BEEBX2

I' m in agreement with all you guys on a bolt action vs. any other type. It' s his father we have to convince. I felt happy the other nite when he and I talked when I swayed him away from lever actions. The caliber is a main stickler for us at this point. I think I can move his father toward a good bolt action with all your help. I believe that if I can get enough of you to on my side (which doesn' t seem like it' s going to be too difficult) I/we can sway him towards a bolt. He' s going to be shooting out of a stand over looking a field/feed plot with about 150 yards in front of him

WV Hunter

If it was me, I would look at a Rem model 7... in a smaller caliber of your choice (.243, .257, .260 etc). I think those guns are well suited to young folks.
Another option (if you don' t want to go bolt) might be a NEF single shot rifle. They have a wide variety of caliber' s available, and with the interchangable barrel' s, you can essentially have many guns just by getting a different barrel. They seem to be a decent gun for the money.

remington_nc

My vote goes for the Remington model 7 in 260 or 7mm-08. I never cared for pump actions but thats just me.

Tumbo

Defnately go with a bolt action Rifle.

My first centerfire rifle 30 years ago was a 243 which I used for a few years,even saw some large deer dropped convincingly with it but i would consider it a little light for deer,then came the 25-06,a great cartridge but loud & has a large muzzle flash especially in a shorter barrel,next came the 270,what a great cartridge I thought,until a friend bought the same rifle in 7mm-08,at first I wouldn' t believe A cartridge with the same case as my old 243 shooting heavier bullets would be any good but at the range I was impressed with its accuracy & lack of recoil & how much more pleasant to shoot off a bench it was than my 270.

On that first hunting trip with the 7mm-08 I was so impressed that I traded my 270 in on one,it would cleanly drop large pigs out to 300 yards,easially as good as the 270.

I also played around with a 30-06 & 7mm rem mag for a while but would consider them way over the top for a 12 year old.

I' ve just bought my 3rd rifle in 7mm-08 a tikka continental,i' m mainly going to use it as a silhouette rifle(knock down metal targets out to 500 yards)

I do not believe that there is a deer on this plannet that cannot be taken cleanly out to 300 yards with a 7mm-08 & the right bullet selection.

I have not used a 260 so have no experience with it but from what i' ve read I beleive it would also be an excellent deer cartridge out to 300 yards or so

For your grandson I' de look for a bolt action rifle weighing around 7 to 8 pounds with a barrel no shorter than 22 inches In 260 or 7mm-08.

If you consider a 25-06 get a barrel at least 24 inches long.
I think a 270 might be a bit much for a 12 year old.

Sorry to be so long winded but hope this will help out with your father.

What cartridges were you thinking of?

Good luck

Tumbo

deerslayer444

If your grandson' s average range will be 100 yards or less, a Ruger .44 magnum semi-auto will do fine. My brother and also a friend of mine have used this rifle for many years with success. It has very low recoil and is rather short overall and, scoped or open sighted is very accurate.

NE Hunter

A rem model 7 in 7mm-08 ( or .243) since .308 and .30/06 are essentilly the same I wouldn' t recommend them to a youth ( unless the youth was big enough to handle them) But the 7mm-08 has very impressive ballistics and it' s a calliber I' m looking to get.

NEF at this time doesn' t offer a 7mm-08 ( I hope they do soon) but they do have a nice youth model that is offered in .223 or .243 It' s a single shot (exposed hammer) and is what I use and my son ( age 11)

BEEBX2

Tumbo---- If by cartrige you mean brand and bullet type, I have a preference for Federal Premium with Nosler partition bullets. From what I' ve been seeing in the postings the 7mm-08 seems to be the caliber that I' m going to take a hard look at. Again I appreciate all the responses you guys have been posting. By the way---- I talked to his father today and he is now leaning quite favorably toward the bolt action.Yea!! BEEBX2

frizzellr

I have a Remington model 788 that I had rebarreled to 7mm-08 Rem. It was my go to gun this past season. My 300 Win Mag didn' t even leave the closet. The 7mm-08 has plenty of knockdown power, great ballistics, and very little recoil. If there ever was a perfect deer cartridge the 7mm-08 would be a top contender for the title.

Tumbo

No I meant what caliber are you thinking of,technically speaking a 7mm-08 is 7mm caliber,a 308 & 30-06 ect is 30 caliber,I know its splitting hairs but i' ve been pulled up a couple of times on this forum for getting it wrong.

As to your choice of ammo,Federal premium 140 grain partition in 7mm-08 would be excellent for deer,dont overlook remington express with 140 grain core-lokt bullets,also excellent for deer.

Good to hear your son is comming around.


Tumbo

broey1

Another vote for the Remington model 7. I have a young guy who uses one in .260 & I use a Remington mountain rifle in .260. Either the .260 or 7mm/08 are perfect choices for young hunters or adults.