Fat_46
Member
Apologies in advance for the long post...
My daughter is finally hunting with me this year. After a 10 year wait, one of my greatest joys is about to occur.
This year she is using a Rossi Trifecta(.243, 22lr, and 20 Gauge barrels) and its doing ok for her on the range. With my handloads shes keeping a 1.5" group of 10 at 75 yards, which is on the bottom edge of acceptable for me. If I fire it, I can shrink the groups slightly - maybe a quarter inch. This is also the most accurate load I could work up with the ladder testing.
She REALLY wants a bolt action. I REALLY want better accuracy. We've looked at and handled youth rifles from both Savage and Remington, but the balance is always off. The synthetic stocks, while intended to reduce weight, also make every rifle we've handled feel very front-heavy. My 700 CDL in 280 is almost perfectly balanced, and has a wood stock. She loves the feel of it, but the adult size stock is way too long for her small frame(she's 4'8" tall).
So that begs the question. Where are the wood-stocked youth rifles? Is my only viable option having a gunsmith shorten the LOP? Or are my search skills just weak?
Caliber options at this time center on the 243 or 257 Roberts just to keep recoil appropriate for a 10 year old.
Any help you THR'ers could provide will be sincerely appreciated. I'm very proud of her(she's been my chief deer-butchering-and-jerky-making assistant since she was 3) and want to make sure she carries on the tradition.
My daughter is finally hunting with me this year. After a 10 year wait, one of my greatest joys is about to occur.
This year she is using a Rossi Trifecta(.243, 22lr, and 20 Gauge barrels) and its doing ok for her on the range. With my handloads shes keeping a 1.5" group of 10 at 75 yards, which is on the bottom edge of acceptable for me. If I fire it, I can shrink the groups slightly - maybe a quarter inch. This is also the most accurate load I could work up with the ladder testing.
She REALLY wants a bolt action. I REALLY want better accuracy. We've looked at and handled youth rifles from both Savage and Remington, but the balance is always off. The synthetic stocks, while intended to reduce weight, also make every rifle we've handled feel very front-heavy. My 700 CDL in 280 is almost perfectly balanced, and has a wood stock. She loves the feel of it, but the adult size stock is way too long for her small frame(she's 4'8" tall).
So that begs the question. Where are the wood-stocked youth rifles? Is my only viable option having a gunsmith shorten the LOP? Or are my search skills just weak?
Caliber options at this time center on the 243 or 257 Roberts just to keep recoil appropriate for a 10 year old.
Any help you THR'ers could provide will be sincerely appreciated. I'm very proud of her(she's been my chief deer-butchering-and-jerky-making assistant since she was 3) and want to make sure she carries on the tradition.
