Longrangers
Well-Known Member
Couple things I would base it on:
How interested are they in hunting?
How big are they frame wise?
My son was long and lean, I started him on a 22-250 with a break hunting woodchucks at 3 years old. By the time he was 5 I had rechambered the 22-250 to a 6 dasher and taught him how to reload and respect and maintain the rifle. I expected him to take care of it and I spot checked it. The dasher had a break on it and all along the time he was not scared of shooting and taught him good shooting form and habits. Since then he was involved in shooting competitions and was successful until he got burnt out traveling. So we primarily do long range hunting up until he went into the military. To this day he is very particular about his firearms. They are his babies and shoots very well.
Start them right. Fiberglass stock is a good option. Wood will mark. But keep in mind the lighter the firearm generally the more recoil.
If I was not building a custom and dependent on frame size and want factory rounds I would look at the following if they can handle recoil or have a good break on it.
6.5 creedmoore
308
7mm/08
7 prc
I never left my kid take or try a running shot on game because of ethics. I always told him to wait for the shot and if it presents itself take it or otherwise don't. So we always either had gun on sling or pack going in early morning or coming out and had some sort of support either shooting sticks, bipod, tripod.
Just my 2 cents.
How interested are they in hunting?
How big are they frame wise?
My son was long and lean, I started him on a 22-250 with a break hunting woodchucks at 3 years old. By the time he was 5 I had rechambered the 22-250 to a 6 dasher and taught him how to reload and respect and maintain the rifle. I expected him to take care of it and I spot checked it. The dasher had a break on it and all along the time he was not scared of shooting and taught him good shooting form and habits. Since then he was involved in shooting competitions and was successful until he got burnt out traveling. So we primarily do long range hunting up until he went into the military. To this day he is very particular about his firearms. They are his babies and shoots very well.
Start them right. Fiberglass stock is a good option. Wood will mark. But keep in mind the lighter the firearm generally the more recoil.
If I was not building a custom and dependent on frame size and want factory rounds I would look at the following if they can handle recoil or have a good break on it.
6.5 creedmoore
308
7mm/08
7 prc
I never left my kid take or try a running shot on game because of ethics. I always told him to wait for the shot and if it presents itself take it or otherwise don't. So we always either had gun on sling or pack going in early morning or coming out and had some sort of support either shooting sticks, bipod, tripod.
Just my 2 cents.
. I want them to be able to have this all their life if they so choose to do so. Budget 2k and under.
). Me? Most any rifle today will last a lifetime if properly cared for. (Again - Old Dad advising) Most brands today are shooters after you properly scope them & find the ammo THAT rifle likes. Again, me? I wouldn't buy more gun than they need. (No use beating them up everytime they squeeze the trigger) Dead is dead. They don't need a .50 caliber Bo-mag if a .243 will do the job. It's shot-placement.... again enter: Old Dad. 
It sounds like you're raising them right. 
