My son has asked for a new deer rifle........

[Coal Dragger]

While that chart is useful it does not take into account body fat percentages. By that standard many athletes are overweight just by muscle mass.

If I dropped say 20lbs down to 180lbs, I would still technically by overweight on that chart for a 5'10" male but I would be absolutely ripped. I work out pretty frequently both cardio, and weight training 3-4 days a week. Now I'll admit that I've gained 15lbs since I got out of the Marine Corps, and that is distressing.... but I can still do 15-18 pull ups, over 100 push ups, at least 100 crunches, plus I still do a lot of cycling. My running days are over though since I blew up my L5/S1 here about a month ago. Getting old sucks, and not being 22 and invincible is a tough wake-up call. Good goal to lose the 15lbs though, maybe I should take swimming back up...... hmmmm.

 

[AKElroy]

Given how many deer I've killed with a .243 and how many have been done in by others, it sounds like more of a case of "I want" than "I need".

+1. Have deer in your area grown thicker skin as your son aged? What sized game is he hunting? Has he outgrown his current rig (does it have a short LOP?)

As for recoil, I doubt he would tell much difference from the bench between his .243, a 7mm-08, a .260 rem or a .308. I don't. I also doubt, for whitetail, he would see much difference in effectivness. The .243 is excellent for the 100 - 150lb whitetails here in central Texas.

In off-hand field shooting in hunting situations, I have to get above a 7mm mag before I start noticing recoil enough to tell the difference between it and the normal long cartriges based on the 06'.

My point is this: If he is set on having something larger & has mastered controling his .243, then I really would not be overly concerned over recoil until you get above a 7 mag. If he were my kid, I would probably steer him towards the .30-06 for the myriad reasons listed in this thread and elswhere. It is a reasonable step up from the .243, and really puts any North American game on the menu. That's based on my shoulder, your kids may vary.

 

[grtwhthntr]

My shoulder disagrees with yours! While my .308 isn't a violent kicker, I can definitely tell a substantial difference between it and my .243's.

 

[AKElroy]

One good thing; If you get him a 7mag, you can start using his .243. When my kid "outgrows" his .243, I plan on puting it to good use. Trade him. I wanted big boomers when I was his age too. Up until 5 years ago, most of my deer fell to a 7mag. Then I went down to a .270, then a .30-30, and now a .308 for the current season. Next year, I may graduate all the way down to my kid's single-shot .243. I would be using it this year, but if I need more than 1 shot on some of the awesome deer on my gamecam, I want to have them. If I get a trophy early, I may ask my kid if I can use his .243 for does.

 

[unwise11]

sorry about my M24 posts, found out my source was wrong, anyway.
.308 is what i like, i prefer the .30 cal rounds to ANYTHING, becuase of fammiliarity, most .30 rounds differ only by the casing. but 308 is x51 30-06 is x63 and .300wm is x66

wierd but cool. and its a nice chunk of lead. will kill about anything.

 

[AKElroy]

My shoulder disagrees with yours! While my .308 isn't a violent kicker, I can definitely tell a substantial difference between it and my .243's.

My son's H&R single is the only .243 I have much bench time with, and it is a short, light rig. My Savage .308 has a really squishy pad & is pretty heavy, so I do not feel much difference between them.

Standing offhand, I would be hard pressed to tell wheather I was firing a .270 or an 06', or an 06' or 7mag, or a 7mm-08 & a .308; I could if they were back to back, but probably not otherwise. Then again, I dove hunt alot, and I really think it serves to make one thump tollerant, particulaly bad shots like me that shoot & miss a lot.

 

[d2wing]

re: chart. That's my problem. I'm supposed to be 6' 3". I'm not as tall as I'm supposed to be. I wonder if platform shoes are coming back. I don't think shooter weight has all that much to do with recoil.

 

[MikePGS]

While that chart is useful it does not take into account body fat percentages. By that standard many athletes are overweight just by muscle mass.

