Youth Rifle?

Question for y'all knowledgeable gun types... My daughter is 11, has only fired .22 and 5.56 (a buddy's AR), and I'm lookin to get her a rifle. She is very tall for her age (5'2"), so for length of pull I think she may need a regular sized rifle (or will soon), but she is VERY skinny and not very strong. Do y'all think I should get her a youth model or a regular sized rifle? Calibers I'm looking at are .25-06, .243 or something similar with low recoil. She'll be mostly hunting these small muleys in SoCal, with an occasional trip back home to GA for whitetails. I've hunted with the same .30-30 since I was a kid in the '90s, and occasionally a borrowed .30-06 when travelling back home, so I'm not as familiar with smaller stuff.

Thanks all!

.243 Win. or a 7-08 would be my choice of caliber. I would start her out with reduced recoil loads and then work up to full strength loads to hunt with. Have her shoulder a couple of rifles at the gun store to figure out which fits her build and length of pull the best.

With only deer on the menu I would go with the 243 and not look back. Great choice of ammo and light recoil. Have her handle a youth model and full size and go from there.

Good luck,
Dan

I know its popular on this forum to make fun of the 6.5 Creedmore, but the recoil is very similar to the 7mm-08. I was looking for a 7mm-08 for my son and ran into a great deal on a 6.5 in a Kimber Hunter that I couldnt pass on. The Hunter was lighter and easier for him to manipulate than any of the youth model rifles we looked at. I figured it would make a great youth rifle for him and backpacking rifle for me. I have been pretty happy.

I'm looking at the Savage in the Bass Pro black Friday add. On their website it has youth model in .243 and 7mm-08, but adult size in quite a few other calibers. I'm leaning 7mm-08 since we have to be lead-free in Commiefornia, and I'm worried lighter nonlead .243 rounds might not do the trick. Is that a legit concern?

SoCalRedneck said:

I'm looking at the Savage in the Bass Pro black Friday add. On their website it has youth model in .243 and 7mm-08, but adult size in quite a few other calibers. I'm leaning 7mm-08 since we have to be lead-free in Commiefornia, and I'm worried lighter nonlead .243 rounds might not do the trick. Is that a legit concern?

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By any chance have you listened to Randy's podcast on non-lead ammunition? It was enlightening for me.

https://hunttalk.libsyn.com/ep-087-lead-free-ammo-and-huntiing-with-raptors

Consider recoil in your selection... 6.5 credemore and 308 have near double that of a 243, which is a game changer with some kids.

.243 or 7mm08 with reduced recoil loads are the best two young hunter options in my opinion. .243 if for antelope, coyotes and deer. 7mm08 reduced recoil loads gives the choice to move up to black bear and elk later if you wish. The 25-06 is a great cartridge for open western hunting but typically has a lot of muzzle flash that can be disconcerting for some new hunters (but I love mine).

how is the recoil of the 25-06 compared to the other two? the rifle I'm looking at comes in that as well, just not in a youth model.

SoCalRedneck said:

how is the recoil of the 25-06 compared to the other two? the rifle I'm looking at comes in that as well, just not in a youth model.

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More than the 243 or 7-08 if similar bullet weight is used.

SoCalRedneck said:

how is the recoil of the 25-06 compared to the other two? the rifle I'm looking at comes in that as well, just not in a youth model.

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For me, significantly more than .243 but similar to 7mm08 as I shoot lighter bullets out of 25-06. The 25-06 is a super fun cartridge, but not a bread and butter gun for newbies. Lots of muzzle flash, burns more powder, on the small side to move up to black bear and elk in my view.

VikingsGuy said:

For me, significantly more than .243 but similar to 7mm08 as I shoot lighter bullets out of 25-06. The 25-06 is a super fun cartridge, but not a bread and butter gun for newbies. Lots of muzzle flash, burns more powder, on the small side to move up to black bear and elk in my view.

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Also, a proper 25-06 can be a little long for kids as you really want 24-26” barrel to take advantage of the extra powder. I wouldn’t buy a 22” 25-06 as the 50-75 fps drop erodes some of its advantage and enhances muzzle flash.

I'd go with a .243 if she will stick to deer, that's what my wife shoots and she has no issues with it. My 25-06 kicks a little more than her .243 but weighs a lot more so I would not personally look at a 25-06 in a youth stock...

I had a rifle built for my daughter that is a Howa 1500 action on a Boyd's stock. She was 13 when she got it and shoots the reduced recoil rounds easily. She had similar experience to your daughter previously. Look for my thread. ...in the car now or I would link it .....came out just under 600 prior to optics.

