First hunting rifle - 7yr old

Looking for some opinions. My 7yr old shot his first deer that past season when he was 6, got a nice little spike. He shot it with an old Ruger .223 of mine at about 30 yards. I'm looking for some opinions on a good caliber and rifle options to get him started with his first hunting rifle this coming season.

No no no, he's not getting mine. I'm still alive and kicking, he'll get it someday when I'm dead or close to it. That Ruger of mine looses accuracy pretty quick at 200 yards.

My mom has an old .243 she got when we were kids and has never used, other than taking us to get us started. Shes open to giving/selling it cheap to us for him to have.

Give me some ideas. I'm looking for something he can take deer and hogs with and wont wear him out. I know there are LOADS of options out there, that's why I'm looking for some opinions here.

Hard to go wrong with a 243. My youngest Son was 7 when he shot his first deer with a 243. 3 out of 4 of my kids all killed their first deer and pigs with a 243 and use them still. My youngest daughter isn't ready yet. I have a lot of rifles in different calibers that I like to hunt with, but my go-to hunting rifle is still my old ugly Savage 110 in 243. I am also a big fan of the 22-250. Not a dang thing wrong with a 223 as long as you stay within your limits.

I am still enjoying my little 6.5 Grendel, Howa makes a youth model bolt action or a light weight AR

243 with 100 grain Hornady American Whitetail ammunition. Bad mojo for any game.

My 7 year old shoots a 16" Contender in 300 Blackout with a Vortex Sparc II. 110 grain black tips are hell on deer and hogs at any range she's good to shoot at.

I’d stick w AR platform

Low recoil, adjustable stock and several good calibers to chose from

My daughter is 13 now and will be 14 for deer season

She’ll be hunting w a 6mm bolt gun for the first time this coming year

But years 10-13, I think the AR platform really helped her

She’s smaller framed

My .02, it’s worth what you paid

Hell yeh. Very Nice. I love the 300 blk.

I screwed up and let my little boy get behind my suppressed 300 blk after shooting the 243. He doesn't want to shoot the 243 anymore lol. The 110 Barnes is nasty medicine on pigs.

Ruger American Ranch in 300 Blackout, 7.62x39 or 6.5 Grendel would be a great for that purpose.

AR platform has been the best thing ever for my kids. First buck, first boar and first aoudad fell to a 65 grain Gameking.

AR platforms are great for kids as you can adjust the stock for different lengths of pull. My 7 yr old son has been shooting my 6.8 SPC AR since he was 6 and now shoots my 308 and 6.5 Creedmoor. Great thing about the AR is you can pick from multiple calibers that are great for deer and hogs.

I would 6.8 spc suppressed ar platform

Or

A Remington 700 action in 6.5 creed suppressed


Fitting the stock and the suppressor will help a lot more

I remember when I was 7. Unless he is big for his age, stick to the .223 or maybe step up to 300 BO.

Otherwise, good luck finding rifles that offer both the light weight and handling characteristics a 7 year old can deal with comfortably, that also offers more power than that.

Something like a Ruger American in .243 will kick his tail unless he is HIGHLY MOTIVATED.

As others have mentioned, AR platform or other semi auto platform is great for kids. Personally, i would opt for larger than .223. The semi-auto soaks up a ton of recoil. My boy loves my BAR in .270, but won't touch Gammaws a-bolt in .270.

I am a Heritage guy. Get him Grandma's 243. Get reduce recoil ammo to practice with. Then for deer hunting put in a100 grain bullet. He will never know. I did that to my daughter. She only knows because I told her. She laughed. While I am not the biggest fan of the 243. I have Killed deer with my son model 7 243 and my daughter m77 compact 243.

My 2 pennies vote for grandma's 243. He will never regret it. Both my son and daughter started shooting 243 at 7.

My 6.8 is stupid accurate to 200 yds and feels like it has less recoil than my 5.56. With the can it’s also quiet. BUT, my first rifle at age 9 was a Rem 788 in .243. Either cartridge would be great, as would the 300BO.

22-250. Tack driver accurate.

I am not at all a .243 fan but I hold with the above statement. If the rifle is not too heavy that would be the way I would go. Choose the appropriate load for recoil.

