for all the guys who say their first rifles bugged them recoil-wise: I started with a .308 Win. at age 10 and now, 3 years later I comfortably shoot a .300 Win. Mag. with fairly warm-loaded 180's. If you convince yourself that recoil is not a problem, it won't be! Ya I'm a stout 13 year old (130 lbs. 5' 11") but recoil shouldn't bug you that much. Just my thoughts.

Update to the group.
Son knocked down a spiker whitetail last Saturday at last light as he came out to feed in an Alfafa field. Talk about an excited kid!
The rifle we ended up with (bought sight unseen over the internet)turned out to be a highly customized Mauser 98 in 257 Roberts. The stock had been shortened and thinned with a honeycomb recoil pad. The trigger is about 8 oz, very light but crisp. The safety and bolt has been modified to allow scope install.
Thanks to all who aided my search
Shawn

Slapshot

Do your son a favor & keep it simple,buy him a bolt action rifle in 260 or 7mm-08 rem,a 2-8 or 3-9 variable powered scope then help him set it up & sight it in,let him practice with it then go teach him how to hunt with it.

Then you will have done your son a great favor,buy him a shotgun later on if he's keen.

good luck whichever way you go

The Savage 24s have one habit I'm not fond of, after a couple of shots the rifle barrel heats up more than the shotgun barrel and bends like a bimetallic spring. This makes them shoot low after the first one or two shots. Same with most of the drillings; they are meat guns, not benchrest rigs. You get two good shots, and the game is down or gone anyway.

I have one which was .223/20 gauge, had it rebored 6mm and is now 6X45mm/20 gauge. Very little recoil and useful to 200 yards. If you don't need long shots the 6mm-223/6X45mm/6mmTCU family of cartridges can be quite nice.

I had a Savage 99 308win at 10, when my son turned 11 in May I got him a Win Classic Compact 308win. He shot it all summer and got this in August 2000 second day of season 200yards off a bipod. I wanted a rifle he could turn into a WSM when he got a little older. I figure he'll keep it for a long time if it's a quality rifle, positive feed too for bear when he's older. He has my old Nikon 4-12 on it. No bird hunting done while we're after moose though, after we tag out only. The compact is only about 6.5 lbs and has an inch shorter trigger pull also. You might opt for a 243 or 260 too, I just got my middle daughter a model 7 243 for her 11th birthday in september, the recoil is a bit lighter on her. She love it, can't go to the range without her either now. She has a 3-9 VXII on it.

Oops, too late! Good luck with the rifle.

[ 11-29-2002, 21:58: Message edited by: Wstrnhuntr ]

Had the same problem a few years ago with my youngest son. He was of slight build, but began shooting at 10. On a side note, he began shooting with a single shot Marlin 15 Y .22 which matched his size perfectly, great little rifle.

Of course this doesn�t help with deer hunting. He enjoyed watching me reload, so we began doing some .222s strictly minimum loads. He enjoyed shooting those, once he got over the loudness (with hearing protection), including realizing there was minimal recoil. At the same time, we began shooting shotguns using PMC Target loads in 20g. We went at his own pace, and gradually began shooting rounds of 25.
I picked up a new Marlin 336 in 30-30, had Williams Peep sights added, and reloaded to cowboy action specs, and he began to feel comfortable with this by age 12.

For Christmas he received a 12 gauge pump at age 13, which he has shot hundreds of rounds through including 3" hevi-shot. He is now 15, (and has grown) and is completely recoil worry free. At this time, he is liking a Ruger Number 1, in 06 for deer hunting, although his favorite is a Winchester 94 in 44 Mag.

To make a long story short, the lever action rifles handle well for youth, the Number 1s too. Now, don�t laugh, but one of the neatest youth guns I�ve found is the little Rossi Combo .22/.410 which I think can be purchased for under $100.00. We have had great fun with this little bugger, including busting clays.

Good luck, Scott

Slapshot, my congratulations to your son and to you. I hope as a proud parent you took lots of pictures for later on down the road and so that he can show his kids pictures of his first(?) deer.

To the rest of you that have posted this week. Come on guys I am not trying to start a fight but read the whole post before responding. Slapshot brought this topic back up tpupdate us on his son's success and you are still giving rifle advice. Sean

Wooops, don't know how I missed that post, congrats to your son, you'll never forget that one.

Slap,

Congrats on the hunt!! Sounds like you picked up a winner.

Ah, I remember a couple of years ago, 8, when I thought a AR kicked hard, and my dads old M-1 garand was terrible. but my dad started me out on a 22, then a couple of months later I moved up to the AR, and my little bolt 223. By 12 I was shooting the M-1 although it still kicked a little. And I proceded up to my 358 norma at 16, and im not a big guy, at 18 im 6'2 180 lbs.

Slapshot,

Federal makes a .257 load with a 120 Nosler partition that ought to be a fine deer-slaying cartridge. Winchester markets a 100 grain +P load as I recall. Hornady has a 117 grain Light magnum load. I think Remmy still markets their 117 round nose woods load.

What I don't know is whether any factory loads a varmint bullet in the 257 any more.

The Roberts is a wonderful deer rifle for anyone, but especially a kid starting out.