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Rifle for 10 year old.

So I have 4 kids aged 9-17. I have been back and forth on how to handle this question myself. Are you trying to get her 1 gun that she can grow with or just get a youth gun for a year or two and have her move up to something bigger as she grows? Do you ever intend to shoot something bigger than deer? How about range? Will everything be 300 yards or less, or will you want her to shoot out to 600 yards in the future? My experience is that properly equipped, even very small petite kids can shoot bigger guns well if they have a break and hearing protection. Especially from a good rest. My 11 year old 60 lb son shot a cow elk from 200 yards with my 300 PRC and. 225 grain factory ELD-M. Bullet went through the heart. He didn't even remember the recoil because the gun was very aggressively braked and he was shooting from a standing position off of a Bog Pod which clamps to the gun. I carried the gun and he carried the tripod. I then set the gun up pointing at the elk and he simply stepped in to the gun after it was pointing at the elk and made the final small adjustments. Worked like a dream.
 
My daughter has been shooting a Cricket and 10/22 for a couple years and is ready to upgrade. She'll be legal to deer hunt in 2 years so I'd like to get her started on a rifle sooner rather than later.

Deer around here aren't hard to kill or very big. So I'm leaning towards .223, .22 Creed, .243 win or 6 Creed. With a removable brake.

My dilemma is the stock, I cannot figure out what would work for such a small child??? I read that the Weatherby Camilla is a good one but it still looks too big in pictures?

Thoughts???
So I picked up a Weatherby Vanguard 243 carbine with a youth and full size stock.
My kids started with a 22-250 but could have started with this gun. 5 kids and now it has the full size stock. Stuck a good scope on it.
Have about $1000 in it. That gun has killed more game than any rifle in the cabinet. Who knew. It works, and you can shoot anything in Texas and probably most other places with some discretion. Simple and effective. Do not get a brake.
 
I had this one built for my grandson. 7mm-08 shooting 145gr bullets. Recoil is light. Stock has 12 inch LOP.
 

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I started my kid before he was 3 years old. At the age of 3 I had a 22/250 with a muzzle break. He killed a wood chuck on our farm at 300 yds under my supervision. I progressed him and made sure that I didn't scare him and create bad habits. I then took a savage varminter and chambered it into a no turn neck 6mm dasher. He did very well hunting deer with a bipod. From that point he has many accomplishments in the shooting sports. By the age of 6 he killed his first whitetail. Below is a photo of him with the dasher and his first whitetail.
By the way the barrel is pointing up the hill behind him
Optical illusion of pointing at him.
 

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My granddaughter has the Weatherby Camilla in 7-08. With the reduced recoil loads she does not even notice any recoil from practice to the field. I had no experience with the gun or caliber but my son did all the work and had my granddaughter hold and feel all the smaller frames and youth models. This is what fit her best and she liked. With the reduced recoil loads we have felt that 200 yards is about the furthest she should be shooting as it starts to drop off. The most important thing is that it fits and can shoot it having fun. It is working well for my granddaughter.
 

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.223 is not enough for tough whitetails especially bigger bucks.
I'd go with .243 and 80 to 100 gr.
bullets. I have an old Mossberg .243 that I've killed over 80 deer with. The one time when I was younger and took a .223 hunting, it turned into a tracking job.

Didnt get back to camp until after 11 pm that night. I was so tired I skipped eating and went straight to bed.
 
If you want something smaller I would recommend a 6.5 creedmoor but load it with a light bullet. Say 95 grains or less. Break it if you want. Replace the stock with an adjustable magpul stock as mentioned earlier. The ruger go wild is an accurate affordable option. That gun can grow with the kid and shoot deer sized and smaller game comfortably out to 400 yards or so. (Not a 1000 yard elk gun, but very appropriate for kids and deer inside 400).

If you reload your self you should consider the lightest hammer hunter they make. You can get a fast bullet with light recoil and still get good penetration.
 
My daughter has been shooting a Cricket and 10/22 for a couple years and is ready to upgrade. She'll be legal to deer hunt in 2 years so I'd like to get her started on a rifle sooner rather than later.

Deer around here aren't hard to kill or very big. So I'm leaning towards .223, .22 Creed, .243 win or 6 Creed. With a removable brake.

My dilemma is the stock, I cannot figure out what would work for such a small child??? I read that the Weatherby Camilla is a good one but it still looks too big in pictures?

Thoughts???
Sako and other co make children size. Sako has light stocks.
My daughter has been shooting a Cricket and 10/22 for a couple years and is ready to upgrade. She'll be legal to deer hunt in 2 years so I'd like to get her started on a rifle sooner rather than later.

Deer around here aren't hard to kill or very big. So I'm leaning towards .223, .22 Creed, .243 win or 6 Creed. With a removable brake.

My dilemma is the stock, I cannot figure out what would work for such a small child??? I read that the Weatherby Camilla is a good one but it still looks too big in pictures?

Thoughts???
for me it would be the savage axis II youth in 6.5 creedmoor. Start with 95 grain pills. As the child gets older and more comfortable you can increase to heavier pills. If your child stretches out you can upgrade the stock and still have a decent caliber for killing black bear and even elk / moose at short distance. No break required IMHO.
 
My son is quite a bit younger and smaller and we have fought recoil and length of pull with him quite a bit.

I built him a 6.5 CM with an AR Stock and it was too long and way too much recoil at about 13lbs.

I finally settled on 2 other solutions. A Howa 6.5 Grendel in a chassis. Removed the AR butt stock and installed a AR pistol butt stock. 7 lbs of recoil.

I also bought a Remington 700 CP and changed it into a SBR, rebarrled it to a 6CM. 7 lbs of recoil.

I run a suppressor on anything he shoot's. I have severe tinnitus from the Army and I will not subject them to the noise
 
My daughter has been shooting a Cricket and 10/22 for a couple years and is ready to upgrade. She'll be legal to deer hunt in 2 years so I'd like to get her started on a rifle sooner rather than later.

Deer around here aren't hard to kill or very big. So I'm leaning towards .223, .22 Creed, .243 win or 6 Creed. With a removable brake.

My dilemma is the stock, I cannot figure out what would work for such a small child??? I read that the Weatherby Camilla is a good one but it still looks too big in pictures?

Thoughts???
Don't do the muzzle break, the gain in such small calibers is almost negligible, the hearing loss could be serious, specially in such a young person, if accidentally fired without hearing protection.
 
My daughter has been shooting a Cricket and 10/22 for a couple years and is ready to upgrade. She'll be legal to deer hunt in 2 years so I'd like to get her started on a rifle sooner rather than later.

Deer around here aren't hard to kill or very big. So I'm leaning towards .223, .22 Creed, .243 win or 6 Creed. With a removable brake.

My dilemma is the stock, I cannot figure out what would work for such a small child??? I read that the Weatherby Camilla is a good one but it still looks too big in pictures?

Thoughts???
I got my daughter a savage axis II 6.5 creed! She loves it, there's is an extension piece on the butt that is removable to shorten the rifle. The recoil on that gun is very minimal as well.
 
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