As the title says, my 9yo daughter wants a deer rifle for Christmas. I'm thinking something along the lines of a .243 or 30-30...something that has manageable recoil for a child that age. Price will also be a consideration. So I'm mainly looking for thoughts or recommendations from anyone who have been in this situation, thanks in advance:D

My son is still a bit young for a deer rifle, or really any rifle, but a friend purchased a .257 for his young son. Seems like a nice little caliber for a young hunter.

H&R or Rossi single shot in .243. Cheap and easy to operate. You can get barrels for other calibers down the road.

I just picked a Rossi Trifecta .22/20ga/.243 for my 11yo daughter. She can plunk with the .22 and use the .243 for deer. We are going to sight it in this weekend. The Marlin .30-30 I have is a bit to heavy for her to hold.

Savage .243.

Then when she grows up you can rebarrel it and tweak it into a 1000 yard target killing terror of a .260.

H&R or Rossi single shot in .243. Cheap and easy to operate. You can get barrels for other calibers down the road.

Thanks, I'll check those out

I appreciate the info, and I'm going to check those out and let her put her hands on some as soon as I get the chance:D

My daughter will be 9 next week, is tall for her age (4'4") and is way too small for even a youth-sized deer rifle IMO (we tried some out at Gander Mountain). She'll be getting a .22 for Christmas & I'm shopping for a .260 to give to her in a couple years (after I've had my fun with it :D).

.243 is great for recoil sensitive kids. My first deer rifle was a .243, loved it.

I think my daughter is big enough for a small rifle, and she's always enjoyed going hunting with me (until she gets bored) but hasn't expressed a desire for a gun until my son was born a few months ago. Methinks she's jealous, but thats ok as long as we spend time together:D

http://www.crickett.com/

Just bought my daughter the pink synthetic one. Its not the greatest but its light w/ VERY little recoil. Cheap also.

http://www.crickett.com/

Just bought my daughter the pink synthetic one. Its not the greatest but its light w/ VERY little recoil. Cheap also.

My daughter's already veto'd the pink one - more than likely she's getting whatever color happens to be on sale at Cabela's day after Thanksgiving :laughing::laughing:

A .243 would be an excellent option and it really is a great deer round. If there's a chance that you could be going for elk, look into the 7mm-08.

Since she's 9, I'd recommend starting her out with the Remington managed recoil rounds with the 140 grain Core Lokt.

If you want to go after elk, there are some Federal Premium offerings with a 140 grain Nosler Partition or Barnes X.

I'm not sure of any commercially loaded ammo, but the 7mm-08 with the 175 grain Nosler Partition would be damn good elk medicine.

http://www.crickett.com/

Just bought my daughter the pink synthetic one. Its not the greatest but its light w/ VERY little recoil. Cheap also.

I bought my son a crickett .22 when he was 4 and he has mastered it. He is now 13 and I just put a scope on it for him to hunt squirrel with. In Indiana we can't use rifles for deer so he got a Remington 870 20 ga.

I bought my son a crickett .22 when he was 4 and he has mastered it. He is now 13 and I just put a scope on it for him to hunt squirrel with. In Indiana we can't use rifles for deer so he got a Remington 870 20 ga.

WTF? No rifles for deer?:eek::eek:

Go to Wal-Mart and buy a Stevens 200 in 243 or 7mm-08, should be under 300 for the gun and scope combo.

to bad they don't offer more rifles in 6.5 swede or like mentioned, the .260 rem.

Hard to beat a lever 30-30. Available and most are shorter than a bolt gun.
What about a mini-30? Can take a deer, cheap ammo to get her out and shoot, low recoil.

WTF? No rifles for deer?:eek::eek:

Many of the flatter "cornbelt" states don't allow rifles for deer since there aren't many hills for bad shots to slam into. IIRC, Illinois now allows straight-wall pistol cartridges & the .460 S&W has become a hot commodity.

to bad they don't offer more rifles in 6.5 swede or like mentioned, the .260 rem.


