Deer hunting gun for my kid?

[BornAgainBullseye]

.270 is a little stout for a teenaged girl. .243 she will enjoy to shoot without flinching to the recoil. Look at the savage model 10, 12, or 16. They can be had for basement prices and are very accurate.

 

[scythefwd]

bornagainbullseye,
that might be an understatement. A .270 with an identical weight round will kick as much as a .30-06 will with the same weight projectile. Say both shot a 150 gr bullet, both guns weight 7.5 lbs, both will kick right about the same (even have very similar velocities on that round). I have an old .30-30 bolt that is very mild, and I hear shawnee rave about the .243 all day long. Both have similar recoil according to the recoil calculators I have seen so either would be a good round. They will take a deer out to 200y with proper shot placement.

 

[twoclones]

Well, I took the future deer hunter to her first turkey shoot this weekend. It was 22 rimfire rifles only and she won 2 turkeys with a borrowed rifle. LOL

Shopping 243s for her.

 

[mod700]

i've seen my little sister and another kid we've taken hunting take their first deer with a 243 bolt action.....little recoil, plenty of power,accurate round, and dead deer.

 

[Ty7940]

.30-06

I personally think a Remington 742 Woodsmaster in .30-06 would be a good gun, the kick on it would be a little harsh for a 13 year old girl but it is definitely bearable. Not to mention, the sights on it are amazing and if you hit the deer, it's going down! Just my $0.02 worth

 

[B BRI]

I'd recommend a lightweight 416 Rigby . . . just kidding . . .

Took my daughter hunting Antelope for the first time last year when she was 12, she used my 1899 Savage in 250 Savage. Light, not a lot of recoil - I'd put it on the same page as the 243 Winnie, just a little more character.



You can't go wrong with a 30-30, 250 Savage, 257 Roberts, or a 243 Win - just make sure the rifle fits her, and she is comfortable with it.

 

[TxPhantom]

+1 for 243

Aproximately 200 lb hog taken with a 243 by 14 year old boy. Dropped him in his tracks!

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l52/TxPhantom_2006/HogHunt11-16-2008072.jpg

 

[stiab]

Given your conditions, I believe the .243 is the ultimate answer. My youngest son and I killed 16 deer in the 2005 - 2007 seasons with three different .243 rifles (the limit during that period was 36 deer). I would recommend that you pay a few bucks more for some premium ammo. Not absolutely necessary, but not a bad investment for a .243.

 

[Geno]

Not only is a .243 a great round, it's easy to gin-up accurate and inexpensive handloads. Personally, I like the 95 grain Nosler Partitian in either a .243 Win or a 6mm Rem.

 

[ishredinmysleep]

go with a savage 243 bolt action with a 3 -9 x 40 nikon prostaff scope great combination lots of nockdown no kick

 

[antiliberal454]

well i jsut turned 15 but im really skinny too and i find my .30-06 very easy to handle. you just put it on your shoulder tightly, but i just got my first deer about 2 weeks ago using my grandfathers savage 99F .308, i love that gun. its light and doesnt kick bad, well its hard to tell because i was shaking so much when i saw the deer so i didnt feel the kick or hear it at all. That might be a good gun to look at, the savage 99 is light and they have other calibers also. and if you did get .308 you could get reduced recoil loads for sighthing in and practice shooting then give her full loads like 150 grains.

 

[atblis]

Do you handload

There's always the Remington Managed recoil series of ammunition. If you already have a 30-06, 270, 30-30, etc., you could let her shoot that with these loads.

 

[zammyman]

A .243 or .308 are both very good options, the 308 might be too much for her.