Suitable youth rifle for a Mule Deer hunt?

[Buano]

has anyone suggested the 260 Remington yet? a 6.5 that seems to been lost in the shuffle. I do not like the cartridge but it certainly will do the job at 250 to 350 yards. My 270 WSM with a 140 grain slug is gentle, fast, and will hammer a deer without hesitation. I also have a Win 70 featherweight carbine in 270 Win that does a wonderful job on the deer from 50 to 250 yards. only limiting factor is the 2-7X32MM lightweight scope. the whole package loaded is like 5 pounds 12 ounces.

I earlier suggested a Rem Model 7 in .260 Rem with a youth stock, because that's what I picked up for my daughter a few years back. It worked perfectly for her teenage years — and impressed me! Best part was the price. I wasn't paying for the newest cartridge in the fanciest gun, just a damned good hunting rig that never let us down and had very little recoil. The only downside was the limited availability of factory loadings, but what was available worked perfectly.

 

[Lenny Foffa]

Im with you Mr Lenny, tried and true 270 grew up with it and still doing things that im was doing before all the new stuff was here not that i dont like to take a chance.

Im with you Mr Lenny, tried and true 270 grew up with it and still doing things that im was doing before all the new stuff was here not that i dont like to take a chance.

 

[Lenny Foffa]

Hi Mr. Big Poppa, You Know , I am not a young man, and I have been handloading for all my rifles for over 50 Years. Some times, you find and incredible load, with great accuracy, excellent ballistics , in a light rifle, and you capture "Lighting In A Bottle." On those very rare occasions, I stop experimenting , and enjoy shooting it. That's my .270 Win load. Close to Mr. O Conner's load, but not quite that hot. Boy does it kill whitetail deer. Now if I could just see a really big buck!!!!!

 

[nathank]

i would get her a savage lady hunter in 243 or 6.5 CM. Just my 2 cents. Mule deer as others have stated dont need anything more than a whitetail. Get a gun that fits her well and she will love it for years.

 

[Goring2358]

one of the best youth rifles ever made was the 250 savage, closest thing available now is either the 6mm creedmore or 6.5 creedmore and yes they are legal rifles for private land in Indy, as is the 7mm/08, hell about everything is legal, case if anywhere between 1.16 and 3 inches firing at least a .243 bullet, but you can only possess 10 rounds while hunting.

 

[TX Badger]

I understand that a .243 will get the job done, but I wouldn't recommend it . The .257s and .264s can be loaded down pushing 100gr. Partitions faster than the 6mm, but give you the option to go up as the kid grows.

 

[scott63]

one of the best youth rifles ever made was the 250 savage, closest thing available now is either the 6mm creedmore or 6.5 creedmore and yes they are legal rifles for private land in Indy, as is the 7mm/08, hell about everything is legal, case if anywhere between 1.16 and 3 inches firing at least a .243 bullet, but you can only possess 10 rounds while hunting.

My son and daughter both shot their first buck with my first deer rifle, a .243 Win model 70 that I still own. I've also loaned it to friends for their kids to use, so far that rifle has accounted for 7 first bucks, and I killed quite a few after my first with it. After her first buck with that .243 I built a .250 savage on a Swedish Mauser action for my daughter, and she killed four more bucks with one shot each using that rifle and Remington 100gr core lokts. I have a soft spot for the .250 savage