Well my Dad bought me a 25-06 as a first deer rifle and even after shooting several thousand deer with it its still my go to rifle.

I bought my wife her first deer rifle and it was a 25-06 and she wouldnt swap it for the world.

I bought my son a 270 for his first rifle why? because we live it the UK and as we already had 2 25-06 rifles we couldnt get a third?????? so went for a 270

quote:

Originally posted by Cobra:
You'd be hard pressed to find a better cartridge than the 7mm-08 with 140 grain bullets. It'll do anything you need it to with mild recoil and there are plenty available in carbine size.

quote:

Originally posted by MHC_TX:
I just picked up a Winchester M-70 featherweight in 7-08. The young hunter is 9yrs old and I am going to start off this season with "mild" 140gr bullets for deer season. The rifle has a nice crisp trigger pull and I like the fact that it is a short action. I will have the stocks LOP shortened.

Actually, Winchester now offers a MOdel 70 Featherweight COMPACT in 7-08 with a 13" length of pull, 20' barrel, 39.5" overall, 6 1/2 lbs. It would be my choice for grandkids as a keeper, great for smaller ladies, too. Add a couple spacers for their later teens when/if they're over 5'6".

For learners to shoot if they may not stay with the sport, then a HandiRifle in 243 offers a model with 11.75" length of pull, 5 1/3 lbs., truly a young one's rifle.

I have four sons and tried the 243 Remmington bolt action, 44mag Ruger lever action, 270 Winchester bolt action, and finnaly got it correct with son number 4. The New England Handi Rifle in 30-06 starting with Remington reduced recoil ammo. The Handi rifle is heavy enough to help reduce the recoil, a little to heavy for a 10 year old to shoot off hand so I made a set of shooting sticks to shot off of and the first deer was a bang flop at 125 yards. He is now 18 and still using his Handi rifle. I gave him one of my 270 FN Mausers before this past deer season and he never took it out of the gun safe the Handi rifle is his go to gun!
Bryan

I start my grandsons (6) with a .223 Remington just to get the feel for shooting. Then go to a .243 WSSM for first hunting and follow that with a 30-30 or .25 WSSM. When they get bigger they shoot my bigger stuff. One of my grandsons took his first Elk with a .338 Lapua when he was 14 and now shoots it with expert accuracy and enjoys it very much. Good shooting.

Phurley5
That is an excellent plan and one that has worked very well for me. Teenagers can grow into just about anything if approached intelligently.

Get him a 375 H&H, so he wont have need for any more guns. He can use the savings from not buying so many rifles to put towards a nice safari.

quote:

Originally posted by Sevens:
Get him a 375 H&H, so he wont have need for any more guns. He can use the savings from not buying so many rifles to put towards a nice safari.

My son thought like that for a while. Now he thinks a 416 Rigby is a better total calibre. For something light, the 375 Ruger is an inexpensive and better all-around replacement for the H&H. Either the 375Ruger or the 338WM.

But the kids should be at least 110 lb. before following this advice. These rifles will rock them a bit.

quote:

Originally posted by grandpa:
My sons favorite rifle is the one he got from my dad.I have plenty of 22s for them a 223 and a 243 for them to start with but I would like something a little bit bigger for them to shoot when they are teens I am not sure a 243 is a good rifle for deer I know a lot of people have to look for deer they shoot maybe there is a good bullet or load for them I am not sure any ideas would be great

I prefer larger bullets. If you reload, there is absolutely no reason that they couldn't shoot something in 308 cal with reduced loads. I started out with a Win 94 when I was about 10. It was Mfgd in the 20's and had a steel buttplate. It used to kick the snot out of me but I never noticed when there was a deer in my sights and I brough home a lot of venison with it.
I would not recommend less than 7mm for deer and 308 is better. JMHO.

quote:

Originally posted by grandpa:
I guess my my reluctance to get them 243 was a bad judgement on my part when I loaded a v Max for a deer load I will try a 95 gn tsx this year and see if I like it better. It bothered me to not find that deer last year I have never lost one before I have also shot several with a 223 but I don't think I would let someone shot that Unless they could shoot pretty good. I have a little bit before I need to buy there rifles the oldest is not yet 2 but I can hardly wait to take the little guys hunting and fishing with me

I think your 243 is fine if you use a better bullet than a Vmax. Any 100 grain deer bullet should work fine. You can to TSX but a number of cheaper bullets will kill deer just as fast ( interlocks, power points, hot cores, cor-lokts, etc..).

I'll also comment that some people get too caught up in what is the most accurate load instead of what is the most appropriate load. We aren't circumsizing mice at 200 yards, we are trying to hit 100-200 pound animal in the vitals and do enough damage to cleanly kill him.

A 6mm Remington is pretty hard to beat for a first deer rifle. My father built one for me when I was 8 and I don't know how many deer I killed with it before I stepped up to a .30-06 when I was 15 or 16. That step up was probably unnecessary. I've shot deer with a lot of calibers, up to .416 Rem. Mag., but I can't think of a single one that the 6mm wouldn't have done the job. (of course, it's not much different than a .243, or a .257 Roberts, or ...).

quote:

Originally posted by scottfromdallas:

quote:

Originally posted by grandpa:
I guess my my reluctance to get them 243 was a bad judgement on my part when I loaded a v Max for a deer load I will try a 95 gn tsx this year and see if I like it better. It bothered me to not find that deer last year I have never lost one before I have also shot several with a 223 but I don't think I would let someone shot that Unless they could shoot pretty good. I have a little bit before I need to buy there rifles the oldest is not yet 2 but I can hardly wait to take the little guys hunting and fishing with me

I think your 243 is fine if you use a better bullet than a Vmax. Any 100 grain deer bullet should work fine. You can to TSX but a number of cheaper bullets will kill deer just as fast ( interlocks, power points, hot cores, cor-lokts, etc..).

+1, my favorite deer and elk bullet for my 243 was the 105g Speer spitzer moving at right around 3000 fps. Never lost an animal, and only rarely had to put a finishing shot in, and then the elk was laying on the ground. It is a little light for elk and you have to choose your shot carefully. On deer it was sudden death with any reasonable shot. That being said, I'd get them a 270. My sons started shooting a 270 at 10 years old and my youngest is 19 and still only weighs 145 lbs. Shoot 90g Sierra HPBTs at 3300 fps for practice and 130g Partitions or even Rem CoreLokts at 2800 fps for deer and elk.

First of all, the .243 is fine for deer. You can kill most any deer with a well placed shot and the right bullet. However, if you insist on getting another rifle (not the worst thing after all), I'd buy a .270. I'm 14 and I am a huge .270 fan. I am 100% comfortable with the cartridge's recoil, I shoot good with it, and its a wonderful deer cartridge (as well as Bear, Elk, and Moose cartridge).