I am primarily a bowhunter and lack knowledge of the different calibers and need some advice. I am wanting to purchase a deer rifle for two young boys (ages 8 & 11) that will have adequate power to make clean kills yet not produce a tremendous amount of recoil. Is there such a thing? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Calibers such as the 243,257 roberts,25-06,260 and 7mm-08 are all quite mild in recoil and are powerful enough for deer hunting.I would look at a bolt action rifle that is not too light to further reduce recoil.

springgobble, I'll bet you get a bunch of responses to your post. I would suggest a bolt action or single shot rifle in 243 Win, 6mm Rem, 257 Roberts, 30-30, or maybe even 44 Rem Mag, (you can shoot 44 special). Be careful with a single shot, some of them are really light weight and can have a real sharp kick. Another trick that reduces felt recoil is good hearing protection. (If it's not so loud, it doesn't seem to kick as bad.)

for young kids get them a Remington model 7 on a 243. It is a good mid range caliber and has about the same recoil as a .30-30. For young kids that would be my first choice.

Why work when you can hunt???? Heck why work at all!!

I'd go with a short-action.Remington Model 7 or Browning's Micro Hunter A-Bolt in .260,.257,.243 or the 7-08(leaning towards the 7-08).Both of these rifles are wooden stocked so they will absorb more recoil than a synthetic stocked rifle.

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Try a Savage 99 in .250 Savage. Lots of pop for deer, but almost no noticeable recoil for an adult shooter. Should be great for your kids.

I've knocked down 20+ deer in WV with a .222 Savage. Doesn't matter what caliber it is, it still has to be in the right spot.

Remington Model Seven in a .243 was my choice for my son when he first started to hunt...<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Hunt Safe!

Jack

Personal opinion would be a 30-30, my ten year old twin girls have shot my 50 cal smokepole with 100 grains of pyrodex, they were not thrilled with it, but they handled it. They love shooting my model 94 30-30. Every kid is different, but my twins after experiencing the kick of the smokepole have no problem with the model 94.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club