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One of Us |
Just 10 days ago I had the opportunity to hunt with a fellow poster on AR at his ranch for some Texas exotics. While we were buying some ammo at the local gun store, my host started musing about a rifle for his son. I told him to quit his search because I'd find an appropiate one at home to send him. I went through my pile of rifles and found this '98 Mauser, converted to 7.62/39 (with a .308 barrel). Although rusty and beat-up, it had promise. It already had a short 13" pull, a Timney trigger, a cheap, but sturdy 2x7 Swift scope and was a .5" shooter with a heavy load of powder and a 150 grain Hornady SP (2280 fps). I camo'ed the stock to hide some severe dings, ground off some rust and here it is. It has NO recoil and should wear out some Hill Country bucks this fall. I just wish I had a boy at home ready for it. Sharing a day with your son must be about the best thing going. What do you guys think about this rifle for a 9 year old... BTW, his Dad and Mom are TALL folks and his reach will probably be just fine for the 13" pull. Also, the gun shoots the "copper jacketed" hollow point Wolf ammo just fine. It's a real buy at $100 for 1000. The "bi-metal" stuff is non its cup of tea, though. Factory Winchester 125 grain loads usually touch each other, too. | ||
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One of Us |
Judge, I agree. That should make a good starting rifle for a Texas boy. Loaded with 125gr SP it should be ideal for the Texas whitetail. It will get a kid used to the bang, trajectory, etc of a high powered rifle without beating him to death in the process. All things considered, it would be hard to pick a better rifle, IMHO. | |||
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one of us |
Looks great. He'll be the envy of every boy in school. When he grows some he can convert it to .308 and be set from now on out or he might just set it back for his son or daughter. Good rifles just keep on keeping on. I tried getting my step-daughter into the hunting thing, but never did quite succeed - I think I needed an earlier start. She's not an anti-hunter by any means and loves a grilled piece of back strap, but she likes computers better than guns. I've got a nephew that shows promise, but he is one of those right-handed, left-eyed sort and getting him shooting right is a chore. Do I get the sense that you might not have made your last trip to the great State of Texas? It is a whole different country. | |||
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one of us |
I think your choice is outstanding, both the rifle and the caliber. In essence you have a bolt action 30-30 capable of using spitzer bullets for good trajectories. The cartridge takes so little powder and the rifle will still be crowding 7.5 pounds or so and the recoil will be minimal. It's likely that recoil will be low enough that the boy will be able to see the bullet hit his animal. The problem with little 9 year old boys is that they don't stay that way very long. If he is tall with long arms 13" pull should work. A block of wood can be added as his size increases. By the time he's twelve he'll want something bigger, but you will have accomplished your goal. Excellent choice. | |||
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one of us |
Low recoil, accurate, and lightweight; what more can a youngster ask for besides more Gameboys? I think it's a great start with cheap ammo. All he needs is a companion 22 for unlimited shooting that's very cheap to feed. | |||
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one of us |
judgeG, I think thats one of the better choices a guy can make. Are you saying it can shoot 308 and 311 bullets just fine? One cartridge I think that would be a great "boys" rifle would be the 270 savage, too bad it is not a commercial round. | |||
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One of Us |
SF - The advantage of the 7.62X39 is availability of cheap practice ammo. They can buy the fmj stuff for a song and shoot a lot and then when the serious hunting starts build their own with 125 gr SP or Speer used to make a 130 HP that always shot well for me as well. I assume this bullet is still available. Or even 150gr wouldn't be out of line in this cart. He's good to go either way. | |||
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one of us |
Pecos that is interesting to me. I have always wanted to know how this cartridge performed, but have never had one in the field. I just got back not to long ago my converted ruger number. It is now in 30-30 with a light weight sporter barrel. The whole gun is ~7lbs. I wanted this rifle as a 200 yard varmit/deer rifle, with the option of shooting light spitzers. With a burris 4X compact mounted on it, it should be a great rifle. | |||
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one of us |
Sounds like a winne rto me. Is the conversion one of those inserts? How well does it extract? I wanted to convert my FR-8 mauser to 7.62x39 but the bolt head don't pick up or extract the 7.62x39 rounds very realiably and I don't want to make it a permanant conversion. | |||
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one of us |
Cheap practice ammo, low recoil, plenty big enough for whitetails. When I read the title of the post, the 1st thing that came to mind was .243WIN but actually I think your rifle would be a better choice. Terry | |||
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one of us |
JudgeG, your comment "I just wish I had a boy at home ready for it. Sharing a day with your son must be about the best thing going." is SO, SO true. It IS just about the best thing going, but if you can stay close to that boy, even though he's not yours, and help him develop the skills to be a hunter, you will develop an incredible relationship that will stay with you both for life. Ask his father if it's OK for you to teach him stalking skills, bushcraft, etc., etc., and you can't go wrong - but ALWAYS ask his father's permission - you don't want to overstep the boundaries. IMHO, the rifle would be perfect for a 9 year old - I started my boy (nine at the time) on a 22, then 22mag, 223, then 270 (yeah, I know, it's a bit of a jump!!). His first shot from the 270 knocked his hat off , but by that stage he had already come to understand that he was in control of the situation, and it wasn't an issue. We could both see the funny side of it. He is now an experienced (and bloody capable) hunter at just under 13 years old, and we have a relationship that his mother will never have, nor fully understand. It's the same with fishing. If it turns out that the boy doesn't take up the opportunity, let me know, and I'm sure I can find a father/son team who'd be only too happy to take the rifle off your hands Good on you for helping to introduce another young 'un to the pleasures of hunting - my hat's off to you. Well done. | |||
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one of us |
Yeah, if I were the boy I wouldn't convert it to anything else later on because it will always be a great little deer gun at ranges where deer are usually shot anyway. He might put a black pad on it for better color match up. Cor-bon offers a pretty stout load in that caliber with there 150 grain bullet. The .223 is a good deer caliber with today's heavior bullets for the young beginner but the even heavior bullets of the little russian will leave those good blood trails. | |||
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