Night Hawk 223 has said that he is working on a tight budget, it wouldn't cost much to shorten the pull of the .410 and put a good recoil pad on it. I think OldElkHunter has a good point also I think you can pick one of those NEF rifles up still for under $200. A smaller caliber and possibly reduced loads. It's tough when on such a tight budget, been there myself.

Unless your going to let him shoot at stuff with the pellet rifle ,I would let him carry the gun that he is going to hunt with unloaded and practice bring it to his shoulder and aiming it to quicken his reflexes .You could also bring some ammo for it and if the oppertunity arose for him to be able to take a shot that you both felt comfortable with, you could load the gun and he could take the shot.

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My son carried a B-B gun with him on the last few hunts that we went on, before he took his first deer with his moms 243.

The 243 is a Ruger Compact SS Lam. Stock. Neat little rifle. I would have him practice with the muzzle brake on then when we took it to the stand I took the brake off and put the thread protector on. He never knew the differance.

By the way. My son is 9 years old and may weigh 58 pounds.

Just my two cents.
hunter338

ok my dad cut 2" off the stock of his 410 and insalled a 1" but pad it fits him great now! i also bought him some 2 3/4 shells. because i relized all i had was 3" mags. now he is happy with it and i am going to take him rabbit hunting tomarow. with his custom fit 410 i will let you all know how it goes when we get back. and thanks agian for every ones help and imput and i hope all of you heve a great xmas

NH123,

Great idea on th .410. I hope it works. I have one of those old singles and I think that it hurts like a MOFO when I shoot it. It's worse than shooting turkey loads out of my semiauto. It is so light and sharp kicking that I rarely shoot it. I think those old single shots are just like getting hit with a fence post.

I would look at the Savage Acutrigger .243 for the young lad. I belive that the trigger will help him be accurate. Buy the heaviest one that he can carry. It will greatly reduce the felt recoil and he will grow into it.

Then check out some low velocity ammo. Try to find a good 90gr load and don't worry about long shots over 150 yards. He may want to keep the range closer than that anyways.

Heavy rifle+lower power ammo+good but pad+practice= good shooting.

Merry Christmas!

A lot of good advice was proffered. Personally, I'd stay away from the brakes after my own experience which resulted in my losing some hearing in my left ear due to the directed muzzle blast (even while I was wearing muffs and plugs).