Youth rifle

[cz52man]

It does on the Rossi. That gun is HEAVY!

[Kuller]

7mm-08 100 grain bullet

This is what I would choose.

[Yelladog]

Bought my son the browning micro hunter 22-250. I hunt with it as much as he does great shooting rifle. The 55 or 60 grn game kings do a great job on whitetail. Deer and turkey in my avatar were killed with it bout 30min apart.

[Jaybo31]

Iam leaning to the 243 and trying the redused recoil loads Hornady makes. One question does the bull barrel make a bunch of differance in the recoil?

YES. The H&R we have has no kick just a little jump in the barrel. It is a loud little sucker though.

[Brazman]

I would echo the advice about buying a larger caliber rifle, one that would serve him/her well into their teens and on up into adulthood, and start them out shooting managed recoil ammo. Remington makes a managed recoil round, and apparently Hornady does too, now. I've heard good things about them. Then, when you/they think they're ready when older, jack in a regular round and see what they think. If they're comfortable with the gun and recognize it as "theirs", I would think that would easier than swapping guns every few years. The rifle can grow as they grow.

[esp]

I started my son out with a Marlin 357 lever action with hand loads loaded with XTP bullets.It was a tack driver out to 100yds,no recoil,and dropped every deer in its tracks.

[ELKAHOLIC]

Iam leaning to the 243 and trying the redused recoil loads Hornady makes. One question does the bull barrel make a bunch of differance in the recoil?

Take a look at the 7mm 08 and 243 bullets side by side. then consider the 7mm 08 only has about 2 lbs more kick. this helped me make my decision.
They make a low recoil 7mm 08 round also. I tried to find some but couldn't so I got the regular ammo. Both my 7 and 9 year old girls hunt with it along with my wife.
none of them said a word about the recoil and all 3 were driving tacks.

[iamntxhunter]

I say skip the bull/heavy barrel and put a limbsaver recoil pad on it. It will reduce the felt recoil by close to half and just for the record my buddy bought a Rossi a few years ago and it was a piece of junk literally. Stay with the major well known brands and calibers and use the reduced recoil factory loads.

[Matt_C]

This is the way to go!

My son shoots an H&R .243. Sweet little gun. Has the bull barrel so there is hardly no kick.

http://www.hr1871.com/Firearms/Rifles/youth.asp

My .02 cents, this is the way to go.

[misson1]

My daughter was 8 when she shot her first deer remington700. 243