Youth Deer Rifle Suggestions

[Emptymag]

I carried a 7mm, sporterized, surplus Mauser.
I was 12. I think I had fired it twice before shooting my first and only buck.
I remember thinking that it was heavy - and loud.

Most every other kid I knew had a 30-30 lever gun for deer hunting.

[lager1829]

.30-.30 was my first and my younger brother had a 257 Roberts, which he used ~40 years before passing 7 yrs ago.

[Jhaydeno]

carbine 30-30 is always good, but 30-30 ammo is absolutely non-existent right now. I just had to loan a buddy 2 boxes of Remington 150 gr core-lokt because neither of us could find any locally or online.

I always enjoyed .257 Roberts from the age of 11 on. I was lucky enough to have been loaned a nice Winchester 70 in .257 as a growing boy. I finally picked up a Ruger 77 in .257 Roberts a few years ago and it's still easy to shoot. Ammo may be more available than 30-30 too!

[lager1829]

carbine 30-30 is always good, but 30-30 ammo is absolutely non-existent right now. I just had to loan a buddy 2 boxes of Remington 150 gr core-lokt because neither of us could find any locally or online.

I always enjoyed .257 Roberts from the age of 11 on. I was lucky enough to have been loaned a nice Winchester 70 in .257 as a growing boy. I finally picked up a Ruger 77 in .257 Roberts a few years ago and it's still easy to shoot. Ammo may be more available than 30-30 too!

Dad made us reload our own back in the day. No factory loads for us! LOL. To this day....

[Hoppy]

If it definitely needs to be a rifle cartridge disregard this...

Yesterday I was carrying my Marlin 1894cs .357 in the woods. I’ve owned it for over twenty years, one of my favorite rifles. It was loaded with Buffalo Bore 180 grain hard cast flat nose. Their website says 1850 FPS out of my barrel. Should be plenty for deer out to 100 yards, although I’ve never taken one with it.

.38 special makes for great cheaper practice as well.

[Delkal]

I never thought of a lever action as a good kids gun when it comes to kick. With the high bore axis and large amount of drop in the stock the recoil is amplified with a lot of upwards torque. Then when you add the hard thin buttplate on most lever actions it can quickly get unpleasant. Put that same 30-30 cartridge in a bolt action with a padded buttplate and it is much more pleasant. And you can always add a scope to a bolt gun. Scopes on lever actions suck.

[chauncey]

Although ballistically inferior to traditional rifle rounds, the 350 Legacy is a soft-shooting cartridge effective out to 100 yards, which is probably far enough for a beginner shooter.

I have a Ruger Ranch in 450BM with an Aimpoint PRO on top. It is short, light, fast and easy to shoot. It has minimal recoil. The same rifle in 350 Legacy might be a good choice.

[Palerider]

I find myself carrying my daughter's youth .243 more than my other rifles. It is great for all day sits wearing extra heavy clothing. The short length of pull is about perfect in that situation. I paid under $350 dollars for it and have shot a confirmed center to center three shot group with it under 1.75 inches at 300 yards using factory ammunition. I also killed my largest buck to date with it using Nosler 90 grain balistic tips. A little light for bear, but great for deer.

Ruler American Compact for the win for all the reasons listed above. Won*t use it for bear but have taken 3 deer with it using 100 grain Remington Core Lokts.

[Pilot321]

As others have said, the .243, .257 Roberts and .30-30 are great for this role.

[R L Suehr]

I started with 30-30, but I was 10 when I started shooting it. If your son is 6 that might be a little much. I'd go 243 at max if it's something for him to use for quite a while. Maybe something in 300 bo (Ruger makes an american in it) or one of the pistol calibers 357,44 mag. All will have substantially less recoil than the 30-30.

My daughter is hunting for the first time this year and is going to use my Ruger Ranch in 7.62x39. she's 10 and kinda big for her age at 5' tall for reference and she can handle that off a bench fairly easily.