I have found great results with the .257 Rbts for a young hunter. I have used it and the .243 on deer and the .257 seems to kill more consistently without a noticeable increase in recoil. My wife also uses it for deer and antelope. It works fine with a good 100 grain bullet or I prefer a 115 or 120 grain Partition.

I think either cartridge you mentioned is fine, it depends on whether you reload or want to buy factory; I don't think the new factory light loads are out in 7-08 yet

my strategy, and it worked really well...

1- teach her on the bb gun w/ cans

2- then the .22 w/ more cans and a spinner target

3- have her shoot a *few* rounds with light high power loads (in my daughter's case a .270 with 100gr bullets and IMR 4227 (see the IMR website for light loads; Hodgdon also has light loads on their site)), using milk jugs at 50-100 yds to build confidence w/ the hunting rifle on vital sized target

4- take her hunting

the 1st full power load my daughter ever fired was on game, if you're worried about a little kid firing a .270 class rifle, she was about 80 lbs at the time, couldn't carry the gun far at all, I'd just give it to her when the time came, after shooting she said it didn't feel any different from the practice shooting (bit 'o' adrenaline, eh?)

she was 2 for 2 last yr on 1 shot kills, hopefully she can continue like that at 13

Depends on how big the kids are, and their individual tolerance for noise and recoil; the 6x45mm is a nice light round, legal and precise. The 7mm TCU is another one of the same sort.



Oops, just noticed elk at 250 yards...these are for antelope and deer, closer than that. The 7mm-08 starts looking more reasonable, as does 7x57mm, for light rounds.

300winnie,

I built my 12 year old granddaughter a 7mm-08 on a left handed M70 action at her request. After trying many different caliber�s(everything from .243 Win. to 6.5mm Swede to .308 Win.) this is the one she settled on. She has already taken two nice hogs with it and can't wait until deer season this fall. It gets me all excited to watch the young ones get excited over an upcoming season. That is the best part. Let your children try different caliber�s and go from there. Lawdog

25/06 with a 115gr or 120gr Partition will do the job on any Elk out to 300 yards. Light recoil and a good all around Rifle.