I don't recall anyone mentioning the 6.5 Creedmoor. I've never shot one but am on I think my third 6.5x55. The Creedmoor case is smaller capacity so with equal bullet's should recoil a bit less. I suspect it is less than the 7mm-08 also. 243 would probably do fine but pretty much runs out of bullet's at 100gr. Fine for deer, I've shot three deer with it and the 100 gr bullet. Game bullet's start at 87grs and go 90gr and 100gr, that's about it. I do have some really old 105gr 243 bullet's but never tried shooting any. My 25-06 I don't think recoils much more than my 243's but lot of muzzle blast. The best started in my opinion might be the 250-3000! But a bit hard to come by these days. Brings you to the 6.5 Creedmoor. Bullet's for hunting from 120 gr on up. Generally I see up to 140gr bullet's. I would certainly suggest the 260 Rem also if you reload. There's nothing the Creedmoor can do the 260 can't and low recoil! Goint up to 7mm-08, the case size stays the same as the Creedmoor and 260 but bullet weight's go up too. I've had a number of 7x57's and they were very tolerable but bullet weight's for hunting started at 140gr. Very nice to shoot but go to heavier bullet's and recoil goes up. My last one I shot 154gr bullet's and recoil was not bad but then I was in my 30's and in those days shot a great deal.

I bought my present 6.5x55 with the idea of my grand daughter's first hunting rifle, so far she doesn't hunt!. When I got it there was no factory ammo in 260 Rem and the Creedmoor wasn't though of, I don't think!

I was just in a similar situation. I wanted to get a rifle that my nephew and daughter could use for deer. I ended up getting a remington 783 compact in 243. I was struggling between that and the savage. The savage was the same price but didnt come with a scope. The savage was also lighter but i thought that having a little extra weight might help with the recoil. The remington came with butt pad extention so that you can make the stock a little longer as they grow. I havent taken it to the range yet so i cant give any feedback on that. I will say that the action felt smoother on the savage.

SoCalRedneck said:

Question for y'all knowledgeable gun types... My daughter is 11, has only fired .22 and 5.56 (a buddy's AR), and I'm lookin to get her a rifle. She is very tall for her age (5'2"), so for length of pull I think she may need a regular sized rifle (or will soon), but she is VERY skinny and not very strong. Do y'all think I should get her a youth model or a regular sized rifle? Calibers I'm looking at are .25-06, .243 or something similar with low recoil. She'll be mostly hunting these small muleys in SoCal, with an occasional trip back home to GA for whitetails. I've hunted with the same .30-30 since I was a kid in the '90s, and occasionally a borrowed .30-06 when travelling back home, so I'm not as familiar with smaller stuff.

Thanks all!

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Re-read your question. Your daughter is 11 yrs old, 5' 2" and very skinny. How big are you? You hunted with a 30-30 since you were a kid, did you enjoy those first shots? How big and old were you? 5' 2" and very skinny? And your even thinking about a 25-06? I have a 25-06 and I agree, it just doesn't recoil that much. But then when I started shooting it I was in my late 30's, 5' 10" and weighted about 200#. At the same time I was also shooting a lot and cartridge's included the 7mm Rem mag and two 338 Win mags. No the 25-06 was a pussy cat! I can not understand people's line of though with thinking because they don't find recoil in some cartridge bad then their kid probably won't either. And if the kid does, get managed recoil loads and the rifle can grow with the kid! For me that is really faulty thinking! My grandson is 7 and hopefully the first big game rifle he'll shoot will be my 308 with 180 gr bullet's. Ah 180 gr cast bullet's with a very light chg of Red Dot. I have for him as he grows a 243 and probably a 6.5x55. I think either a 260 or a Creedmoore might be a better choice for a bit less recoil. I have 2-243's, a 25-06, a 6.5x55, a 6.5x06, a 308 and a 30-06. They are all here and he can grow into them and decide for himself after the first what he want's. The first should not be something that just might rattle his teeth even with reduced loads. He get's to try the 308 first because with what I use in it it's about like a 22 LR, maybe a bit less. The first real cartridge he shoot's I hope will be one of the 243's. Really don't want to run him off to awful soon. I recall the first time I shot my first 338. Picked it up with a box of factory ammo and stopped on the way home to try it. it damn near pulled the rug out from under me and back then I shot a lot and in fact was shooting a 7mm Rem mag quite a bit. Well tried two more shot's and could barely lift my arm. Got home and looked at my shoulder and it was really black and blue. I learned to shoot that rifle very well but take a month off shooting it and the pain started all over again. Don't fool with to much just because you don't think it recoils much. And not because other guy's say oh hell ya, that ought to work. She's a skinny little 11 yr old girl! Get her something a skinny little 11 yr old girl should be able to shoot, 243 is as big as I'd suggest. She will know when she is ready to move forward!

I'd focus on the fit of the rifle more than the caliber. A .30-30 can be a pussycat or an instrument of torture depending on how it is fit and held. I did this for my wife's deer rifle and bird gun. Made everything much better.

Find a rifle you can get a cheap second stock for, and cut one of them to fit her now and save the other for later.

Just my 2 cents.

^^^ agreed the fit and how she can hold it has a lot to do with felt recoil.

Don, honestly when I was about her age, I could do 10-12 shots max out of that .30-30 before I'd give it a rest for the day. I was about her height but with 20lbs or so more of fat lol... but yeah, that's why I'm looking for something smaller and asking folks. Other than a couple of AR's, I've never shot anything smaller than a .30 cal because when I was a kid the whole family hunted with either .30-30, .35 Rem, or .30-06 and I didn't even know there was anything smaller besides 22s till I was an adult. Hence me trying to find out what others are doing for their kiddos... also concerned with availability of decent priced ammo since we have to be lead free and can't order online anymore in Cali.