Thread: opinions on what gun to get.

Hello members. My 10 year old son has been on me pretty thick to take him hunting. Was wondering what the common perfect starter rifle is for a 10 year old. He's a big kid 120lbs but a softy. Any all help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Steve.

What are you going to hunt? Softy means? Also size of a person can be a issue. Are you looking for new or used. Used would be, a great quality rifle for the money. New.. then the amount you are willing to spend would set limits.

Also, has he taken the hunter's safety course? The instructor here showed a number of rifles and let his students try them.

Thanks for the reply. He is interested in Deer hunting. Softy means that he's a big kid but not aggressive or competitive. I am definately looking used. I found the Hunters Safety course online last night. Said you can do the test online and shooting in the field to pass. I picked him up a Rossi 22/410 a couple years ago. I wonder if I can find another barrel that will go on it that will knock over a deer? Thanks again for the reply and any other help I can get.

My first deer rifle was a break-open 30-30 that also had a 20-ga barrel you could switch out very quickly - sort of like one of these (H&R Handi-Rifle), except it was old, beat up, and had the shotgun barrel as well. Iron sights, and an elastic shell holder on the butt kept from sliding up by poking the sling stud through it and I was set. I don't think it cost more than $125 when I got it, and I used it for my first deer and a LOT of grouse, until I got my 308 BLR. Anyway, it looks like Rossi has a .243 barrel for that setup...though it may be a bit light for deer without a fair amount of practice and well placed shots (I don't have personal experience with the 243...but I do have experience with being a 12-yr-old sighting down a rifle for the first time at a LIVE deer and know that the words "well-placed shots" don't exactly fit into that scenario). They also have a 44-magnum barrel that would be pretty good for deer hunting at closer range...so it would also depend on what sort of area you are hunting as well. Lots of people I know in the midwest hunt deer with a 44-mag in a 6" barrel handgun - usually no more than 30 to 50 yards max range though.

Best of luck - and I am jealous you've got a child anxious to get into the woods and pick up the art of hunting. I'm still holding out hope I can start getting one of my two (now 8 and 9-1/2) interested in the coming years.

he is only 10 what is the hunting age in WA. In OR i think its 12 he will probably grow a lot between now and then

sounds like dear ole dad is jumping the gun and looking for a early excuse to buy another rifle

this has been covered before i am sure. he is only 10 then i would say a .243 or 30.30 . or wait for him to be legal age to hunt and get something like a .308 or 30.06

i got my first rifle at 14 it was a 7mm magnum and hunted with it at 14.

We just bought our small 12 year old girl a .243 and she loves it. She needs a brace to hold it steady but she shoots it well.

Washington has no minimum age - so long as you pass the Hunter's Education course (which some areas will put a minimum age on, but it is not a state-mandated age). I know of people I work with that have children age 10 and 11 hunting with them.

Originally Posted by Flat Lander

We just bought our small 12 year old girl a .243 and she loves it. She needs a brace to hold it steady but she shoots it well.

That is a sweat caliber for anyone. Very good call.

.243 is a good choice, .257 roberts not bad either, both good flat shooters without alot of recoil.

i would say get him a used lever action 30-30 or a savage .270

look at the NEF rifles. They are single shot break action guns. They come in tons of calibers and you can get youth stocks for them. As the kid grows you can get other stocks and other calibers. Nice thing is they are reasonably priced.

Well I've called Rossi and they will not sell individual barrels so I am thinking a used 243 or 30-30 will do the trick. Heading to the gun show in the a.m. not sure if we are buyers or window shoppers guess we'l see whats on the tables. Thank you all for your help.

Hey i believe the Rossi you have does accept a .243 barrel. I saw that gun and will probably get it for my 10 year old son also. I have seen Rossi combo rifles with 12 and 20 gauge barrels also if i remember right. Hope this helps.

thanks stklass, when I bought the Rossi it just came with the 22/410 barrels, it will accept a 243 barrel but they are 160-200 with shipping on Amazon. Now Rossi has the tri-fecta out with the 22/410/243 we saw at Cabelas for $329. I think I will keep my 160-200 and just pick up another rifle. That little Rossi is an excellent starter rifle though. Thanks for the input.

And thank you, i was wondering if it was a good gun or not but i figured it would be kind of hard to go wrong for that price... also look up the rossi website, there are several trifecta packages! Including 12g/.243/.50 cal muzzleloader... 20g/.22/.44 magnum... a 4 barrel package with .243/.22/20g/410g, i think my favorite and hopefully not too much for my son(with light loads) would be either of the first two packages i mentioned, . there are a couple other packages but they have two of the barrels you already have.. Rossi USA

Ps. watch bi-mart, they have them on sale every once in awhile, last year the 3 barrel combo packages i think were 279 dollars

pitpride,

A Remington model 7 in 7-08 will last him a lifetime.
See if the regular stock will fit him. If he's as big as you say, it probably will.
Cap that gun off with a Redfield 1.5-6X and a nice leather sling with a wide spot for his shoulder.
There's not a thing in the NW that you can't bag (aside from birds), or an area you can't hunt in, with that rig.
Trust me, it is absolutely perfect for out here.


Dean

Never buy a new hunter a lever action 30,30 with a hammer. Generaly their thumbs are not strong enough to set it and I have seen them go off. A 7-08 is a pefect choice for a new hunter. Remington makes a youth rifle wiht a shorter stock when he grows you can buy a full size stock. Or Winchester is making a new rifle FW weight rifle with a shorter stock for women and kids.

Find an older sporterized Mauser... they are inexpensive, and fairly common. My dad started me out with a bolt 30-30 at about 8 yrs old, then moved me to a 7mm spanish mauser (sporterized) at about 12 yrs old. Still got it. I've taken down lots of game with it...

very cool, I've got alot to learn and am still learning. right now trying to see if I can track down the 243 barrel for the Rossi we have, but am searching daily for the right youth rifle to pop up, we'l see which happens first.