Son's first deer hunt.

[Sgt7330]

I had good success with 100 grain

 

[two70]

A .243 is a fine choice, just don't go cheap on the ammo. You will want to use a standard bullet in the 95+ grain range or a premium bullet of 80+ grains. I would suggest Barnes Vor-Tx or Nosler E-tip ammo if you don't reload. They will cost a little more than the cheap stuff but it's cheap insurance.

 

[Rouge727]

I ended up getting a Remington 770 in .243 from a coworker for cheap but honestly I wish I'd of read up on it a little first I have seen several bad reviews but at the same time it's a woods gun so I'm not out much if something were to happen to it and it's not going to bother me if it gets wet in rain or snow. Also I found some 100 grain rounds at Academy for about $15 a box got a few boxes to get him target shooting with and I want him to get accustomed to the heavy round since that's what he'll be using for deer. Come closer to the season we'll switch up to something more expensive and get some more shooting in just to make sure everything is in order and if I remember I'll post an update on patterns and ammo brands Thank you all.

 

[sugarcreekbrass]

My nephew bought the 770 in 243 to hunt deer and coyote with. I bought the 783, which is basically version 2.0 of the 770. We loaded 100 gr BTSP Hornady and both shoot great. Sure, it doesn't have the best trigger and wouldn't be used shooting long range steel. However, I get a dime size group at 100 yds. Plenty good for the deer hunting I'll be doing.

 

[BiscuitsandGravy]

300 BO in either AR if you've trained/practiced with it or a Ruger American in 300 BO. 110gr Barnes TacTX for DRT shots. My son took his first 8 pt with 300BO 110gr Barnes- 1 shot.

 

[tcause17]

My first hunting rifle was a .243 Savage and I loved it and still use it often today. It's great for someone younger and who may not handle higher kickbacks.

 

[bobjones223]

Okay I guess I will jump in with my .

I was in this same boat with my daughter a few years back and I went a different route and here was my logic.

99% of my deer shots in Indiana are under 100 yards, 75% of those under 50 yards.
I wanted her to have the option of hunting public land at a later date if the need presented itself which it did last year....you just never know. (We did a hike in camping/hunting trip at HNF.)
The .44 mag in a rifle still packs a good punch to the shoulder.
She was a bit noise sensitive at the time so I wanted to keep it subsonic but have the option of more later.

I ended up going with the Rossi M92 in 45LC with the longer octagonal barrel, thoughts being.
1) The .45LC factory ammo is a VERY soft shooter out of a heavy rifle.
2) The M94 action is one of the strongest actions in the industry and can be loader to Ruger/TC +P+ loads with as much if not more punch than the .44 mag.
3) I reload and that gave e the option of tayloring the load to what I needed.
4) It was a heavy rifle to take some of the punch out of the round. (Stalking game and gun weight not a concern at this age)

I ended up loading 250gr at 1,100fps...just shy of the speed of sound to help with the sonic crack. This has been a great load that she is comfortable with and can put them all in a quarter at 50 yards and enough power out to 100 yards.

The M92 action and long barrel also gives me the option of pushing that same round at around 1,700fps with the right powder, stretching the range out another 50-100yards turning it into a 200 yard gun.

This is where I went. Not saying it is right for you, just food for thought.

DON'T ASSUME YOU WILL ALWAYS HUNT PRIVATE LAND. Things happen, new adventures arise, and it is nice to be flexible.

There is nothing harder than telling your kid they can't go do a hunt/new adventure they want to do because "you" didn't get them the right gun....(you know it will be all YOUR fault...LOL)

 

[Rouge727]

This certainly won't be his only hunting rifle and I had planned on getting him a .44 mag since I shot a rossi break barrel not too long ago and absolutely loved it and the accuracy was second to none for such a heavy round I personally placed groups in a nickle at 100 yards with that rifle and a Nikon buckmaster and the recoil was nothing, unfortunately life happens and I sold that rifle now I wanted to get him a lever action .44 mag but I've never shot one and I can't compare the recoil to the single shot I had but all of that is later down the road. bobjones223 you've got me very intrigued with the 45 LC now so I will certainly look into that more, possibly even for the both of us in the future.

 

[bobjones223]

This certainly won't be his only hunting rifle and I had planned on getting him a .44 mag since I shot a rossi break barrel not too long ago and absolutely loved it and the accuracy was second to none for such a heavy round I personally placed groups in a nickle at 100 yards with that rifle and a Nikon buckmaster and the recoil was nothing, unfortunately life happens and I sold that rifle now I wanted to get him a lever action .44 mag but I've never shot one and I can't compare the recoil to the single shot I had but all of that is later down the road. bobjones223 you've got me very intrigued with the 45 LC now so I will certainly look into that more, possibly even for the both of us in the future.

If that is the direction you are thinking of going check out Kentucky Gun Co. online. They handle Taurus/Rossi "Blem" guns. This is where I got baby girls from!

The only blemish I could find was a small spot in the blueing the size of a nickle that just looked like an oil smudge on the blued finish other than that it is in perfect condition...(Still blued, just a little darker.)

They are listing them for $408.99 for the "Blem" models but they are out of stock. Keep an eye on there and just search BLEM and they will be listed.

Free shipping to your FFL usually arrives in two days and if I remember correct you don't have to pay sales tax. I have bought several firearms from them and every experience has been great.

Keep in mind the Rossi it a top eject so I mounted a Vortex Scout Scope on hers. The round barrel model comes pre-drilled and tapped for a scout scope.

I had to take the octagonal barrel to AllenM to get it tapped. (apparently the octagonal barrel is more of a cowboy shoot gun so it is more "period correct")

 

[Rouge727]

Man thats a great price too bad they're out of stock. I will definitely keep watching for anymore to come in though.

 

[rengler22]

As stated above, .243, 6.5 Gren, .300 BO or even a 6.5 Creedmore. All are lower recoil. The AR platform is a good idea also. You can build a lower with him and buy an upper in the caliber of your choice. Get a 5.56 upper for cheap practice and getting him familiar with different shooting positions. You can have a bunch of different uppers to choose from. (6.5 Creedmore and the .243 would be on the AR 10 platform as the others are on the AR15 platform)

There is one more I'll throw out there. The new .350 Legend. It doesn't have quite the range of the ones listed above but for closer work, under say 200 yards, it is a viable option.

OP, you've gotten this answer a lot but another vote to what this gentleman says above. We took my 7 year old nephew for his first hunt last year and set him up with a 300 Blackout AR with a tripod rest to steady his aim. There's virtually no kick. As stated above 6.5 Grendel is also a really good low recoil round. And any of these can go on whatever AR upper you may have laying around. Or you can purchase one and/or a complete rifle for a very reasonable price for a first rifle