Kid friendly caliber

[Cliff Dog]

I started all my kids with Remington 700 youth model 243 bolt guns. 2 daughters and a son. They are in their late 20's and still love their rifles. The guns are short framed, good triggers, not much recoil, and always short recoveries.

[cehorn]

I would get a 7mm-08 and start them with reduced loads that they sell factory made and then slowly go into regular load. 10 year old show handle the regular I think. Enjoy the ride.

I agree on the grendel in AR for kids. Nothing better with adjustability for all sizes, light recoil, knockdown power, etc.

If I was to go with a bolt rifle I would hands down get a 7mm-08 and shoot reduced recoil. My kids have killed many deer with this combination and just about all of them say it kicks less than the AR (which doesn't kick). My wife loved the round so much that is what she got for her birthday last year and she is shooting regular rounds. It flat out does the job.

[sectxag06]

Suppressed bolt gun.

[Chad C]

I started my son off at 8 with a Ruger Ranch .300 blackout. First deer, no blood trail, hammered the shoulder, dead 40 yards. Second deer, high shoulder, lived for several months, found dead. Third deer, high shoulder/spine, dropped on contact. Fourth, same as third. Fifth, perfect heart shot, light blood trail, dropped in sight at around 50 yards. Sixth, high shoulder, double lung, no blood, dead 60-70 yards, difficult track.

With all that being said, it's all about shot placement. When he made great shots with that round, they went down in hurry, but typically lacked blood on the ground.

He has since switched to the suppressed .308 and smoked two nice bucks to end the season.

Furthermore...

If I had it to do all over again, which I'm about to with my daughter. Id go with 6.5 Grendel in the AR platform or Compact 7mm-08 shooting reduced recoil rounds.

She doesn't know it yet, but there is a muddy girl camo youth 7mm-08 sitting in the safe waiting on glass.

[TheHammer]

.243 or a .270.

[ElfEyes]

Yeah that’s odd, like impossible for a cartridge that burns 10+ grains less powder to have more recoil.


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Not according to the Chuck hawks recoil table. It was my first AR as stated. I'm not sure it wasn't over gased for reliability or what but my coworker I traded the gun to also commented on it. What's your recoil table look like on cartridges so I can plan ahead for next time?

[tigerscowboy]

For a possible reference...

My youngest is almost 11yrs and weighs 70lbs.

He has shot 223 bolt, 6mm bolt, 9mm auto, and a 357 Mag revolver. His favorite is the 357. He doesn't even shoot very often with everything else he's into.

[Dale Moser]

I'm pretty sure him and pigeon toed assassin hunt with fusions but I know he's tried hornady black too. Maybe im the odd ball but I bought my first AR last year in grendel for my little boy to hunt with and that dang gun had some kick too it. More than the 243 I had so that's the route we went

I have a couple boxes of the fusions, I’ll have to open them up and do some research.


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[Walker]

Let me give one bit of advice from raising 3 kids and I'm working on 3 grand kids right not. Simple, keep those kids off the practice range with centerfire cartridges. They will not notice recoil when shooting at live animals unless you go big as in 30-06. If you must shoot at the range use a 22 rimfire.

[Dale Moser]

Let me give one bit of advice from raising 3 kids and I'm working on 3 grand kids right not. Simple, keep those kids off the practice range with centerfire cartridges. They will not notice recoil when shooting at live animals unless you go big as in 30-06. If you must shoot at the range use a 22 rimfire.

Our kids shoot a TON with the .22s. We have a little bench at camp and a small 85yd range. They load their own mags, make the rifle ready, shoot 10 rds, make the rifle safe, and hand it off to the next shooter. They have competitions, blow up coke cans, and talk a lot of trash. Invaluable time behind the rifle, IMO.


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[TX03RUBI]

Let me give one bit of advice from raising 3 kids and I'm working on 3 grand kids right not. Simple, keep those kids off the practice range with centerfire cartridges. They will not notice recoil when shooting at live animals unless you go big as in 30-06. If you must shoot at the range use a 22 rimfire.

My 6 yr old nephew will burn through a couple boxes of 6 Creed at a time making headshots only on a silhouette at 125 yds lol it’s pretty light recoiling and suppressed though. I’m probably going to drop a Bergara 22 barreled action into the Manners CS stock I ordered for my boy for the first few years, and then let him start on the 6 once he’s old enough though.

[kkp005]

I started my son off at 8 with a Ruger Ranch .300 blackout. First deer, no blood trail, hammered the shoulder, dead 40 yards. Second deer, high shoulder, lived for several months, found dead. Third deer, high shoulder/spine, dropped on contact. Fourth, same as third. Fifth, perfect heart shot, light blood trail, dropped in sight at around 50 yards. Sixth, high shoulder, double lung, no blood, dead 60-70 yards, difficult track.

With all that being said, it's all about shot placement. When he made great shots with that round, they went down in hurry, but typically lacked blood on the ground.

He has since switched to the suppressed .308 and smoked two nice bucks to end the season.

Furthermore...

If I had it to do all over again, which I'm about to with my daughter. Id go with 6.5 Grendel in the AR platform or Compact 7mm-08 shooting reduced recoil rounds.

She doesn't know it yet, but there is a muddy girl camo youth 7mm-08 sitting in the safe waiting on glass.

What 300blk bullet were you using ?

[Bear Charge]

All of mine got .243s for their eighth birthday.

[Chad C]

What 300blk bullet were you using ?

Barnes 110 Tac-Tx. It's a great round when shot placement is at it's best (but, that goes for all calibers).

[Milkfisher]

I was shooting a Grendel before the Grendal was cool. My boys wore out the deer and pigs with that gun. I loaned it to another buddy of mine for his boy as well. It’s as good as it gets in an AR platform for small kids.