re: Best rifle/caliber combo with little to no recoil

This is what I did with my kids. Shot the shite out of a 22 and only shot the big rifle when killing animals.. both of my kids killed deer with a 223 and 243. Oldest is shooting my dad's 260 this year. I killed an axis with a 204 ruger. And I've never lost an animal. I dont understand the thought process behind needing a cannon to kill a 120 lb deer

6.8 spc using federal fusion 115g's. Surprised no one's mentioned the 6.8spc - doesnt seem to get much love around here. More punch than the 300bo with about the same recoil with a 16 inch barrel. Put a suppressor on it & would be a great 150 yrd range deer rifle for a kid & adult too.

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You dont need a cannon. 7mm08 is hardly a cannon. You do need something that will reliably exit and you do not get that from rhe .243

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Why is that? The proper type of bullet is more important than anything including exit. With proper shot placement and bullet most animals don’t need tracking.

One of the reasons that the 7-08 May and should penetrate better is heavier bullets. But heavier bullets mean more recoil.

80-120 grain bullets are plenty adequate for whitetail at kid ranges of 50-120 yards. Use the proper bullet for that range which means fast expanding.

Caliber is so overrated is absurd. It’s the amount of powder (and type), weight of the bullet, and weight of the rifle/ scope that matter the most. Most of the time people say that this or that rifle kick less than a smaller caliber, and they do because they have a gun that weighs considerable more in a full size stock, longer barrel, and bigger scope.

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Ive never met a kid who couldnt handle a 7mm-08 in a rifle that fit.

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Then you honestly need to meet more kids. Using your same logic I can show you results and tell you stories where bigger calibers weren’t adequate either. Plenty of deer are killed with 22-250 and .223. Part of it is being a parent and making sure the shot conditions are ideal, and if the kid has very bad deer feaver with a smaller bullet to consider holding off on the shot.

I don’t disagree with you on it being a ‘better’ caliber but comparing the two is almost not fair. 243 is 75-110 grains, 7mm-08 is around 130-180 grain bullets.

In the same gun and weight, that 20%+ bullet weight will have conderably more recoil. Furthermore while practicing with the .243 a 75 grain bullet will have considerably less than a 130 grain.

.243 is pushing it for a lot of kids to start with. For every kid that handles it fine there’s a kid that could shoot a 30-06 and there’s a kid that can’t shoot a 22-250 without flinching. Some of recoil is just natural and takes time and experience to get over.

You are basically saying that you shouldn’t hunt with anything under 140 grain bullets for deer and I simply disagree. I’ve seen plenty of old timers make bad shots too.

Nothing wrong with a 243 hell I have watched several big hogs bang flop from a 90 grain ballistic tip rocketed from a 243. My wife killed a really nice 8 pt with a 243 shooting my 85 grain nosler ballistic tip handloads. Put it right into the lungs and that 200 lb buck went 40 yds. That said my kids will shoot the hell out of an ar but flinch badly with the 243. Muzzle blast is just as much a factor as recoil to a young shooter.

Maybe the swamp kids are tough. I was shooting a 6.5x55 at 5 years old. My cousin was a tiny 6 year old girl killing deer with a 7mm-08.

As far as holding off on shots and stuff, thats a parents decision. I personally wouldnt want to handicap my kid like that. I like having confidence that if they miss an inch forward and hit the shoulder knuckle at close range, the bullets going to have the horsepower to get through. When you can get that for no perceivable recoil difference, why would you short yourself?

I'd agree with most of the above suggestions. 7-08, or 308 with reduced recoil loads would be great. As someone else suggested the Ruger American in 6.5 Grendel would be a great choice as well.

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To avoid recoil, I’d also avoid a light rifle. Also, to beat recoil fears, have her practice with a scoped .22.

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Thanks. That is the tug of war I'm in. I want to get her a gun that isn't too heavy, where she can handle it herself, but at the same time not beat her up. When I was her age I was hunting with a 30-30, but she's not near as big as I was at that age. We did get her started shooting a .22 a while back and she loves it. Quite a good shot. If it was my boy, I'd go ahead and tell him to man up, but it's a little different with my girl...

Thanks for the link to the recoil chart. That is useful.

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I wouldnt use them if they dont exit reliably.

Ive had some really bad experiences with hornady SST and i dont recommend them to anyone for shooting deer.

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From what I have seen with these bullets here is my opinion...

I have my experience with them in the 7mm-08 120gr Low Recoil ammo. In lower velocity smaller grain bullets they have excellent performance for what they are designed for. The vitals look like Red Jello when you open them up. They don't go far.

I had a guy on our lease use them in his 7mm with the 139gr SST. He shot 2 deer with them... We found 1 of them and the other we did not. The one we found we were not impressed with the damage and energy transferred to the target. IMHO, In fast moving larger calibers they are not a good choice.