Low recoil deer caliber

[thwatson2]

At 9 he will easily handle a 308 or 7-08. Buy an adult rifle with some weight. My son grew up (started shooting at 6)with kid sized rifle in 7-08. They are light and kick. My daughter used a mark V weatherby in 7-08 and it hardly kicked. Full size rifle and 308 is something he can use for a lifetime

 

[wild_musk]

I have 3 daughters, and an AR platform worked well for us. We had good success with a 6.8spc and the Hornady 120sst which you can get over the counter. They practiced a lot with a similar rifle in 223, cheaper. I agree with whoever said they need to carry it, otherwise what's the point. If child soldiers in Africa can work an AK, my girls can too. We also, over time, found two Rem 600 Mohawks, in 243 and 308, but they were a little older before they could use them. I'm planning to build them rifles maybe for a HS grad gift, have been thinking over what calibers. Anything other than 6.5 Creedmore lol. Good luck!

 

[johngibbs222]

Lot depends at what range you expect him to shoot and how much you want him to practice.
My take would be 35 cal like the 350 legend or 350 buckhammer or, if your prediction for range is short, then the 357 mag.
Muzzle blast is low, recoil is low and none is flinch inducing, good feature at 9 years of age.
Also the 357 is cheap as chips to reload and what's not to like about a 92 lever gun.
Of the other 2 I'd prefer the 350 legend as there is a bunch of choices of rifles and you can load them down to 357 levels quite easily.
I have a rossi in 357 and I can load that up to better 1800 fps with 158 semi-wadcutters which can provide adequate energy levels out to 75 yards easily. The other 2 are 200 yard guns in full load format. As I said above, depends on what ranges you plan on shooting at.
I see someone suggested a 30/30 as a low recoiling option, my 94 winchester is anything but with factory loads much more perceptible than my 308 ever was, If you reload you can make the 30/30 into a low recoil outfit.
Re-reading the original post, I see you want to buy it him for practice, in that case I'd definitely say 357 mag, start him with 38 special and work up to 357 full loads if he's anything like my son he'll love it and the transition to hunting will be seamless.
Get him some really good ear protection first though.
Just my $0.02 worth.

 

[snox801]

I get a lot of youth started in hunting every year. Here is the order I would do from absolutely best and why.

6.5 Grendel 100gr pills. This is very little recoil, speed enough for flat shooting and enough energy to take large game. I've killed hundreds of hogs, 4 red stag, lots of deers, and elk over 20 Audad with the 6.5 Grendel and 97-99gr loads.

Second would be the 300blk. Very versatile and low recoil. Cheaper ammo for them to play. Plenty of thump for game. Shooting the 100gr bullets makes it flat rough and enough energy to take game out to 300 yards. Thai was my go to round till I got a Grendel. Killed more hogs than I can remember, piles of large Michigan whitetail, and a few sheep. Only ranks behind the 6.5 Grendel because it doesn't have the distance the Grendel does for killing. Runs out of steam much earlier.

Last would be a .243 win. Lots of kids start wit these and young adults. Obviously it has enough to take out any game you want with correct bullets. Now the downside is that if they shoot a ton it will burn out the barrel way before the other two. It also has much more recoil than the others. Please do t make the mistake of hoping the kids get used to recoil. It sets up a long process of trying to get over it. For us .243 and up other .308 seem lite but not to kids.
Hope this helps

 

[7mm man]

6 Creedmoor, 25 Creedmoor, 6 ARC, maybe 22 Creedmoor with 90gr or 88gr bullets. Or if you think he can handle it 6.5 Creedmoor or 7mm-08 would be great as he can grow into them. Put a brake on any of those and they are like shooting nothing.

 

[Prairie Sasquatch]

Easy button is the .243. Lots of rifles new and used and lots of ammo choices and availability. If you reload lots of brass and cheap bullets. He practice with light bullets for low recoil and step up to 85-100 grainers for deer.

My daughter has a Tikka in .243 and has been killing deer with authority since she was 11 and never was bothered with recoil.

 

[Paladin300]

After reading everyone's post I still think the 6.5 Creedmoor is your best option but would second the 243 win as well. They both have tons of ammo availability and as deer and varmint cartridges he will never out grow them. Both are excellent choices. The 6.5 would allow him to shoot further but the 243 will be flatter inside 500 yards. Both are extremely accurate, light on recoil and most rifles today offered in them shoot extremely well.

 

[Allen Lone wolf]

Started both my granddaughters with 6.5 Creedmoors.

 

[Mike D Texas]

Since you are in Canada and have already said suppressors are out, I'm assuming AR platform rifles are as well.

There are other options out there. Are you allowed to have collapsible stocks on a bolt action platform? If so this would be a great choice in 6ARC or 6.5 Grendel.

Also don't be scared of a .223 Remington in something like a Ruger American ranch or a Tikka Compact. Stay away from lightweight varmint bullets and stick with soft points in the 62-75 grain range and you will be good to go; see the post above with a 223 using 75 grain TMK bullets.

There is also a huge thread on Rokslide about the 223 using the 77 grain TMK bullets.

 

[RYEWSKY25284]

I'm tossing the idea of getting my son a riffle for Christmas. he will be 9 in march. He has been shooting 22 for several years now and is doing really well with it. So I'm thinking of getting him a deer riffle that he Can practice with until He is of age to hunt. What are some options for low recoil deer calibres. Thanks for your input

.243 with 80grn Barnes TTSX would be my first choice. Also suitable to a Hammer Hunter bullet.

 

[Dirtrock]

My 2 cents would be either a 243 Win or a 7mm-08. Cannot go wrong with them. The 7mm-08 would be good one for you if you decide to hunt elk later .

 

[C-130 Dude]

I'm tossing the idea of getting my son a riffle for Christmas. he will be 9 in march. He has been shooting 22 for several years now and is doing really well with it. So I'm thinking of getting him a deer riffle that he Can practice with until He is of age to hunt. What are some options for low recoil deer calibres. Thanks for your input

Try out a .243. Its good enough for white tail and it won't beat him up.

 

[CogburnR]

I would get a 243. If you reload and can get 4895 many calibers can be low recoil .

 

[BenelliHunter]

My boys started hunting one at 4 and one at 6. My oldest was by far smaller at the same age as his younger brother. Now they are 5 and 10 (but only about a pound apart.

I made MANY mistakes with my 10 year old and trying to get him a gun he could shoot. Manufactures do a really poor job of building guns for kids. I built a 6.5 Creedmore because it has no real recoil to me- it blacked his eye fist shot- but he did hit the bullseye! However that is the last time he ever wanted to shoot it. When running the numbers I figured out that 13.6 foot pounds to me was crushing to a 46lb kid.

Then I built a 6cm SBR. It sits in a titanium chassis and wears a 12.5" barrel so that suppressed it is still less than 20". He limited out when he was 8 with that rifle. Two of the bucks he killed were 170 yards and 272 yards. So…..I built his 3 year old brother a matching SBR and put a 14" barrel on it to get a bit more speed. This was the first year for my 5 year old and he shot my 14 point shooter buck at 150 yards with it. We shoot the Hornady 87 grain Vmax and no matter what anyone says- on VA whitetail nothing else is needed. Those two guns have killed more than 20 deer- all with one shot kills.

6.5 CM = 13.6 lbs recoil
6 CM 6.9 lbs recoil

Massive difference