You didn't tell us how big your boy is.

Have him try out your deer rifle and see how he reacts to it. If the recoil bothers him then get the smallest round for him. If he develops a fear of recoil, then he will also develop other bad habits in shooting.

If he is a stout boy like I was at that age, then the 7mm-08 or .270 will be fine for him.

Another option is to get one of the larger calibers and then add an aftermarket recoil pad if necessary. These usually reduce the recoil a fair amount.

Personally, I would worry about the fit of the rifle first and then worry about the caliber. Go to a gun shop that has a large selection of rifles and have him bring it to his shoulder. Ask him which one feels better, comes up to a shooting position better, etc.. Once you have done that then see what calibers are available. The .243 and .270 run neck and neck as to the popularity of the three calibers mentioned. The 7mm-08 is rarer and will be more difficult to find shells for.

Good luck!
Matt

Another round to throw into consideration: the .25-06.

I agree! I shoot one and so does my son who just happens to be 13. It shoots flat, fast, and hits hard with light recoil and kills deer like lighting. Excellent deer caliber!

Hes 120 pounds and of the 12 gauge the 16 gauge and the 20 gauge none of them bother him but he doesnt shoot deer rifles very often at all thats why im gonna get him a gun and i dont hunt at all but i love target shooting but he LOVES hunting

If he can handle the recoil of a 12 guage then get him a .270

Get the 7mm08 or 270. That way he will never have to upgrade unless he wishes to. Either will handle All North American game. The exception would be the great Bears. I would want a 375 H7H or 416 Rem mag for them critters. Even though the 30-06 has taken a bunch of them as well.

Yeah but i was thinking of buying him a NEF .243 handi-rifle then when he gets older get him a .308 barrel or 270

If he can handle a 12 gauge any of the 3 will be in his recoil range. I think I'd look at a 7mm 08 first off as it will produce less recoil but offer lots of future considerations, the 270 would be ok as well but will produce the most push. Error on the side of caution with the 7mm 08 allowing him less recoil and really little need to grow out of it as it is plenty capable of deer hunting and will handle bigger game as well.

The 308 might be another consideration, ime it offers no more recoil than a 270. I started with a 308 at 11 weighed about the same and had no problems.

If you can get your hands on few and let him take a couple shoots you might be able to get a better idea.

Good Luck

jdeerhunter270 , I wasn'taware you had the rifle picked out when I posted about the new Remingtons. NEF makes a youth model in 7mm-08 as well as the .243. My son has the youth model in .243 and in skilled hands ( my wifes ...she's not much taller than him) the gun will group 3 rounds inside one of those inch squares on a sighting in target. I saved the target and if I can figure how to post a pic I'll post a copy of it .. I was impressed.

.243, 6mm, .260, and 7-08 are some of the calibers that the young and adult female members of my family have hunted with. Right now the wife has a sweet Savage youth model .243, and my son still hunts with the Rem. model 7 in 7-08 that he had when he was just getting into the deer hunting, except now he bought the full sized stock to replace the short "youth" stock that it came with. These are all good deer killers, and the 7-08 is also a good bear killer!

I'm also thinking about getting a rifle for a young shooter and was pretty much sold on the .243 until I just read about the 7-08 some of you are touting.

How do the ballistics compare to the .243?

My concern with the .243 is that I have to buy a larger caliber for bigger game. Recomendations?