MichaelT.

I personally do not like the SKS for deer hunting.

You could get the 30-30, and that would serve him well for years to come. Hornady makes a round called leverevolution for the 30-30 that extends it's effective range out to 250 yards. It is a great round. Start him off with regular 30 -30 ammo, and when he get proficient enough to kill deer at longer range, move him to the Hornady ammo.

OR

Mossberg makes a bolt gun called the ATR 100. It is also available in a youth model, and you can buy one of those new for about 250.00. It is also available in a combo witha scope already mountedfor about 300.00. That is less than most all 30 -30 's except for used guns of course. I bought one last year as a gift for someone, ina .270, and it is a solid rifle. Not full of bells and whistles, and not made with exotic wood ( they are synthetic / blued ) , but a super first rifle beginners or someone just wanting an inexpensive rifle that will do what hey need it to do ...... kill game. They are accurate too. The boy I bought the gun for was absolutely thrilled and he loves that rifle.

MET

IndyHunter83

I've owned but never took the SKS for deer so I really couldn't tell ya on that one. I will however tell you that, like most of the people in this have, I don't like either choice for someone just startin out. I've seen too many careless hunters who think the number of bullets you have will replace good marksmenship. Take a look at the HR Handi-Rifle chambered in a 243 win or 30-06 or something along those lines.The HRs shoot really well andI had mine from age 17-23 and killed over 20 deer with it, the majority of which were 150 yards and out.

RenaissanceBiker

Even with the semi-auto SKS, we are teaching his son to fire just one shot. We started him out with a semi-auto .22 rimfire to teach him the mechanics of shooting. The boy wants to knock one down with one shot like his pa.

whitetaildreamer

I own both. All guns can take down a deer but as a first gun I would say no to the sks. The 30-30 would be the better choice. I started out my first son with a 30-30 and he loved it. The second son I picked up a 7-08 and I believe that it was the perfect cal. for him. If price is a concern then check out the Stevens rifles. I believe that they are a no frills Savage. A friend of mine picked up a Stevens in 7-08 for his son to start out deer hunting with. Real nice piece esp. for the cost.

JagMagMan

X2!

An H&R would be a much better starter gun! Even for a veteran shooter, there are dozens of better choices for hunting than the SKS. With the limited power and poorer accuracy the SKS would not be a good choice for a new hunter!

grs00

The SKS should be a good short range rifle >100 yards in my opinion. There are also 154 grains bullets in addition to 123 grains. Good luck.

isatarak

The SKS would not be my choice. I would pick the 30-30 over it, but a .243 single shot would be a much better choice in my opinion. It has much more long range killing power than either of those two calibers and not bad on the recoil. I had a friend who used an SKS and he was always crippling deer. I think he was trying to over extend the range of the gun.

cropdustersteve

Know a few that use an sks and it seems like they do pretty good with them. Haven't ever lost or had to have help finding them. Wouldn't mind having one myself just to mess with. Price is better than good if the sks is in good shape. Good gun and cheap rounds. All of them that I've priced would be compareable to the price of a 30-30. For $150-$180 you can't lose.

Ed McDonald

A NEF 25-06 Handirifle would be just the ticket !

Mojotex

A bunch of others have my same comment.

The 7.62x39mm round is essentially an under-powered 308 Win. like round. I am probably wrong about this, but I have never seen a "short" magazine for an SKS. The standard "banana clip" is illegal, based upon capacity, in many states.

Frankly I do not care for the SKS as a precision shooter. If I need a multi shot protection rifle for 50-75 yards max, I'll take it. One that is fully operational will flat lay down some fire power. But for precision 150-250 yards kill shots ... not my choice from what I have seen. My experience at the range has clearly shown that the SKS design "sloppy" and the quality varies all over the bard. I have probably shot 35-40 different SKS's over the years. Some were OTB and some pretty well worn out. Some shot OK, many shot terrible. New ones included.

Frankly I will not recommend this rifle for deer hunting. Especially for a kid's introduction to high velocity, center fire in 25 cal. or greater. Semi auto rifles are relatively complex things. For that matter, the Winchester 94 and Marlin 336 lever action 30/30 Win. designs, especially the older ones which relied wholly on the "half-cock" safety, are not much simpler. Inexperienced shooters and "complex" don't mix well in my book.

If I were you, I'd buy him something like an NEF "Handi-Rifle" in somehting like 308 Win., 7mm/08 Rem., or 243 Win. These are usually decent shooters, inexpensive, and about as simple as it gets. Plus there is not possibility of a mindset of "spray and pray" setting in with a single shot. Mount a decent 4X scope and then you'd have something I'd go along with. You can get a fair scope for about $150 and still not have more than about $325 in the whole set up. I know that is more than a $100 SKS, but ... that is the way I'd go.

Just an opinion.