Deer round for a 12 year old boy

[NStone23]

My son wants to get into hunting and what would be the best deer round with little recoil?

Read More

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

.243 Win is a classic choice, as is 6.5×55mm Swedish.

 

[ajmacomber]

I second the .243, also a rem 600 in 6mm is fantastic if you can find one

 

[eightyeight mag]

7-08

 

[jbett98]

.257 Roberts is a sweet shooting round.

 

[osprey]

.243 Win is a classic choice, as is 6.5×55mm Swedish.

Those are great choices for sure. For a modern choice but not necessarily better the 6.5 creedmoor would fit the bill. For something he could grow with a 7mm-08 would be a good choice with reduced loads to start with.

 

[ajmacomber]

X2 on 257 Roberts, it can later be bored out to .257 Ackley, which is an amazing chambering, I have one myself

 

[No_Regerts]

I'd stick with common cartridges that aren't expensive. I don't know how big he is, but most kids do best with lesser amounts of recoil. My list would be in this order:

7mm-08, 6.5 Creedmoor, 270 (if he's big enough to throw a longer bolt), 308, 243.

243 being my last choice because I really do believe the other cartridges give your more margin for error if you hit a bone or a joint, or if the angle is less than perfect.

 

[clearconscience]

Personally I would have him go with a .243 or 6.5cm.
They are accurate and not much recoil.
I would stay away from anything thats now available in abundance at every sporting goods store or that you would have to reload.

 

[No_Regerts]

.257 Roberts is a sweet shooting round.

For a handloader, yes, its a cool cartridge. For the average hunter, there isn't a lot of choice when it comes to factory loads and most rifles will come with a long action since the parent case is a tweener (7x57 Mauser). Too long for a short action, too short to take up the magazine space in a long action. So, if you're gonna have a long action quarter bore, why not have a 25-06? More common ammo, more performance, etc.

 

[ajmacomber]

Because .257 Ackley is sexier than a 25-06 lol. Duh

 

[Ura-Ki]

Depending on his age and later desires to hunt, I would go ether 7mm 08, or .270 for easy to find ammo
or for more adventurous potential, the 6.5X55 Swede is an awesome all around cartridge!

There is a sweet Tikka T3 on here in the classifieds right now, be a super score!

 

[titsonritz]

7-08

^^This, with plenty of growing room.
7mm-08 Remington The best all-around cartridge! Reloading Data

 

[CountryGent]

In a bolt-action, .270 Winchester. In lever-action, .30/30 WCF. Neither are particularly nasty in the recoil department and both have been used to bring down deer for a very long time. Well wishes.

 

[No_Regerts]

Because .257 Ackley is sexier than a 25-06 lol. Duh

It definitely is! I'm a big fan of the Bob. I miss my Ruger 77 Mk II Ultralight in 257 Roberts. Not sure why I sold it.

 

[coltemp]

The 270 has some hefty recoil for a kid. (Even as an adult I find I prefer shooting low recoil rounds in my 270. Mine shoots them quite well.)

Also, it really depends on where you will be hunting. The lever actions are the best for open site, bush or short distance hunting, like in Western Washington. But once you get out east of the cascades you are going to want something that is scoped. 243 is the classic choice as already mentioned. Most deer hunting doesn't need something massive to bring them down and the advantage of having a bit more throw weight is if you clip a rib or shoulder. The smaller rounds may not make a nice clean kill.
Congrats on getting him out hunting. Best of luck.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

A lot of great suggestions. Pretty hard to argue about those choices. I second the .243 winchester, 6.5 CM, and 7mm08. Funny story about yesterdays early morning shoot with my boss. We were shooting steel at 400 yards and he had his 300 win mag. He's a 1 rifle guy and shoots a rem 700 300wm for deer and elk. Well, he couldn't hit the 4" steel plate with his big boomer, so I let him shoot both my 6.5 creedmoor Tikka CTR and my 6mmWOA AR15. He was nailing the 4" steel plate just about every time. He looked at me and said, "now I know why you like the creedmoor so much. You can shoot this all day long, and its accurate!!!" He also said, "I am going to have to buy one of these". I said I have an extra one, but it's not for sale

 

[Stomper]

Well, there goes your promotion at work....

 

[Portaledgepete]

270 does not have reduced recoil, it is not all that much different than a 30-06, not surprising since they use the same casing. When I was a kid I started out with the good old 30-30 and it was fine.

 

[orygun]

The cartridge is almost as important as the fit of the gun to the shooter is. At 12 years old he's probably still going to grow a lot in the next handful of years, but resist the urge to buy a gun that doesn't fit. There are a few options in the firearms field where LOP (length of pull) can be adjusted. Ruger and Savage have models with that capability.

My grandson is nine and big for his age, but still only 5' tall. We are mentoring him with what was my wife's first deer rifle, a Savage 99 in 243 with a shortened LOP.
Our other two options are my wife's Ruger 77MKII Compact in 7mm-08 and his Winchester 30-30, which he's not shot yet. Both of these fit him fairly well, but not as well as the shortened Savage and both recoil a bit more.

Poor gun fit and too much recoil, even if YOU think it isn't, will certainly bring bad habits. Make it fit and make it not hurt. The hits will come. A decent hit with a 243 beats the hell out of the alternative.