I have 4 nephews and 6 mauser actions. All my nephews are between 12-16. They all love to deer hunt little East Texas whitetail. I am toying with the idea of building a rifle for each one for a gift next year before hunting season. The problem is most of the dads all go elk hunting every year. I will be reloading for all the mentioned people so I should be able to load a larger caliber down to take away so kick. If it wasnt for the elk hunt I would go we a 25-06 or 270. With the elk hunt every year I am leaning towards making them into 30-06 and just loading it down until they grow up a little. Everyone dreams about going on the elk hunt with us and we have told them when the get a older they can come. I will be bringing my brothers into the project to make it truely special.

Any other calibers (trying to stay with longer chambers because of the action)?

Suggested stocks for youth?

Scope suggestions? Thinking about burris enfield II around a 4 power 2-6.

If we dont screw up the youth guns the other 2 might be gifts for the brothers in 338-06. Wish they could be 375 H&H but worried about taking the metal off the front when opening up the action.

With what you have said, I'd probably go with a 270. This gun will hopefully be shot a couple thousand times a year, and only one of those bullets is going to be at an Elk. It is a perfect setup to teach the importance of shot placement. I've never shot an Elk but I believe that you can use a 270 legally. So that with a premium bullet and the boy is not going to be by themselves, there will be an adult there to provide a backup should one be needed.

IMHO much better to teach marksmanship and where to shoot than go with a bigger kicking gun that might impede those skills.

BTW I'm kinda planning to do the same thing, only in 243 and for deer only.

Just re-read the second part. I'd use an adult sized stock and cut it down. Drill some holes in the butt first, then after you cut it you can add the cut off section when they gow into it. Just put some dowels in the holes you already drilled and it will line up and be strong too.

For scopes I'd pick a 3-9 in whatever flavor you wish. This gun is going to have some long range target shooting done to it and the higher mag will be appreciated for that. 3X is just as fast as 2X once you get the hang of pointing the gun and looking through the scope, rather than searching around like you have a camcorder instead of a rifle and that is good to learn too.

I shot my first Elk with a unaltered M95 Chilean Mauser in 7x57 using ordinary 175gr round nosed factory ammo. Not bad for a 12 year old kid.

With proper shot placement and 150 or 160gr Partitons getting an Elk with a 270 can be done.

You could split the difference and go with a 280 Remington. A little less recoil than '06 and a little more bullet weight than a 270.

ZM

If Elk is in the future hunting plans with these rifles forget about a 25-06 thats a poor choice.

There are no fleas on the 30-06's back certainly a good choice, its flexible can be loaded down in the beginning, when they grow into more recoil it is an excellent cartridge.

Other honorable mentions would be the 280 Rem, I am a 7mm fan. Another good choice would be the 6.5x55. And yes the 270 is certtainly a viable option, as is the 7x57 my boys grw up shooting mine and they both like the 7x57.

I wouldn't discount the 308 either, if I had a brace of youngsters to keep in ammo, the 308 certainly would get serious consideration. It might not quite fill out the mauser actions but its still a solid choice for your purposes.

You said you would end up with most of the reloading chores, my question back to you is what bullets do you like to keep stocked on your bench? For me that would be 7mm or 30 cal.

I have considered the 270 and the 280. The youngest one currently shoots his cousins 7-08 without trouble. Mark I think you have a point these rifles might never see elk but I want them capable to do the job. The 270 and 280 should be up to the task. Most of the shooting being done around here will be under 200 yards easy, probable closer to 75-100 for the most part. I have been leaning to the 280 or 284. I think if I load them up nice and soft they should not be a problem. When they get older I can go back to normal loads. The big game bullets I will be using for elk would be North Fork or Barnes X.

Build 7 X 57s and be done with it. They will kill whitetails like there is no tomorrow, and when the young men get to go chase an elk, stoke the rifles with 175-grain handloads. With any luck, all the rifles will shoot the same ammo well enough to where you don't have to custom load for each one.

My $.02 has to go to the 7x57 with the 280 a close second. Good bullets, more than adequate power if the shooter does his part and a lot easier to learn that part with than something heavier. Makes for a nice light plesant combination. If some of them were small of stature, then a 6.5x55 would be an excellent choice.

swift,

I would go 7x57 stamped the 275 Rigby nomenclature, hopefully this will help get them the African bug early. More importantly it is a great cartridge and the stamping would give them that extra bit of "cool" that teens always want. If Bell could kill Elephant with it and 275 grainers's then your nephews can take Elk. My younger step-brother has a 7x57 in a Win. Featherlight and it is sweet!.

I disagree with cutting the stock and putting it back on later, if you are planning ahead I would figure out the L.O.P. they need, taking into account what they will be wearing when they hunt (I found out with the first rifle I had that by the time I put my jacket on LOP was too long. ) Then I would get a high quality but not real thick pad and put it on, as they get older switch out the pad. Looks better than a piece of wood inserted there and is less work, plus only about 30 bucks for a good pad right. You can probably buy yourself about 1" of play with that method.

