steve25

I am thinking of getting my youngest son a rifle for deer hunting and I have decided not to get him a youth gun. I have two rifles I am thinking about right now one is an SKS that is in really good shape and the other is a .30-.30. I have never owned either of these guns so I know very little about them other than the SKS I am looking at has a similar cal. as the .30-.30. He will problaly only use it 2 years then I will get him a new gun if he wants one. My problem with the .30-.30 is the price and the guy will not letmy sonshoot it. The SKS the guy that has it will let him shoot it and the price is going to be between $100-$125.

coryj

I've never used an SKS myself, but I know people who have used them successfully for deer. Don't really follow SKS sells, but seems like a decent price. Have your boy shoot it and see how he likes it.

wis_bow_huntr

i used to own an sks and shoot it religously, sure it will take a deer down but i dont recomend using them on deer, they are a great vermint rifle though for coyotes

timbercruiser

I had rather have a H&R or other lower cost breech load in a .243 for a youngster starting out. Good choice of different ammo, low recoil. Top it with a nice scope you can change to their next rifle.

Paul L Mohr

I'd take the 30-30 myself to be honest. I have owned a few SKS's and a AK variant that shot the 7.62x39 rounds. It's a decent round and similar to the 30-30 but I feel the 30-30 is better. As far as hunting rounds go it will be easier to get them 30-30 probably because of it's popularity. DON'T hunt with the cheap surplus ammo you find for the SKS's, you need a premium hunting bullet so it will cost you just as much most likely, if not a tad more depending on where you shop.

Chances are the 30-30 will be more accurate as well, SKS and AK's are not known for their excellent accuracy. The two SKS's I owned were not bad especially with premium ammo, and the AK was horrible. However they were not as good as a decent lever gun or bolt action.

Not trying to tell you not go get one, because they are fun gun to shoot. I sort of wish I would have kept my last one. And it might fit him better considering most have fairly short stocks. Just that if your goal is hunting I would opt for the 30-30 instead. Or like said above a H&R in .243 or something similar.

Just my opinions though, and nothing more. A SKS with the proper bullets will for sure kill deer if it shoots well enough.

Paul

Bowtech 360

I forget how much ammo an SKS hols but in NY you cant hunt with a semi auto that hold more then 6 shots. But an SKS is a solid gun.

Pierce Pepin

I'm not a fan of either of those options. Having shot and owned both of them I would suggest a bolt action rifle for a first hunting gun. The semi-auto generally doen't promote the best first shot placment. The 30-30 is an good gun but how about something in a lower recoil round like a 7-08, or .243 ? I have taken over 30 deer with the .243. If you want a larger bullet go with the -08.

If you don't like those options. What about a nice .270 and use the managed recoil ammo by federal http://www.chuckhawks.com/federal_low_recoil.htm I've shot it and it's about the same as a .243 for recoil. Then your son can continue to use it for everything from Whitetail, Mulies, Elk, etc. It's a great investment in any type of hunting. You can pick up a good used .270 fairly inexpensively with a scope mounted on it and case.

I hope he has good luck this fall!

RenaissanceBiker

My hunting buddy just bought one for hisson (9)to hunt with. We put a camo synthetic stock on it and a scope. We'll be taking it to the range next weekend (or the one after that) to sight it in. I'll let you know how that goes.

Seif5034

I use a SKS for deer hunting. I only shoot soft pointwhen hunting just to be safe. you do need to make sure the capacity of the gun is legal. In Michigan we can have 6 shots in the magazine and barrel combined so we need a 5-shot magazine or smaller.

http://www.tapco.com/catalog.aspx?id=225here's a link to the best sks magazines on the market In my opinion.

Ed McDonald

Get him a single shot rifle . Teach him to be a marksman rather than someone who can pull a trigger fast ........