I have and shoot my grandfather’s Stevens 22. To me it’s the most valuable gun I own. Reality says it’s worth $250-300.

You should never ever teach a kid to shoot a rifle when you are worried about recoil - never!

My son started with a TC contender 16" .223 and shot a few deer.

Thanks for the info so far. I prefer bolt actions for myself, but the AR would offer more options down the road. We've got a few popup blinds for hunting, all are within 30-125 yards. I've got one of those tripod gun rests I got to use with him, so the weight doesn't end up being much of a factor once we get to the blind. He is taller for his age, but skinny.

I would do 2 things. First, I would go with a bolt gun. Even the kids know they have a full mag on tap and are less likely to get that first round on target knowing they have extra rounds to fire. So the mentality of accuracy is lost with the thought of more rounds. Both my son and daughter thought this when shooting the AR. Having a bolt gun changes their mentality of making that first round count. And one fact that I have seen in all of my shooting and being a range officer- AR's just make you miss faster!! I've seen MANY shooters shoot way too fast and miss almost every shot. Give them a bolt gun and they get more hits overall with less rounds fired. That's a fact! Plus, it's easier to teach them the functionality of a bolt gun over an AR. And it's quieter.

Second, caliber choice isn't that important as the fit of the rifle is to the child. You can ALWAYS dial down the ammo for a reduced recoil load and make ANY caliber adequate for a youth shooter. Get a rifle that fits their size. The Tikka compact rifles are great. I have 2 and they have worked well from when they were young enough to get behind a rifle.

Agree the .243 for a youngster is hard to beat.


He’s two for two with his .243, both one shot kills, both went less than 40 yards.

I didn't get to shoot a deer that big until I was thirty.

6mm???

Didn't GET to or weren't ABLE to?? Just curious.
Nice deer for youngster for sure.

max nix, either way.

I would take a hard look at the 6.5 Creedmoor. Find someone who has one and shoot it if you haven't. My 7 yr old shoot's my Howa 1500 really well. I was in the same situation a year ago and I was going to get a .243 for the kids but after shooting the 6.5 and I started looking at the different bullet weights for the Creedmoor it didn't make sense to me get the .243. You can shoot a 129-143gr vs 90-105 deer loads. The recoil is about the same or maybe a little less than the .243.

I hear ya, I’m 43 and haven’t shot one that big either but now I get more pleasure and joy out of watching them grow and watching him shoot them.

"I would take a hard look at the 6.5 Creedmoor." Geez . . . , please don't turn him into that kinda guy.

.243 with a stock that fits him.

Same here. I had an opportunity. I missed that deer at 10 years old. Didn't see another outside the ears 8 point until I was in my 30's. A few years ago, my son shot his first Buck. A really nice 9 point. He was 9. He'll be 12 this upcoming season. I three years, he has taken 3 Bucks. An 8, a 9, and a 12. 2 of which are bigger than my first wall mounter that I took in my early thirties. It must be great to be a kid these days. They just have the opportunities that we didn't get!

What's the 6.5 creedmore??

Model 7 243, you can use it for other stuff later

243 is perfect for kids but an AR I think is a little better because of the adjustable stock. My daughter is small framed and she shot my AR-15 and said "That was easy Dad" and had no problems or worry about recoil. I wanted to start her out there then move her to the 243 short barrel rifle I used as a kid. A little heavier and will kick a little more. The adjustable stock on the AR really helped make the rifle fit her though. But if you have a 243 available I would try that out 1st with lighter loads.

The 243 that your mom has also has memories attached to it, a heritage that you can pass on to your 7 year old.

My son was much better of a shot with my AR than my model 7, I put more importance on getting your kid something they can shoot accurately vs. a specific caliber, as long as its legal.

Since my son was 5 he has shot deer with a TC Pro hunter in 6BR. I cut the stock down to fit and it has little to no recoil.


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I put a 6.8spc ar together for my 12yr daughter last fall, she loves it but has no real basis of comparison since my bolt guns are either too long and heavy, or recoil more than I know she'd tolerate. I am keeping an eye out for the bolt gun that screams "buy me", to get her next. .243 is definitely a caliber on the list of possibilities.