re: Deer rifle for my son ?

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He can get any hunting caliber in a solid rifle with a decent enough scope for $330. If his son doesn’t enjoy hunting, he’s not out of much money. If his son loves hunting, the rifle is just fine

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A man can kill ANYTHING on the planet with a $400 mossberg package with a scope in 375 ruger. These are the golden ages of affordable rifles. There isn't a rifle on the shelf these days that isn't a sub-pie-plate rifle at 200 yards, and that's all anybody needs to put meat in the freezer

Congratulations on being involved w/ your son. Lots of good suggestions thus far. I agree w/ those who say you can get a good quality bolt action rifle/scope combo w/o having to spend very much money.

In bolt guns I'd personally, I'd suggest a 260 Rem, 7-08, 308 Win, 270 Win or 30-06. The 6.5 Creedmore will work too, but be aware ahead of time re: local availability of ammo. My local WM doesn't carry the CM nor the 7-08. In addition, I don't think the CM has reduced recoil loads yet. I'm not sure if the 260 has reduced recoil loads, either. A few have already mentioned using reduced recoil/managed recoil loads and I agree. I'd use reduced recoil loads until he shows he can handle recoil well. A reduced recoil 308 Win load actually has less recoil than a full power 243. W/ equal bullet weights, a short action round like the 308 Win will always recoil less than a similar long action round, like the 30-06, because the short round uses less powder. You may want to look at a youth rifle. Be sure the gun/stock fits your son(s). Some gun makers, e.g Mossberg, make a youth rifle that has an adjustable length of pull by means of different thicknesses of the butt pad. If you get a regular youth rifle that can't be adjusted you can always later buy an adult stock as your son grows. Or you could add to the length of pull using a slip on recoil pad. The Axis looks to be a good gun. The only Mossberg bolt action I shot was very accurate. I have a Marlin bolt action that's also very inexpensive and very accurate. When shooting at the range, insist on him using both the foam ear plugs and ear muffs. Consider using a "sissy pad" (small sand bag between shoulder and recoil pad) at the range until he's ok w/ the recoil. Be sure the gun has a nice recoil pad (Limbsaver or Kick Eez are two than come to mind). Howa, Weatherby Vanguard and Ruger also make inexpensive bolt actions of good quality.

When my son was 10 years old I was faced w/ the same decision as you. I bought him a Savage bolt action (w/ the scope included) in 308 Win. I almost went w/ the 7-08, but this was before factory reduced recoil loads. I planned on making my own reduced loads and already had everything to do so w/ the 308. He's handled the 308 well and has killed a bunch of deer w/ it using both reduced recoil and full power loads. OTOH, fast forward 15 years later and I now have a 7-08 handgun and load for it. This time around I bought a Thompson/Center Compass in 7-08 for a "grand child's" deer rifle. You'd be hard pressed to do better than the 7-08.

Keep us updated. Enjoy your experiences w/ your son.

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I don’t hunt but I bought one in .308 bc...why wouldn’t I get a rifle for that cheap?

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Mossberg Patriot, Savage Axis, TC Compass, Ruger American and Weatherby Vanguard are all inexpensive, will shoot well and last years. They're all very inexpensive too. Some are very hard to find right now though. You can always get a new stock, etc..

This Savage Axis is $329 at Academy. You can’t tell me a 13 yr old wouldn’t go nuts for this gun. I sure would have. When I was 13 I just had my dad’s old .22 Marlin. I thought that .22 was the shite lol. Anyway, This is a clean modern looking setup which your son will love and never outgrow.
Go with the .308...so you can get yourself an AR-10 down the road and not need to find different ammo.

I’d stay away from 308 for now.... ammo is hard to come by. As far as rifles go, CVA makes a sweet good shooting single shot. If i bought a bolt gun tomorrow on a budget it would be the weatherby vanguard, Howa or the much hated on this board Remmy 700 (i have a few new ones, all shooters).

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I’d stay away from 308 for now.... ammo is hard to come by.

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Well that’s true. But are any of the usual calibers easy to come by?

I don’t know about “easy” to come by.... but easier for sure! Plus in don’t personally want to buy $400 worth of ammo, find out it won’t group, then start the process over again. You’re going to pay double the normal price especially for .308 and you’re most likely going to have to buy multiple boxes at a time.

Hmm guess i got lucky

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I'd bet you don't know what to look for on the bolt timing.

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I sure don’t. Can you elaborate?

This is bolt improperly timed:



Notice the 1/8" gap from the bolt to the action? The gun is designed for those angle pieces meet and help extract the brass from the chamber. What's causing it is the position of the bolt handle on the bolt and the main spring.

This one is one of the other guns I bought. I removed the main spring so that it matches up properly:



ETA: If it isn't fixed you will have issue with the bolt and you will start having extraction issues.