Light Recoiling Deer Rifle

[axxxel]

What kind of stock does the .243 have? Couldn't you just add a limbsaver to it, and increase the weight somehow? Add a bipod, a larger scope, or both! A muzzle break or suppressor would also be a good thing I guess.

If his recoil sensitivity is not caused by his physique, and I doubt that it is, then try to teach him some technique and get used to the recoil with lighter loads of .243.

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

I'll probably get eaten alive for this suggestion:

Mosin-Nagant carbine, no bayonet. M38, M91/59, or M44 with bayonet removed and (if you want) the lug ground down. If you don't want to grind the lug, I probably have one around here that I can send you. Just pop the pins and replace.

Load a 0.312 Hornady soft point 150 grain in front of a case of Trail Boss.

You can shoot this rifle/ammo combination all day with very minimal recoil or expense.

Regards,

Josh

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

a .22-250 is used a lot here in Texas. being a good shot helps.

 

[chasu]

My son is 13 and he shoots a 270. Started out with a .22LR at 5 years old (Ruger 1022), crack barrel 20ga at 8 years old (H&R Pardner) that kicked more than my 12ga ! ! !. His first High power rifle was a .243, but he shot my AR15 way before we started deer hunting. He loves his Ruger American 270.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

May have been asked already but have you let him know that when shooting at a deer you will not feel the recoil, and probably not be the least bit bothered by the noise?
When shooting from the bench give him a good recoil pad and double up on ear protection.
I have put .300 wby and .375 H&H through the paces sighting them in and it rattles your cage a bit but when you are shooting at an animal you don't even notice.
My suggestion of 7mm-08 stands. It may feel a bit stout as first but will be a gun he can hunt deer with all his life and is a bit more forgiving on shot placement than .22X loads.

 

[Kachok]

7mm-08 and 6.5x55 are the two best low recoil hunting cartridges I have ever used but my 308 does not kick much harder with it's above average recoil pad.

 

[cdb1]

To each his own. For my daughter I wanted a heavy rifle for recoil attenuation. Bought her a Vanguard youth in 7MM-08 and the the recoil was too much. Sold it and bought a Vanguard youth .243 and that did the trick. I like the Vanguard b/c it is heavy and accurate. I hunt mostly with a CZ 6.5x55 and for me the perceived recoil is more than a .243. The only problem with a 30-30 for a kid in my opinion is their light weight.

The last thing I did was buy a comb riser and put it on the .243. This was after reading that the vast majority of women need a higher comb than men do. The comb riser I bought for her rifle is the same one I put on my Maxus b/c it does not affect cast. They are not cheap but after installing the riser my daughter's accuracy improved and the perceived recoil was reduced also. When I bought her rifle the Lady Savage had not come out yet. If we get my daughter another rifle it will be the Lady Savage.

 

[Eb1]

.22-250
.25-06
6 mm Rem.
.260
6.5x55
.257 Roberts
.243

There are so many. Hand loaded 30-30 with 125 grain Sierra FNHP to 2100 fps recoils like a .223 or less.
Even a 30-30 with a 150 grain FN from Winchester is a good medium recoil gun.

20 gauge slug gun.

.357 Lever gun or Handi-Rifle.

.50 cal Muzzle loader with a 250 grain XTP and 100 grain 777. Just a push and not a slam because of the slow burn.

 

[Andrew Leigh]

My third oldest grandson is nearly 10 and although tall is very slight of build. I bought a 6.5mm Swede for them which I downloaded with 120gr. bullets. The rifle would push his shoulder back a full 12". He is skin and bone and his little in the way of cushioning on his shoulder.

Fortunately a hunting friend who was going hunting with us had a .243 which he downloaded. Unfortunately the flinch was already there. The I thought to start the range sessions with some .22 shooting and this seemed to give him confidence again. The flinch stayed but not permanently.

Then I got his mother to give me an old tight T Shirt of his and I sewed in a shoulder pad made from medium / high density foam rubber, this seemed to help even more. Next year he will be fine but still will not be ready for the 6.5mm. The .243 remains too heavy for him but I taught him to shoot sitting on his butt over sticks until he get a little bigger and stronger.

The one issue I found with the 6.5mm is that it is built on a long action which makes the rifle too heavy. My eldest son shoots it with great ease so the little guy will grow into it. He got his first buck two weeks ago .



They should have a "chest swell" emoticon for us proud grandparents.

 

[Eb1]

The .22-250 is probably the lightest recoiling deer rifle I have shot. That 55 grain pill penetrates and destroys vitals at the speed it travels. I think the .22-250 is a great deer rifle. My state allow .22 cal center fires for deer hunting.

 

[Andrew Leigh]

The .22-250 is probably the lightest recoiling deer rifle I have shot. That 55 grain pill penetrates and destroys vitals at the speed it travels. I think the .22-250 is a great deer rifle. My state allow .22 cal center fires for deer hunting.

Did not know that.

Here the absolute minimum is a .243 and some hunting concessions do not even allow that. Not due to the calibre but some of the "hunters" inability to shoot, plus a lot of our hunting is in thick bush.

So we were reduced to a .243 as minimum calibre.

 

[okiewita40]

I would suggest a semi-auto of some kind if legal in your area. As said before an AR in 6.5, 6.8 or 7.62x29. Or an AK or SKS.

My Daughter started on my SKS and even @ 24 she is only 4'9" and 85 pounds.

If a bolt is needed I would go with a .243. If it has a plastic stock. Remove the butt pad and add weight insid of the stock to reduce some of the precieved recoil.

I like the SKS for the short range deer hunting that I do here. Plus I just bought 60 rounds of 154gr SP ammo for $5.99 a box. Seems to be the cheapest thing out there other than 22lr when you can find it.

 

[Dr T]

My choice would be a 250 Savage. Basically the same performance of the 243 with lower recoil.

 

[witchhunter]

I bought both my boys youth bolt .243's for their first deer gun. Loaded em with light bullets for practice and varmints. Once they got comfortable with those loads, I loaded up some 95 grain Nosler Partitions and bingo, their first bucks were on the ground. They both still have em. My youngest loads his with 58 Vmax and it is death on varmints. He is 26 now.

 

[Turkeyguide]

7mm/08 is great caliber with light recoil. Excellent on game animals up to Caribou in size. Very accurate and if you reload it's got lot's of options. Lot's of rifles chambered for it too so there's a great selection to choose from. Good luck.

 

[Joel Lehman]

7-08

By older brother gave my 7 year old grandson a Remington model 7 in 7-08.
His two sons used the rifle to take deer with reduced reloads.

His load was 26 grains do SR4759 with a 120 grain Hornaday pistol bullet.
That bullet has been discontinued. I called Sierra and was told their 120 grain Pro Hunter will work at velocities above 2,000Fps.

I have used Pro Hunters for years in 25 and 30 caliber. I also found an 8 lb keg of SR4759. The load chronographed 2360 FPS with the Sierra bullets.

My grandson shoots the rifle with the cut off stock and Limbsaver recoil pad very well.

He wants us to go hog hunting before deer season.

It's tough being a grandpa.

 

[ThomasT]

Joel I just bought 200 Sierra 120gr bullets to load in my model 7 with the 18.5" barrel. I am also going to use a reduced load with about 2600-2700 fps start velocity. And I wanted to get the 120gr Hornaday bullet to try. I didn't know they had been dropped from the line.

If I was in the OP's situation I would use the 243 but with 80-90gr bullets with a starting velocity of around 2800fps. Those should have light recoil and be better than a 223.