I agree with both Earl & wing runnner, I have used a .223 the last 3 yrs deer hunting and it's been head shots on all my deer, especially in the evening. My 8y/o daughter 45lbs dripping wet is shooting a Tactical mini14 this year as it was the only gun I could find that would fit her without modifications and minimal recoil. She's so small even youth model stocks were too long and the mini has a collapsable stock that fits her. And she's comfortable shooting it, but she has to make the first shot count, if needed a second shot is good but after that the barrel heats up and then it becomes a lead slinger. Bullet placement is everything regardless of what you shoot. This past weekend we had a hunter neck shoot a doe head on with a .243, entered, glanced off the neck bone and exited hitting no vitals and not breaking her neck. We ended up tracking the doe for 300yrds, jumping her 4 times before she finally died, it took over 2hrs. With the position of the doe I probably would have tried a head shot either you hit and kill or you make a clean miss, the targets small but nearly any hit will take a deer down.

13 year old is interested in deer hunting and I haven't been in years but we wanted to do it right and with the right gun. I have a DMPS .308 and Marlin 46/70. Both are way too much gun for him now. I would get a .243 but I am afraid one morning of sitting in the stand away from XBOX & PS2 will be enough and I am stuck with a .243. Is there another larger caliber which will suit him but is a better caliber for me 25.06, 6mm, .270, 30.06, or ???. Don't go too hard on the XBOX thing, he is one heck of a fisherman for his age.

mine is starting with a 243 for deer , but will let him shoot 223 later with accurate shots out of 243

Although I personally think being stuck with a .243 is a pretty good problem to have, I would suggest something along the lines of a .308 or 7mm-08 if you don't want a .243. Just don't get a lightweight rifle and recoil should not be an issue.

For my kidos, they won't shoot @ a whitetail until they can comfortably fire a .270. The recoil is virtually the same vs. a .243. I'm not willing to risk knock down power with the smaller calibers. Nothing against the .22X fans, but for me I would not my inexperienced child try to take an animal with a .22 caliber. Shoot the .243 and .270 side by side, you'll be surprised, the recoil is almost exactly the same.

i aggree with rifleman i got a rossi 243 for my nephew to use a few years ago , he has moved up to a full size rifle he lets me keep his guns due to me haveing a safe. i now use the little rossi as a truck gun when i am puting out corn or working on the place i like it so much i tryed to trade him out of it he said just keep it and use it as you want uncle , can,t beat that can you

243 they have about the same recoil but 243 has little more knock down power

I shot my first deer with a Remington .223 when I was 5.
I was shooting tighter groups than my dad with that gun by 8.

Took about 12 deer with that gun until I moved up to the .257 Roberts I use now.

243 hands down.

I know pleanty of women and children have killed deer with the 223, but in my opinion the 223, as well as the 22-250 should be left for the better shooting individuals.

I know that many people wont support this idea but here it is anyway. I would go with the .223 for several reasons.

One reason is that the .223 has a very mild recoil and it will allow your 9 yo to learn good shooting habits without the fear of heavy recoil.

Another reason that I recomend the .223 is because it is a very economical round to shoot. It allows the shooter to fire thousands of rounds in practice without breaking the bank. With the .243 shooting can become relatively expensive.

The .223 is a very cabable round but shot placement is key. With the high deflection and fragmentation characteristics of the .223 one must make sure to always put the round in the kill zone. There are many loads to choose from with the .223 that can be applied to different situations.

I would recomend Hornady's 62 grn TAP soft point barrier ammunition for deer. It is designed to penetrate hard solids and still expand in soft tissues. Fragmentation is greatly reduced with this round insuring adequate penetration into the vitals.

Good luck and good hunting

gbeard

well stated! That's why my boy uses the 223 for now, and later can move up to the 6mm. And yes, the 6mm does have much more recoil in a sporting rifle than my 223 heavy target rifle, especially to a 9 year old.

thanks gbeard!

