Best gun for kids!
 

My boy turns nine in a few weeks and I'm looking for a good deer gun for him. I want something that'll last him a while but also one that will be easy for him to handle. Any suggestions?

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

If you want a shot gun I'd say a Remington 870 youth deer gun 20 ga.

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

heck in texas a good old 243 never failed great for deer to 200 yards not to mention great for varmints too. deerslayer obviously never hunted in texas recommending a slug gun

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

Thank you for the for pointing that out.

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

.243

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

hey right on deer slayer, yea in ohio I think a 45-70 or a slug gun would be my choices especially around toledo.

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

A Remington Model 7 in 7mm08 would fit the bill nicely, and will work well on hogs too (since you are obviously from Texas) My 7mm08 hardly kicks at all, barely even noticable, and I've been shooting it since I was 8, so it should fit him fine.

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

250 savage or 257 Roberts.

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

The 7mm-08 Rem is a good suggestion, but make sure the rifle isn't too light or there will be noticeable recoil with a 140 grain load. I have a Ruger 77 Mk II Lightweight and I can tell when it goes off. Now using a 120 grain bullet would help. I would also look into the 260 Rem as it is a fine compromise between the 243 Win and the 7mm-08 Rem. The 250 Savage and the 257 Roberts were mentioned and while not widely used anymore these are both fine deer cartridges with mild recoil. The 243 Win is nothing to sneeze at either when it comes to killing deer and it too can be had in several youth model guns.

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

You know with the recoil reduced ammo out there and the bunch of reloading data, I think anything from the 308win to 270win or 30-06 will work fine. I got my nephew shooting a 700ADL 270win with some low power loads from Hodgdon's website and he is haveing a blast. Also I had a old junk stock modified and a real nice recoil pad put on. He is already wanting the full power stuff. But he ain't ready for that yet. He is 10. In a year or two, I will suggest to my brother to change out the stock and put him with some IMR4350 55gr loads with 130gr bullets. But right now we are working on keeping the bullets in the vitals at 50 yards.

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

Bigcountry...Are you happy with the low-power loads?

I was going to pick up a small caliber rifle for my wife, but I have a Rem 760 in 270 that would be perfect...but it does have some recoil for a small woman.

How much did the low power ammo affect elevation at say 100yds?

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

Being in Texas you will be able to use a rifle. I picked up a used rem Model 7 in a .260 for my 6 and 10 year old boys to shoot. It fits the bigger boy great and the younger one can manage OK too. Both each took an 8pt. and a doe last fall.
This gun had some trigger work and porting done. The trigger work is great but the porting makes it REAL loud in a stand, protect those ears well.:)

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

Thanks for the quick responses. Looks like I've got some comparison shopping to do!

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

How about one of those cut-stock Marlins in .30-30? My wife is very petite (5' on her tiptoes) and doesn't like recoil, but she handles a .30-30 pretty well.

Or a Marlin 1894C in .357 magnum? No recoil to speak of, and just so darned cute! (You may not want the kiddoes to have it, though, 'cause they're so much fun you'll want it for yourself.)

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

Do you handload? If you do, I'd say there is no better bore for starters than the .264 and no better cartridge than the 6.5 X 55.....IF YOU HANDLOAD.
You can load the 6.5 Swede cartridge down to fairly small pellets for varmints, and the twist on the Swede and the cartridge capacity will easily handle 160 grain bullets with plenty of velocity for reaching out and killing fairly large game at significant distances. This would make the 6.5 cartridge a lifetime purchase instead of a stepping stone rifle. You may have to start with a cut-down stock though for a 9 yr old.

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

Good calibers are 243,6mm, 250savage,257roberts,260rem,7mm-08. Good models are rem-600,660,7, also browning makes nice lever guns as well as the savage 99lever gun. There are others that are fine also, these are just the ones I like.

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

I went with a Ruger Carbine chambered in a 44 Mag for my kid. Gun weight is about 6 -61/2lbs and the gun is small enough for even the smallest of kids. The gun had no recoil to speak of and he can practice with a Ruger 10/22 and it is basically the same gun. The gun shoots fine out to 100 yards.

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

Here's my suggestion: Marlin 336Y Spikehorn .30-30 or 1894 in .44mag. I'm not an overly tall guy, 5'11", 175#, my lil'lady brought me a .30-30 home the last week overall length is 34", bbl is 16", GREAT accuracy, it's a little short on pull, but it's a youth model, what should I expect, but since it's so small overall, you don't notice the short pull (better than long anyway!!!).

The 1894's are great, I don't know that there is a shorter youth version, but shortening a stock is easy, and they're really short anyway 37" so they balance very well. The .44mag isn't necessarily a beginners cartridge in most peoples eyes, however, as far as field performance goes, it's every bit as potent as the .30-30 (and occasionally even surpasses it on paper too!)

Although my hatred for winchester 94's makes me wish I couldn't say this, but they've got a 94 Trapper in .30-30 that would work well (DO NOT GET A WINCHESTER PISTOL CALIBER 94!!!!!), I owned one for a while in .30-30 and loved it, but my hatred for winchester leverguns forced it out of the house.

Leveractions are great beginners guns, and they're more fun to shoot, not to mention how mild they are on the shoulder in .30-30 and .44mag, they're light, compact, and every bit as deadly as their bolt action brothers

Otherwise a .243 NEF single shot would be good, teaches discipline and accuracy, and they're cheap enough that if he drops it in the mud, who cares?

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

Another vote for the .257 Roberts. I wish I had one for myself. Hornady makes factory ammo, so does Remington.

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

Proline, it only affected drop about 1" or less at 100 yards. Only dropped velocity about 200fps, but with the ligher bullet and that drop, the recoil was like in half and with the energy of a decent 243 but bigger bore. He hasn't dropped a deer yet with it. Hopefully my brother will be giving him the opportunity this year. I think its a great idea. He has no business taking shots over 50 yards yet. I took him out shooting this weekend with a 204 and 22LR. He was having trouble freehanded. Told him, he needs to be able to hit the vitals 5 times at 50 yards sitting down, and then maybe.

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

I think .257 Roberts, .243 or 7mm-08 would all work good.

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

BEST GUN... keeping in mind the proper caliber, you have seen several suggestions, IMO the best gun is the H&R/NEF single shot. ONE bullet to keep track of, not a lever or even a clip to confuse. This is a young person, In my opinion, the simpler the better. Both my grandson's use the youth version. Both guns have recoil pads and mild calibers, one is a 30-30 the other a .243. Both are scoped and short (handy in a box blind).:eek:

RE: Best gun for kids!
 

Thanks for all the great advise. We're going out this weekend and shoot the .243 to see how it fits. I'm taking along a 30-30 as well.

He currently handles his .410 well and neither of those recoil much harder. Might give those new bullets a try that are loaded for reduced recoil. I heard they are making a version for the 243 that'll reduce the recoil by up to 40%.

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I agree, etw. NEF/H&R would make a great kid rifle- not too bad for grown-ups, either. I plan to hand my H&R down to my sons when they get old enough to hunt. Then I have a built in excuse to buy a new one! Now if we can just talk NEF into making a .257 Roberts barrell. Should we start a campign letter?