I found a gorgeous Sako Finnlite in 6.5X55, but unfortunately they're pretty pricey. The 6.5X55, .257 Roberts, and 7X57 are all fantastic deer rounds, especially for women & kids, but they suffer the fate of requring the same size action as hotter rounds like .270 & .30-06. And since you can now get factory reduced recoil loads for those rounds, it's sealed the fate of the low-po long action rounds IMO.

Savage .243.

Then when she grows up you can rebarrel it and tweak it into a 1000 yard target killing terror of a .260.

or rebarrel it with a match grade barrel and keep it a .243 1000 yard target killing terror.

I found a gorgeous Sako Finnlite in 6.5X55, but unfortunately they're pretty pricey. The 6.5X55, .257 Roberts, and 7X57 are all fantastic deer rounds, especially for women & kids, but they suffer the fate of requring the same size action as hotter rounds like .270 & .30-06. And since you can now get factory reduced recoil loads for those rounds, it's sealed the fate of the low-po long action rounds IMO.

I was set on the finnlite in 6.5, until I held the x-bolt. Needles to say I saved some money, the browning felt identical to the sako with a better stock and trigger.(and I ended up with a swaro scope with the money I saved)

The 6.5, I think is very under rated. Your not gonna beat the sectional density and killing potential of the 6.5mm bullet. Handloads(I handload) in a modern chamber will get you around 3000fps with a 140gr bullet. Thats just under my 270wsm without the recoil.
I am looking for a savage 110 in 06/270/7mag so I can build an ultralight 6.5swede.

I started with a single break barrel Youth H&R .20 Ga. (Ducks Unlimited Green Wing Classic). It was my every thing gun. Dad had a 30/30 I could use, but if we were hunting together he always had it. Dad would run deer for me, he was my dog:D. Problem was I saw a lot of deer that were out of range, and convinced pops that I needed a rifle of my own. I saved all of my lawn mowing money, and bought myself (in his name, I was 13) a Winchester Model 70 in .270. I got it from Wal Mart, it came with a cheap Simmons scope, and I bought two boxes of shells and a sling, that was a lot of yards mowed.

Anyway I started with .270 rifle, and still use the same .270, but with a much better Leupold scope now days.

My, $0.02

- Lee

Many of the flatter "cornbelt" states don't allow rifles for deer since there aren't many hills for bad shots to slam into. IIRC, Illinois now allows straight-wall pistol cartridges & the .460 S&W has become a hot commodity.

I think Delaware is another shotgun only state. The flatness argument still applies.

Savage .243.

Then when she grows up you can rebarrel it and tweak it into a 1000 yard target killing terror of a .260.

I've told this story several times recently, but a buddy's father-in-law used to shoot 1000 yard with a heavy-barrel .260 and after he died the son pawned Dad's gun. I found it in another pawn shop about a month ago. It's actually kind of a shame it's not what I'm looking for (heavy 26" barrel, heavy laminated stock, and fixed 12X optic) as it's priced pretty decent for what it is IMO.

I think Delaware is another shotgun only state. The flatness argument still applies.

Missed shots from Delaware probably end up in New Jersey :laughing:

or rebarrel it with a match grade barrel and keep it a .243 1000 yard target killing terror.

6.5mm bullets are flying sausages of doom, and therefore cooler than .243 bullets. :laughing:

And damn you for introducing me to the .284 Winchester, I just picked up a neglected Savage long action in need of some serious gunfawkery.

6.5mm bullets are flying sausages of doom, and therefore cooler than .243 bullets. :laughing:

And damn you for introducing me to the .284 Winchester, I just picked up a neglected Savage long action in need of some serious gunfawkery.

i hear the .284 win is going to be the caliber of choice for f-class next year.

You really are a bad influence.

