Now that my two young sons have wetted their appetite for slaying coyotes, I'm going to need at least one if not two .223s in little boy sizes. Most youth models seem to only be a little shorter. I could probably use one as short as 11".

What say you? Nate

Nate I would be for taking a close look at what NEF has to offer. They make accurate effective rifles and you won't break the bank setting one up.

Choice #2 would be the Stevens bolt gun, Model 200 I believe.

Good luck, we all should be so fortunate to have 2 boys to get going!

Mark D

I believe the youth model stocks are 1" shorter. Mark has a good idea or you could buy a standard rifle say a model 7 and get a cheap aftermarket plastic stock and butcher it off to whatever length you needed.

Shortening a stock and fitting a recoil pad is not that difficult. A lot of smith's don't charge much for it. You could do it yourself. There's an article in the current "Rifle Magazine" that tells how to do it. Good pictures.

Ruger's ultra light and their Compact is also available in 223....

With the compact, with only a 16.5 inch barrel, they can shoot the crap out of it, and when it comes time that they outgrew it.. trade it in, or just rebarrel it with a longer barrel...

My son, is 11 and I have a Ruger 223 that I am going to be training him on... I located a used Ruger stock and will cut it an inch short....
When he gets a little bigger, I'll just sell the stock for the $25.00 I paid for it....clean the dust off of the stock it came with.. and remount it!

cheers
seafire

Sea-that is a good way as well, I've thought of doing the same for my wife.

She would just tear it up with a 223 or a 243 compact!

Mark D

if it didn't shoot as well as I would like then I could have it retubed

Sea, Mark, I did buy and "extra" factory stock for my .257 Roberts and whacked it off about 1.25" for my wife. I bedded it and although the contour is different it serves the purpose.

I guess I'm torn between buying a nicer rifle and just knowing I'll need to restock it at a minimum or go cheaper and get them their own nicer rifles when they get older. They are sharing dang near everthing now, and I'm sure that at some point having their own will be IMPORTANT!
What's the NEF like? Nate

If you're visiting the gunsmith anyway you can shop for most any used 223 bolt-gun and have the barrel bobbed along with the stock.

As for the otherwise excellent single-shot HandiRifle my son's hunter safety instructors made a compelling case that asking novice shooters to manage an exposed hammer in the cold while wearing gloves is not the best plan.

The concealed hammer single shot Mossberg SSi One comes in 223 and could be shortened quite neatly at both ends. Those I've seen at our local Gander Mountain were priced at ~$300, way below the MSRP.

You can buy deer barrels and a slip on recoil boot when the boys are ready for their first deer hunts.