.

http://www.ruger.com/products/mini14...le/models.html


My biggest concern is that they are both autoloaders - although maybe just limit the amount of rounds in the magazine to start (safety precaution).

Yeah, the few years that I worked the gun counter, I honestly never had anyone bring back any of the single-shot guns. Not to say they weren't!

Missouri. She's 6 and a pretty big six year old. I wasn't just going to throw her a gun. I was going to work her up to that and see how comfortable she is come November.