I think a 30-30 has alot of kick for a 9 year old girl. Especially one of the lighter ones. I think a .243 is a really nice rifle that she can grow into that will do alot of things, plus if she ever wants to upgrade you can usually sell a .243 to put cash toward something bigger....like oh...a .338 or a .50 :flipoff2:

Missed shots from Delaware probably end up in New Jersey :laughing:

with a little luck, hopefully they do

with a little luck, hopefully they do

No kidding. I can't think of a better place to use as a backstop than New Jersey. Maybe LA.

Get her an AK and teach her to gunfawk it :D

I started with a .303 brit along with the .30-30 around the same age as the OPs daughter, IMO that was a wrong move on my dads part, getting the 7x57 when I was 14 was the better move...

My son started with my .222 at 8 and got my dads 7x57 after he passed.

Maybe Im biased compliments of my own experience but it seems that going light is a better way to get a kid to enjoy the fun and carry on later. Ive seen way too many kids being forced to shot stuff that even the parents flinch with at the ranges Ive been at can't see as how that could be a positive situation exception being the opportunity to be with dad... ;)

D.

i hear the .284 win is going to be the caliber of choice for f-class next year.

Yeah I pretty much hate you for it. I've been researching a lot about different 7mm cartridges and the 284 seems like what I might want, so now I'm down to either the 7 wsm or the 284

Yeah I pretty much hate you for it. I've been researching a lot about different 7mm cartridges and the 284 seems like what I might want, so now I'm down to either the 7 wsm or the 284

look into the 7-300wsm, a 300wsm case necked down to a 7mm.


and sorry for the thread hijack. i will reinforce the .243 for a first deer rifle.

Go to Wal-Mart and buy a Stevens 200 in 243 or 7mm-08, should be under 300 for the gun and scope combo.

That's about the price range I would like...things have been tight this year.

I had a 30-30 about 15 years ago and don't remember much about the recoil, and I've been hunting with my 7mag for the last 11 years. I was just thinking about a small inexpensive rifle but now that I've read the comments, I'll stay away from that one for now.

i will throw my obligatory deer rifle caliber out there, like always.


.250 Savage.

Thanks and Gig'em.

Last winter/spring, I put one together for my 15yo granddaughter... we were of the notion that she is left eye dominant (thus the lefty bolt gun) Anyhow last weekend we finally had chance to shoot some with my 1022 and guess which eye/shoulder she favors? :homer:

Anyhow it's a plain vanilla SPS youth (crappy bluing + black plastic stock with the new-style trigger) and it's had 20 Tubb's Final Finish rounds + maybe 50 100gr HSM SPs through it to get zeroed in & kill some paper. It is set up with a 2.5-8x 36mm VXIII, Talley rings & bases -no iron sights- (I think we'll be keeping the glass for the next one, but ???)

And she's now lusting after an EBR :D so I will either get a "grown-up" sized stock for the LH action & keep it for me, or sell it to fund the EBR.

The reason I picked .243 over some of the others is that it's fairly common to find ammo for around here (NC) I considered the Rossi & NEF, but decided on the Rem 700.

Last winter/spring, I put one together for my 15yo granddaughter... we were of the notion that she is left eye dominant (thus the lefty bolt gun) Anyhow last weekend we finally had chance to shoot some with my 1022 and guess which eye/shoulder she favors? :homer:

Anyhow it's a plain vanilla SPS youth (crappy bluing + black plastic stock with the new-style trigger) and it's had 20 Tubb's Final Finish rounds + maybe 50 100gr HSM SPs through it to get zeroed in & kill some paper. It is set up with a 2.5-8x 36mm VXIII, Talley rings & bases -no iron sights- (I think we'll be keeping the glass for the next one, but ???)

And she's now lusting after an EBR :D so I will either get a "grown-up" sized stock for the LH action & keep it for me, or sell it to fund the EBR.

The reason I picked .243 over some of the others is that it's fairly common to find ammo for around here (NC) I considered the Rossi & NEF, but decided on the Rem 700.

under other circumstances I might consider that, but she's definately right eye/handed, and I live in AR about 900miles from you, and I think shipping a gun might be a huge PIA