What rifle for a 12 year old for deer?

J

JDMock

Member
I am thinking of buying my grandson a rifle of his own for deer hunting. I am looking at two or three possibilties. I have a very limited budget, so I am considering a Ruger Predator in 6.5 Creedmore and a Howa .243. Both of these are reasonably priced, but I have no experience with either. Does anyone have any input that they can offer? Thanks, James Mock PS- he has taken one buck with my 6 PPC.
 

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Of the two calibers that you mentioned, I would go with the .243 because of his age. Let me also add that I like a 22.250. Very low recoil and it is the best caliber that I have found for White Tail deer. With its' high velocity it is flat shooting and very lethal for deer.
 
bill,
22 are not legal in all states for hunting.
243 works....but a 308 with a 125 might work as well and then go
up in bullet weight as he grows.
nothing wrong with the 243.

Bill Wynne said:
Of the two calibers that you mentioned, I would go with the .243 because of his age. Let me also add that I like a 22.250. Very low recoil and it is the best caliber that I have found for White Tail deer. With its' high velocity it is flat shooting and very lethal for deer.
Click to expand...
 
.243 loaded with 80 gr TTSX. I have harvested 3 antelope at 200 yards with is set up. I was amazed at how great this combo was.
 
James,
I have not fired one (yet), but the Ruger compact rifle in 243 is light, short and I really like it. Also, I have seen them
at affordable prices in stores and on line. I would take him to a local store and let him try it for size. It is certainly
capable of moa deer accuracy.
Regards,

Joe McNeill
SW Arkansas
 
CMaier said:
bill,
22 are not legal in all states for hunting.
243 works....but a 308 with a 125 might work as well and then go
up in bullet weight as he grows.
nothing wrong with the 243.
Click to expand...

I know that a .22 caliber is not allowed in some states but it is in Texas. A fast .22 is more than adequate for the White Tail deer that we have. I and many others prefer something like the 22/250 or the 220 Swift for several reasons. I have killed deer at ranges in excess of 300 yards with a 22/250. Before I quit hunting many years ago, I had switched to a 22/250. I took 13 deer with it and all were one shot kills. Although I have missed some deer, I never hit one with that little gun that got away and I never had to shoot a deer more than once. Most were taken with neck shots but several were running.

I will have to agree with you about the 125 grain bullet in the 308. My son-in-law hunts with a 30/06 loaded hot behind a 125 grain bullet and he has taken many deer.

For a youngster, I would stick with something that has a light recoil.
 
When my small statured grandson started hunting at 10 we bought him a youth rifle chambered in 243 and I worked out a reduced load using H4895 and the 87gr Hornady SP. We ended up with a very light recoiling load that ran around 2500fps and dropped his 1st deer, a small doe at ~ 75/80 yds with a single shot for him. He's 16 now and using standard 100gr loads in it with good results here.
I have a couple 260's but decided the availability of lighter weight bullets for the 243 was an advantage in our case over the larger caliber at the time.
 
Of the 2.... The 6.5 loaded with 100-120 NBTs. My 12 yr old Grand-daughter shoots my 260 Rem wonderfully. It's low recoil and better all-around than the 243 for deer (Not bashing the 243 I like it too).
 
but you have ignored the basic request..."for a 12 year old" low recoil.
my 308 with a 165 is better,'but
a 30'06 with a 175 is better than that
and a 338 lm is even batter, but none match the op's request. "12 year old/low recoil"
so not "best" in this thread.

Roger T said:
Quite simply it carries more energy to the target (deer) and higher SD for better penetration.
Click to expand...
 
No I'm not ignoring it. Like I stated my 12 year old Gr-daughter shoots it great ..no recoil issues and I think the higher SD's of the 6.5 bullets help with penetration on those not so perfect angle shots. Don't get me wrong I like the 243 for deer,just I think the 6.5 is better even for the younger shooters. The 100-120 gr. NBTs work great and I don't think there's a plug nickles worth of difference in felt recoil between them. Savanah has shot them both and prefers the 260, she had her choices.
 
I have seen

Roger T said:
No I'm not ignoring it. Like I stated my 12 year old Gr-daughter shoots it great ..no recoil issues and I think the higher SD's of the 6.5 bullets help with penetration on those not so perfect angle shots. Don't get me wrong I like the 243 for deer,just I think the 6.5 is better even for the younger shooters. The 100-120 gr. NBTs work great and I don't think there's a plug nickles worth of difference in felt recoil between them. Savanah has shot them both and prefers the 260, she had her choices.
Click to expand...
twelve and thirteen year old girls shoot entire high power silhouette matches with 260's and 6.5 x 55's. You are getting into the opinion arena with either gun. Gunsmith in Cambrige MD name of Bill Therrit? wrote an article "speed kills" about all the crop damage,herd cull deer he killed deader than a wedge with a 243. What I did was take the kid out and steer him the direction of suitable, affordable choices, consider what he liked, fit and future usability. Never seen a kid more tickled than the first deer rifle induced smile.

LASER
 
I like the .257 Roberts for a youth hunting gun. Of course an advantage of the .243 or .22-250 is that you can usually find factory ammo in any place that carries ammo.

Bob
 
Thanks for the replies. I chose the .243 because I have 6mm bullets and dies for that caliber plus I have killed quite a few deer with one. With proper shot placement and a good bullet, Isaac should have no trouble. James
 
Roger T said:
No I'm not ignoring it. Like I stated my 12 year old Gr-daughter shoots it great ..no recoil issues and I think the higher SD's of the 6.5 bullets help with penetration on those not so perfect angle shots. Don't get me wrong I like the 243 for deer,just I think the 6.5 is better even for the younger shooters. The 100-120 gr. NBTs work great and I don't think there's a plug nickles worth of difference in felt recoil between them. Savanah has shot them both and prefers the 260, she had her choices.
Click to expand...

Would this be Savannah's first deer??



https://video.search.yahoo.com/sear...844351906d1bb1d64fc69ee5d51fa95c&action=click
 
I'd look for a used Stevens in a 243Win. Won't break the bank and you might even get some optics with it.
Actually there is one on Gun Broker up for bid right now...
And another in 7mm-08 if you think he could handle that.
 
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... a Howa .243....
"Thanks for the replies. I chose the .243 because I have 6mm bullets and dies for that caliber plus I have killed quite a few deer with one. With proper shot placement and a good bullet, Isaac should have no trouble. James "




Rflshootr said:
I'd look for a used Stevens in a 243Win. Won't break the bank and you might even get some optics with it.
Actually there is one on Gun Broker up for bid right now...
And another in 7mm-08 if you think he could handle that.
Click to expand...
 
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