Bingo. If you go by that chart Lawrence Taylor (6' 3" 241 at playing weight) is considered to be "overweight". YOU go tell him that! Additionally a few years ago I weighed 159 lbs (I'm 6' 2"). While this weight was healthy as per your chart, my physician suggested that I pack on more weight.

 

[Uncle Mike]

Get him a good 7mm-08. Low recoil, hard results! No matter what the weight of your boy is.

 

[LoonWulf]

I LoLz that chart, i havent been 250 since i was about 18.

Did OP ever get back with his decision?

 

[TNboy]

I'm not a doctor, I don't know if your son is over weight or not. What I can do is share my experiences about deer rifles I used growing up? What kind of terrain does your son hunt? Is he just hunting deer, or do you want to get him a rifle that could take on any American big game? I was small for my age but I bought a .270 for my first rifle when I was 16. At the time I weighed about 110 pounds and stood about 5'6". 10+ years later I have not, nor will I outgrow that rifle, I haven't hunted anything but deer and pigs with it and it is fine for that. I have lost 1 deer in all of those years and to be honest I shouldn't have taken that shot, that is the only deer I've ever had to track using this gun, period, and I've shot somewhere around 2 dozen deer with this gun. I'm not saying that the .270 is the perfect gun for your son or anything else, it just worked for me for a long time until I moved to the mountains, now I hunt with a 870 slug gun, no need for the range of the .270 anymore.

 

[Russ Jackson]

It is very common for 13 year olds to put some weight on prior to a growth spirt. The kid is active and into sports. I would keep an eye on the weight thing as he does sound a little too thick. That stupid chart says nothing about puberty. Get the 30-06 and have fun with it. I doubt the recoil is too much. He would not tell you if it was. Common bonds between a Father and Son will carry you through life. He chose the 30-06 don't talk him out of it. Let him get what he wants not you or us. Its the first rifle he has chosen don't mess it up. Heck he has already shot a dozen deer in his head with it already....Russ

 

[unwise11]

tell him he gets to work for ammo, he will quickly change his mind, as I was VERY close to buying a .300 winmag, but I have a job, and don't feel like putting my whole check towards a couple boxes of nice ammo. Im very happy with my .308

 

[Skylerbone]

If I may, there are some excellent ways of controlling recoil these days and not all are budget dependent. A new Simms LimbSaver recoil pad coupled with proper hold can tame most rifles down a caliber or two in felt recoil. They also make a shoulder pad to further reduce battering during long range sessions.

If money is less of an issue, consider a custom stock. Thumbhole designs, springs and transfer weights can be amazingly effective, coupled with a muzzle break, even more so.

While I'm not a big Thompson Center fan my father has an Encore with energy burners built in to the stock, a Simms pad AND muzzle break in 300Win Mag. It truly shoots like a 20 gauge and I kid you not, the break didn't affect velocity one bit. (His Brockman Brake can be opened and closed). With Fusion, Winchester Supreme and Hornady Superformance he actually overshot stated velocities by as much as 60 fps.

I love my sons enough to want the world for them and if you have the means, by all means indulge him. Spoil him every chance you get so long as shooting sports are his passion. Weight? I was 6' 2" at that age and got down to 111 lbs. It was an 8" growth spurt that was cut short by a bum thyroid that the doctor killed off a few months later. I ended up 6' 3" and never grew after that (making me the runt amongst my cousins). I'm now twice the man I used to be but do still wish I weighed less than I do. It's an akward time for all young men, just remember who he looks up to.

PS, I'd go 30-06, easy to load up/load down and get in to reloading. The Encore is steep but new barrels make great Christmas/Birthday/Quanza gifts. (ok, I don't celebrate any of those things but I think they would make great gifts if you're in to those things, I'm just too old).

 

[unwise11]

post above wins. get him what he wants. show him nice rifles. get him a nice rifle.