6.5 year old first rifle

I'm sorry I should have said first deer hunting 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.

.25-06 and never look back. Will carry him for many years. But at such a young age it'll be hard to find anything with a low enough weight he can properly handle

7mm-08 and use the managed recoils Remingtons or custom lite Hornadys.

We had a few 243 shot deer get away with very little to no blood trail. The 7mm-08 has not given us any problems with youth shooters at my camp. Plus the 7mm-08 can be used the rest of his life where the he will probably want to upgrade the 243 as a teen.

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.243 shouldn't be allowed for deer, unless you head shot them.

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I've killed a nice heavy buk with a .22-250. Shot placement is what really counts. And no it wasn't a head shot.

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.

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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.

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Let me guess...you shoot a .300WSM?

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243

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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.

What about the 6.8 spc? Has anyone used to hunt deer? I've heard the Hornady sst 120g are pretty effective in this caliber.