Pretty neat looking rifle.

This is the best thread yet guys. Thanks!


crap a compact in my favorite caliber the 6.5X55....The 6.5Swede is what I shoot now!

H&R is an excellent thought. I personally recommend it in 357 mag. A good 100 yrd rifle, youth stocks & other barrels available, simple to learn to use. Don't discount the 357 mag. I put two whitetail in the freezer this year with my marlin lever action. My son is using his H&R in 44mag for his 3 sons. Recoil is a little heavy for them. If not the 357, then the 6.5 swede.

Most of the options that have been posted are good ones and you probably wouldn't go wrong with most of them. What you might consider is taking her with you when your shopping and let her see and feel the various options and let her choose the one that feels best to her?

I decided to take a 1st year H&R Ultra hunter in 308 and 'Smith it to fit. Federal has the Fusion Lite loads using a 30-30 170 grain slug as 30-30 speeds...new scope, cut and crown the barrel to 18 inches, and add a pad after some stock work to make a 12.5 LOP....

I appreciate all of your help, and love the pics of the kids hunting...PLEASE Add more for everyone to see and lets brag a little for continuing the tradition.

http://www.fusionammo.com/ball...cs/rifle.aspx?id=736

Technical Information
# Caliber: 308 Winchester
# Bullet Weight: 170 Grains


Ballistics Information:
# Muzzle Velocity: 2000 fps
# Muzzle Energy: 1510 ft. lbs.

You might want to consider a 250 Savage in a Savage model 16 rifle. My aunt used to hunt deer with one in a Sav. M-99 and it was quite effective for her. I recently purchased a 250 Sav. and use it for coyotes. The modern Savage rifle is VERY accurate.

quote:

Originally posted by 333_OKH:
I have a 12 year old girl who is hunting with me this year. I want the right rifle for her on blacktail deer. I am looking at:

Weatherby Vanguard Youth
Ruger Hawkeye Carbine
CZ 527 Carbine

or

Savage
Marlin

I started all three of my kids with rem 700's, my daughter has a 221 fireball (I need to get her something more for deer hunting, and the boys have 700 sps youths in .243 and .223. I've topped them with 6X fixed leupold scopes.

Get a rifle that fits your daughter, or have the stock cut to fit her, stay with a chambering that has mild recoil, avoid short barrels (excessive muzzle blast) and work up a pile of accurate ammunition so they can hone their skills. I've found they greatly prefer shooting clays and 12 ga hulls on the 100 yd berm to paper targets.

quote:

Originally posted by 333_OKH:
Model 7 is a great option. I actually thought of managed recoil rounds for the 7mm-08

for anyone who wants to load the equivalent of these Rem Managed Recoil loads, I dissected one of those also.

at least the ones I pulled apart, Remington is using 30 grains of IMR 4198 in the 7/08 and 260 Managed Recoil loads.

if it isn't 4198, its an IMR powder with the same burn rate as 4198... at least according to the chronograph..

I've pulled apart M/R loads in the 270, 260, 7/08, 30/06, 7 Rem Mag.. and powder used in each one was IMR 4198.

I have two nephews hunting with H&R 7mm-08 loaded with reduced recoil factory loads. They have both taken a few deer with them this year so I guess they are working pretty well. I have two daughters that are not old enough to hunt yet. If they decide they want to I have a tang saftey youth model Ruger in 243, that was my first rifle, set aside for them. I bought a whitworth 25-06 this year that I thought might make sense as a step up gun if they both like to hunt, but the gun has a 24in barrel and a Fajen maple stock on it so it's pretty heavy. I think for that one to work I would have to put a smaller synthetic stock and maybe rebarrel it to something to works better with a shorter barrel.

When I get the gun assembled I will take some pics. I will actually be putting a shotgun scope on it for increased eye relief. With the lower power she cannot turn up the scope too high. A lot of our hunting is in broken brush for blacktail deer, black bear, and feral hogs so the lower 1.75X will be excellent for this type of shooting. The 4x will work out to 150 yards; perfect with these reduced recoil and lite loads.

I also have HiViz Sights Xcoil recoil pad that will be getting installed...That thing is very soft and adds good grip to the shoulder as well.

Overall LOP will be 12 1/2 with an 18 inch barrel on the H&R Ultra Hunter bull barreled 308.

my 9 year old hunted in pa this year with his rem mod 7 n 260 nice handling gun for youth hunter

I am hoping these Fusion Lite loads for the 308 dont knock the hell out of her. She is tall, but skinny.

Making your own H&R youth. Good choice, I think. Inherently safe and easy to use. You may find some future application for that as an adult rifle.

I am a bit surprised that you would choose a 308 over 243, but whatever works. And if the 308 is a bit much, it used to be possable to get an extra barrel fitted. But probably easier to just buy a youth 243 and keep the 308 for next step up. These guns as so low cost, I dont see the logic in spare barrels.

The 308 is the one I had...the Fusion Lite load are less than 50% off the normal kick in recoil....less than a 243.

quote:

the Fusion Lite load are less than 50% off the normal kick in recoil....less than a 243.

I did not know that. I did not follow the link for that ammo you posted earlier. Excellent all around then.

