6.5 year old first rifle

7mm-08
Simple reason being, you will be wounding fewer deer.
That really should be the only reason.
.243 shouldn't be allowed for deer, unless you head shot them.

223 or 243. Both kill deer equally well. Once your boy can shoot at 100yds and hit the bulls eye consistently, put him on deer and watch him kill. Once he gets older sell it and get him a bigger rifle he can handle.

An AR15 chambered in 6.5 Grendel. Why 6.5 Grendel over 243?

-Similar recoil levels so for recoil it's a wash out of a bolt gun. Out of a Semi Auto AR15 action recoil will be even less.

-Extreme bullet efficiency of the 6.5 grendel puts more energy at the muzzle and more energy down range. 243 has a longer point blank range than the 6.5 but you are trading PBR and muzzle velocity for 30% increase in bullet weight and more energy at the muzzle. And as the bullet flies down range the extreme efficiency of the 6.5mm round will further widen the down range energy as the 243 start shedding it's speed. Ballistic efficiency also means less wind drift.







-The AR15 in 6.5 grendel will be a rifle he will use for the rest of his life for more than just bolt gun hunting. The cartridge is extremely versatile. The AR15 platform can shrink down to his size then grow with him. 243 isn't a rifle you want to shoot often as the 243 will burn the barrel out after 1500 rounds or so. You want to plink? Get some steel cased ammo for less than $0.30/round. Barrel life is theoretically greater than it's 223 counterparts. 6.5 Grendel is not only a fantastic deer hunting caliber but works great suppressed subsonic with 160gr loads out of 16-18" carbine or midlength gas system. You want to shoot long range the 6.5 will hit out to 1000 yards. In fact once you spread it's legs past 600-700 yards you start carrying more down range energy than the venerable 308 with half the felt recoil and less wind drift.

quote:

---

243

---

Used mine until I upgraded to a 30-06.

Dad still uses my .243 a lot while hunting because its so light and accurate. Easy to get around with when you're older.

I bought my kids a Ruger American Compact All-weather in 7mm-08 a couple of years ago. My daughter was 8 at the time and was barely 50 lbs. She shot it just fine and didn't complain about the kick.

I went with the Ruger because the trigger pull length was the shortest on the market at the time I looked. It was a full inch shorter than the Savage combo deal.

My daughter killed her first deer with it last year and after she got it broken in I found myself hunting with this gun a few times. I have been bow only for the last 10 years but I ended up killing 2 deer with this little gun last year. I'm hoping my 7 year old son can get his first deer with it this year.

The kids are shooting Hornady Lite 120gr SST Low Recoil and I am shooting Remington Core-Lokt 140gr PSP. Both bullets group well and I haven't noticed a difference out to 100 yds

I just went thru this, I chose 7mm08. I did this because I decided to buy a youth model, which was against what I wanted to do. I chose to do it because my wife has expressed some interest in deer hunting with us, and I thought it would fit her well and would get some long term use out of it, additionally I have another boy 2-3 years behind this one. I felt the 7mm08 gave me a little more versatility.

If I was going to buy a gun for one kid, then be done with it and move him on up, I would buy the .243. Lower recoil and deer just as dead.

I got the Hornady Lite 120 gr reduced recoil bullets, don't think that is necessary.

I bought a TC encore when my daughter was about that age. I got it with a .17 barrel and a 7mm-08 Bergara barrel with muzzle break from Mike Belmn. I also got a wooden "bantam" stock that I cut about an inch off of. She got used to shooting the gun with the .17 barrel. When she was ready to deer hunt I put the 7mm-08 Barrel on. She is 5 for 5 on deer so far. When she gets a little bigger I plan to put original stock back on gun. The muzzle break probably wasn't necessary but it has zero recoil. Loud as a mofo but no kick at all.