I would go with a fixed 4x or 6x. That should be good for shots they are likely to make. I prefer fixed power scopes as I never mess wit them anyways. Weaver scopes are very reasonable price and stand up well, I think I have 2 new production 6x and two very old steel tube in 4x that seem to work just fine. I hear it is open shots more often in Texas so I would go 6x most likely (or buy my 7x Leupold from me but they are hard to find so you would be able to match them all).

sounds like a real fun project, good on you.

Red

This is what I would do. 30-06's all around. It will be presented in the 100th year of this cartridge which will make it extra special. I would also make them all matching and have the smith stamp or engrave the boys initials (in a tastfull) manner on the barrel. As far a LOP I would make them a little long that way they will atleast get several years before restocking or they may leave them for thier kids.

I just dropped off my wifes rifle for the 14 year old niece to use this year.
She surprized us all by saying a month ago she wanted to deer hunt.

FN Mauser in 30-06
Lyman 311466, 152 gr cast bullet loaded with 19.0 grs Unique at 1800 fps.
Will take care of any deer up to about 200 yards.

Next year will make a new rifle up for her, using a Mauser action in either 308 or 30-06.
Will have to make a stock for her to grow into.
What I do there is use an old stock and build it up with acraglass. Let her use it and alter it a couple of times as she grows. By the time she is 18 then will make a new stock from the old PATTERN stock.

Jim Wisner
Custom Metalsmith

For a youth gun the 7X57 is absoloutly outstanding and they are a natural for the Mauser action. But, for anyone considering such a gun with intentions to grow into Elk hunting they might also give consideration to the 8X57.

The anemic factory loads make good trainer rounds and with heavier handloads it is every bit the equal of a 30-06, and simply a better Elk round than the 7mm. People seem to believe that the 7mm is a better round for deer because it is flatter shooting, I think that an 8mm 150 gn bullet @ 2900 fs compares very well with anything the 7mm can do along those lines. And when loaded to their potential the recoil of the 7mm is a bit sharper than the 8mm. Both excellent rounds for said purpose though.

One possible soloution to the Stock dilema is to start with a buttplate and light loads and then add a pad later for an extra 3/4" of length when more pepper is appropriate.

quote:

when the young men get to go chase an elk

They'll be just like the rest of us and want an "elk rifle" (or several, just like the rest of us).

The lads should be brought along properly and taught to understand that buying, building and shooting multiple rifles is the key to a long and happy life

7X57 seems like the answer. Make at least one a scope forward Scout. roger

I have got to recommend the 7x57mm as well. I have used the cartride on elk, mule deer, whitetail deer, antelope, coyote, wild hog, javelina and even a wild turkey in Texas. You must handload for the caliber if you want to milk all that the 7x57mm has to offer. I would put a 1x9 twist premium barrel on the rigs as this would allow you to load the 160 grain bullets and shoot them well. With my CZ 550, I get a chronographed 2,815 fps average with the 160 grain partition and slightly less with the 162 grain Hornady SST. I would open the barrel throat some to allow for seating the heavier bullets out so the base of the bullet is even with the top of the case shoulder.. I love the idea of the .275 Rigby barrel stamps and the one about using the thin recoil pads now as a way to control the fit with LOP is a good one. I use only the 160 grain partition load in my rifle as it get well below minute of angle groups with it and it has just flat worked. It can dispatch elk out to 300 or so yards and Texas whitetails so far away that it should be illegal to even think about the shot. Regardless of how you go, please put wooden stocks on them. Have a good one ... Tom Purdom

30-06, you can download it with 125-130 gr bullets to 2500-2700 fps, and load it up full patch.

I'm starting all my children with .308's utilizing the same philosophy.

quote:

Originally posted by Paul H:
30-06, you can download it with 125-130 gr bullets to 2500-2700 fps, and load it up full patch.

I'm starting all my children with .308's utilizing the same philosophy.

Exactly!! Both of my boys started with 30-06 Mauser's 165gX on top of 46.0g IMR4064 low recoil &
super accurate in both their guns, good moose & little brother elk medicne

I see little difference in killing power between all of those mentioned, the 30-06,270-.25-06, 280, 308, 7x57 (one of my favorites) they are all the same and will work on elk

I shot my first elk with 25-35s and 30-30s, then graduated to a 250 savage, and never lost one....Today I use the .338 mostly..

I think your choice of a 30-06 is a great choice, the old 06 will do it all under any circumstances, always has and always will, ask anyone that has used it extensively.....

I have a friend PH that has shot untold numbers of Lion and Buffalo with his, Phil Shoemaker has shot a lot of Brown Bear with one..I have shot Buffalo and Eland with it...it just works. May not be the best in all circumstances but its always the best trade off.