Just to satisfy myself, I ran a few number in an online recoil calculator and got 11 ft-lb recoil. Almost exactly same with both 243 and 308light. I assume 6 lb gun for both. For 243 I used 100 bullet, 40 powder and 2960 velocity. For 308Light, I used 170, 30 and 2000. That is a nice load. They must be using 30/30 bullets.

The wife and I use the Federal low recoil loads in our 30/06 Drillings.

My 10 year old nephew and I have used the Remington Managed Recoil loads in 308.

With both loads we have taken several deer, several wild pigs and a few turkeys.

They kill as good as full power loads.

I dropped a big pig in its tracks at just about 100 yards with the 308 load, and the nephew did the same at about 15 yards on a pig we walked up on.

These are poor photos of the little thumper, but you get the idea....







1) H&R 1871 Ultra Hunter 308 Winchester 22 inch bull barrel

a) Shorten length of pull to 11.5 inches of wood

i) Install HiViz Xcoil 1 inch recoil pad to increase LOP to 12.5 inches

ii) Reinstall rear sling swivel stud

b) Shorten barrel to 18 inches

i) Re-crown with 11 degree target crown

2) Install Butler Creek Alaskan Magnum rifle sling with bullet loops

3) Install Bushnell Banner 1.75x-4xX23mm Circle-X shotgun scope

4) Ammunition: Federal Fusion Lite 170 grain 308 Winchester

If those are your bad photos, I hope to see your best some time

It looks nice and functional too. I almost want one for myself! You did that work yourself?

My Dad did the majority and I had to have a 'smith do the barrel. These are not the prettiest guns, but i used one for backpack hunting for a few years and in really rough country while guiding others for a timber company. I am hoping for equal results.

Here is the little gun before it was cut down this last week. I shot two running bucks in heavy timber with it on a hunting ranch I used to help guide and cook on for the clients. I actually shot three times in a few seconds and did not realize I had two buck running until the final finisher shot. Yes I had two tags...Blacktails in California..Mattole River...B4 Zone

quote:

I appreciate all of your help, and love the pics of the kids hunting...PLEASE Add more for everyone to see and lets brag a little for continuing the tradition.

Hey thats a nice looking rig you got there, as are the deer as well.

As for another pic, the prementioned grandson picked off a nice hog using "his" newly acquired .243 the last weekend of the season, so here's another one for the kiddo's,



Wishing all the best to yours....

Just MPO but I think the H&R 1871 with a shortened stock is a great youth starter rifle although I'd try to get it in one of the medium capacity 6.5s or 25 caliber cartridges.

Looks like we will be trying the Remington 308 125 grain Managed Recoil loads for her gun.

Midway canceled my order of Federal Fusion Lite loads because they said 308 fell under the Handgun Ammo legislation that was going through here in California.

The legislation has rules for ammo that had a "primary" purpose for handguns. Midway said they were banning all sales of ammo that could bre used in ANY handgun and the SSK barrels and T/C barrels came in 308 so they were on Midway's list not to ship. Too bad they looked at it that way. No one else did and I have orders in with two others now. Oh, yeah and a judge through the bill out.

Let see some more of these youth guns....awesome hog and a perfect little Sako.

Mike/Tx



any "kid" including this one, ought to be happy with a Sako in just about any chambering, and to think he has a Polaris to boot, at his age. One lucky and fortunate young man.
When he's forty, he'll probably hug your neck, say thanks, and understand his good fortune.
Best
GWB

Thanks folks, yep got to spoil the grandkids. LOL We share that 4 wheeler, but he does have a smaller one of his own. I picked that rifle up for him dirt cheap and it came with the dirt thrown in. It took a while to get it looking like it does, but it's a shooter and worth more now than when I picked it up. Geedubya, would ya believe I got it from the used rifle rack at Carters for only $325?

Anyway my biggest issue is, this grandson has two younger brothers, both of which are working hard to get in behind a rifle. Well everyone keeps pointing them to grandpa, and I keep pointing them back to mom and pop. LOL Truth is I have stuff for them as well, maybe not quite as fancy, but every bit as accurate.

Great pics guys...

...I finally got some reduced loads for the 308 on the way....Back again to the Federal Fusion Lite 170 grain...Graf&Sons have always come through for me on ammo.

I started my 11 year old daughter with a 700 in .243. Basically it's too heavy, so that has to change.

After looking at most of the selections discussed here and finding then too heavy, I've settled on cutting down a Kimber in 7-08. If she manages to outgrow that, I'll go with a thicker pad or spacers to get back in the game.

quote:

Originally posted by 333_OKH:
I am hoping these Fusion Lite loads for the 308 dont knock the hell out of her. She is tall, but skinny.

I too would like to know how the Fusions in .308 work out for your youth shooter. My daughter is tall and skinny as well.

They just showed up a few minutes ago so I will let you all know in the upcoming days how they kick. I will sight the gun in 1st and then let her have at it. I bought five boxes, but some 184 grain RWS loads...those are thumpers.

Thanks, Mine is 10 and just starting. She has been shooting 22 mag and her pellet gun, Time to step up a bit.