Hey guys, I'm looking for a good youth deer rifle for a smaller-framed shooter. He is sensitive to recoil so .243 would be preferable. I'd like to find one for under $400. Preferably new, not used. What do you think?
Savage. Comes with a reasonable scope for $475 retail. Street price should be right about $400. http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/model/axis2xpcompact
What type terrain is he going to be hunting? Short brushy shots, or long open shots? That may determine the type of rifle he uses. I took my first grandson out In short brushy, 50 yrds, give or take 25, with a lever action 44 mag rifle, low recoil. Now he uses a lever action 45-70, heavy recoil. My hunting territory is heavy wooded, 50-100yrd shots max. 243 is an excellent choice though. Jim
Yeah, as you could probably tell from my username, I'm a Savage fan. The axis compact would be my first pick but I was just curious to see if there were any other good options you guys know of. A nice lever-action .44 or .357 would be great, but the ones I've seen are a little bit out of his budget.
Got the 4 I own in a pawn shop- each under $400. 2 Marlins, a Winchester and a Rossi. All "used", but basically in like new condition. Love my pawn shop.
I think the bolt gun is best. If he hunts open country in the future he can still use it. A Ruger American or a Savage package deal would do quite nicely. I think Remington has a package deal on one of their budget guns too.
.243 Win, Not too much recoil, can use it for longer shots if that's ever needed, will still be a good enough deer caliber even for a grown up. Fun to plink targets at longer distances like 400+ yards without beating you up. Yep, 243. Of course I'm just guessing again, never owned one personally. But a family member that has rheumatoid arthritis uses a .243 for deer, works for him. Ruger has the American rifle in your price range don't they? I've considered trading in my 25-06 for a 243 but I'm afraid it might be a little lite for wild hogs. Plus I've got all this 25-06 stuff laying around.