Went thru the same issue with my daughter. I went with the .223 due to recoil. There is a difference. Got her the short ruger. I figure I can always buy her something bigger. I am trying to keep her shots around 50 yards and use the 55 grain for hunting. If I had it to do over I would do the 243 with managed recoil if available. The up side is she shoots pretty good and has no fear of the recoil.

depends on kid and what gbeard said: shoot an watch shooting long enough you will find weight of gun,and caliber dont make whole lot of difference dead is dead,,
1 first practice cheaper all the way, 223
2 felt recoil lighest; easiest 223
3 gun weight handling lighest easiest 223
4 accuracy excellent 223
5 killing ability exellent 223
6 neat loss/pelt damage minimal 223
7 follow up/good hit 50 yards 223
8 nov, thf photo 223 140 yrds, #6 20 ft,lungs,#7 9/26/09 50 yrds
lung,heart 50 ft, an head shots are not clear misses. cripplers, based on 60+years using 222, 223,250s,243,thru 30s,and few dozen kids taken,heres 5 yr old with first

"Depends on the kid" and that is dead on! Excuse the pun!

I would not let a kid shoot a deer with a .223 unless that kid was proficient and calm and cool under the pressure of shooting a live animal.

It's one thing to shoot targets, but an animal is going to negate all that range practice on a young shooter who hasn't harvested many deer, more so than an older hunter, that even with experience gets the adrenaline flowing and throws a shot.
A slightly errant shot with a .223 is a disaster, and the same one with a .243 is probably still going to harvest that animal.

I've seen this a few times and I don't like having to explain to a kid why he didn't get that big buck he just shot, and spending hours looking for that buck that we couldn't find.

As far as recoil, the heavier the gun the less recoil, and if you took a heavier .243 and a light weight .223 the recoil would be close to the same, and the same between a .243 and a .270 or 7mm-08.

Step up in caliber, just get a heavier gun is a pretty good formula to reduce felt recoil.

50+ years experience, and only calibers I've seen that lost deer consistently were .222, .223, so just sayin!.....guess that's why they are classfied as varmint calibers, go figure?

My son, 9, just scored his first buck on our family place. The rifle he used was a Ruger 77 Target in 223. He shot it with Remington 55gr. Core Lokt bullets at about 45 yards. The small buck ran about 40 yards and keeled over. Upon gutting, the bullet ripped his heart in half.
My son is not comfortable with recoil yet. So the 223 is perfect. He also shoots our M4 carbine. When he's ready, he'll step up to the 6mm. Until then, it's 223! By the way, I'm a proud papa, and my dad was along, too!

Fine shot, No errant about that one,, great example,

223 and 243 are both great if you practice ! I shot a doe 2 years ago with my 22-250 at 180 yards it dropped in it's tracks. but i now hunt with a .243 full time ! I shoot for eyes and ears though ! I had a guy telling me the other day that if he got a 2" group at 100 yards he was good. I told him if i could only get a 2" group at 100 yards i'd get rid of that gun ! just have the kiddos practice shooting till they are confortable with shooting the rifle, and they can shoot what they aim at, with confidence !

JIMBO Ever spend time at ball park,,notice the difference in bat size,, little handy rifle has 7 barrels, hornet to 300, i tried that one but its still not heavy enough,for pleasant shooting,,after loosieng those few deer you spoke of ,what went wrong,aim,hit,tracker,didnt knock it down,head shot,

I have to say 243, my grandson shoots one now, and really enjoys it. He also has a 223 for the turkeys.

Forgot to add he is 7.

If this is going to be his first "deer" gun, then go .243. I realize many people use the centerfire 22's and shoot deer under their feeder from 125 yds, but they wound alot of them too. The 22's are varmit rounds. The bullets if not an FMJ, are designed to expand rapidly. With a .243 you are shooting a 100 grain bullet, witha .223 it would be about a 55 grain bullet. Plus a 9 year old is more likely to make a bad shot, due to inexperience. A 55 grain bullet in the wrong place, is a wounded whitetail that you might not be able to recover. And, the 243 recoil is light, and should serve him well.

This thread probably says it best!

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1027854/Coyote_rifle#Post1027854

My son shot his first deer with a .223. The next year I bought him a Rem mod 700 youth in .243 and it has been good.

I got my granddaughter a 243.She was scaered of the recoil.MY son-in-law got one for my grandson and the samething his scaered of the recoil,his 11yrs old.

I started out on a .243 and still own it and its my most prized gun.

i vote .243 theres not much recoil difference than .223 and much more power and ..like others have said he can use it for as long as he wants...my son is 14 he shoots a 7mag he started hunting varmits when he was 11 {.223) then went to 30/06 when he was 13 now he has taken my 7mag i was thinking about going back to a .243 myself