Rifle for 10 Year Old

[wish2hunt]

I bought my daughter a Remington in a 270 and it came with a youth and adult stock.

[kennyazman]

Ruger American predator in 6.5 creedmoor. Amazing gun for the money.

[CatfishKev]

Go with a 7-08 with a break. It will kick like a 243 and still be good for elk. If you got the $ get a silencer and it will kick even less.

[Smith2260]

Depends on the size of your 10 year old. When my son was 10, he was very tall and long armed, he was already shooting my 7 mag with a break very well. Killed a deer and elk with it. When my daughter was 10, she is petite, so a youth 243 and youth 7mm-08 were perfect for her first pig and elk when she was 10.

[HyNoon]

I just bought my boy a ruger american in 6.5 Creedmoor, I Got it in the predator model and the barrel comes threaded and takes most ar10 muzzle brakes. I put the dpms brake on it and he shot a box of 20 and didn't complain once. He is a small and 10 years old , he just killed his first buck with it Saturday.

[rossislider]

My son shot his first deer at 10 with my 300 RUM, and several other animals since. It has a good brake on it and it is all he wants to hunt with ever though we have several smaller calibers. My point is, don't feel like you have to get a kid a smaller caliber so they can handle it now. Even the big guns with a little aftermarket work are very manageable and might give them greater flexibility of animal species long term.

[Hoss50]

6.5 (pick your flavor) or 7-08.

 

Or a bigger caliber with a brake. They 300 win mag I just had braked darn easy to shoot now.

[lancetkenyon]

My son shot his first deer at 10 with my 300 RUM, and several other animals since. It has a good brake on it and it is all he wants to hunt with ever though we have several smaller calibers. My point is, don't feel like you have to get a kid a smaller caliber so they can handle it now. Even the big guns with a little aftermarket work are very manageable and might give them greater flexibility of animal species long term.

I have to agree with this in some ways. While I did not let Taylor practice with it, she used my .300RUM w. brake when she was 11 for her first bull elk too. Lots of time behind a .223 & .25-06AI for practice.

[More D]

I went with the very same rifle you are considering but in a full size version. There was very little weight savings when compared to the compact. We shortened the stock and got it comfortable to shoot. We picked up the SPS at sportsman's black Friday for $300. That got us started and I have worked it up to my daughters shooting needs/style not mine.

[rossislider]

 

My son shot his first deer at 10 with my 300 RUM, and several other animals since. It has a good brake on it and it is all he wants to hunt with ever though we have several smaller calibers. My point is, don't feel like you have to get a kid a smaller caliber so they can handle it now. Even the big guns with a little aftermarket work are very manageable and might give them greater flexibility of animal species long term.

I have to agree with this in some ways. While I did not let Taylor practice with it, she used my .300RUM w. brake when she was 11 for her first bull elk too. Lots of time behind a .223 & .25-06AI for practice.

This is a great point. Best way to get a kid ready and comfortable is a couple thousand rounds down a 22lr before they start to move up. Build those good habits with something that doesn't scare them or beat them up and those habits will translate to larger rifles and in hunting situations.

 

Maybe the best thing I did for my son was to get him his own 22lr when he turned 8 and let him shoot the heck out of it for a couple years. Maybe just a proud pappa talking here, but since he turned 10 (he is now 12) he has taken a whitetail, a muley, two elk, a turkey, and more small game than I can remember, and he has yet to miss his mark. If we are lucky enough, he might add another deer and his first javelina to that total this weekend.

[ElkDeer]

Wow! Thanks for all of the information. He has already been shooting the 22 for awhile. I'm going to continue my research and have him try shooting some of these! Thanks again!!! I might try reloading this year too specifically for his new rifle.

[Titanium700]

When my son turned 9 I bought him a Remington 700 sps youth in .243 win

Since then it has accounted for 2 coues bucks (1 at 400yds) a 2 pt bull elk and a 10 pt eastern whitetail.

It has a 1-9 1/8 twist and will stabilize 100 grain npts with ease.

I coupled it with a leupold 3.5-10 with the cds dial and he can bang steel at 500 pretty handily.

Lately he's been talking about putting a McMillan stock for it.

:-)

[Stallone A.]

tikka t3 .243 best gun straight out of the box IMO...

[Lucafu1]

I bought my daughter a youth Rem700 SPS in 7mm-08 before she was born. its waiting for her to get old/big enough to shoot. I will put a brake on it for her. My wife shoots the same rifle but in LH. I will use it as a back up in Dec. Youth/Compact models make really nice mountain guns.

[SunDevil]

+1 on size of the kid? my daughter is only 11 and she is one of the smallest kids in her grade. that was one factor in deciding on a compact model. not sure I agree with factory ammo for the 6.5? maybe I was looking in the wrong places but I did not find many factory ammo options for that round. that was one of the things that contributed to my selection of the 7mm-08