Hunting Rifle Advice (for my son)

[adh]

Planning on getting a Remington 700 in .243 for my son. The youth model and standard models are the same (as best I can tell from Remington's website) other than 4" of barrel length. I really can't imagine where that 4" of barrel length would ever make a difference for him in the future. Standard barrel length is 24" and the youth is 20". Any advice would be appreciated. Basically want to know if it would be a better idea to get the 24" barrel.

[johnnychimpo]

Depends on his size and age I'd say. I found a nice used Ruger compact M77 MKII in .308 for my 12 yr old. He's about 4'10" 112 lbs. Specs on the rifle are 12 1/2" length of pull, 16 1/2" barrel, 5 3/4 lbs w/o scope. I compared it to the other manufacturers and liked it the better because of the shorter barrel.

I was worried the .308 would be too much for him.He fired 2 boxes and would have shot more if we hadn't run out of daylight. I was worried his first shot would be his last but he didn't mind the .308's recoil.

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

The LOP on the youth rifle is shorter. I have the youth model 1100 for my wife, that she uses for deer. It is much easyer for her to get the right cheekweld with the shorter stock.

She is 5'6" 120 and I am 6'3" 215 and to be honest I prefer it to my shotgun for easy of handiling.

You can also find any number of stocks to fit your son and the rifle as he grows.

[okie john]

The youth model also has a shorter stock, which you can easily swap out later. I'd seriously consider a 308 over a 243. You can load it down to 30/30 levels with H4895 and Hodgdon's youth data, or buy Federal's Trophy Bonded +P load and take anything in North America. The 243 lacks that versatility.


Okie John

[adh]

The youth model also has a shorter stock, which you can easily swap out later. I'd seriously consider a 308 over a 243. You can load it down to 30/30 levels with H4895 and Hodgdon's youth data, or buy Federal's Trophy Bonded +P load and take anything in North America. The 243 lacks that versatility.


Okie John

That may be a good consideration. I have probably close to 200 rounds of once fired .308 brass (I use a .308 Rem. 700). I didn't think that the youth had the shorter LOP because the only difference in OAL was 4" and the barrels went from 24" to 20" (hence I thought the difference was only in barrel length). I may need to look into reloading and consider the .308 with more seriousness.

My son is 8. He took his first whitetail yesterday AM with a freind's Ruger .223 M77 Hawkeye. It worked perfectly, but it is not a rifle that he can grow into.



Thinking now that maybe I get a Remington 700 .308 youth in the ADL version. I can add a decelerator pad to it in the future to add to the LOP.

[ucrt]

Planning on getting a Remington 700 in .243 for my son. The youth model and standard models are the same (as best I can tell from Remington's website) other than 4" of barrel length. I really can't imagine where that 4" of barrel length would ever make a difference for him in the future. Standard barrel length is 24" and the youth is 20". Any advice would be appreciated. Basically want to know if it would be a better idea to get the 24" barrel.

============================

Can you give more information about your son's age, size, etc.?

.

[johnnychimpo]

Is the model 7 any shorter in LOP, barrel?

[Jake'sDad]

The youth model also has a shorter stock, which you can easily swap out later. I'd seriously consider a 308 over a 243. You can load it down to 30/30 levels with H4895 and Hodgdon's youth data, or buy Federal's Trophy Bonded +P load and take anything in North America. The 243 lacks that versatility.


Okie John

True. Another option is to get the .243, than have it re-barreled into a .308 when he grows into it. Since the bolt face/mag is the same, it's a cheap re-barrel.

[mark5pt56]

I would do the youth in .308 You can buy the Remington Managed Recoil ammunition and choose the lighter bullet weights. Simple ammo change later and a stock is an easy fix if required.

http://www.remington.com/products/am...ed-recoil.aspx

[ucrt]

.

308 or 7mm-08. I set my daughter up with a 7mm. I bought a full-size 700 and had the barrel cut down to 16". Youth stocks are a pretty easy find on GunBroker and when they get older, they have the original stock. I put a fixed 4X Leupold.

Goofy as it sounds, that short barrel makes that gun. If she's not hunting I'll take it in a second.

.