Cow elk caliber for kids rifle

[BOWUNTR]

I'm thinking of re-barreling a custom Mauser 98 I have to a caliber my 13 year old daughters can use for a cow elk hunt. It currently has the military 7mm Mauser barrel and I don't want to open up the bolt face. What would you suggest? I will be using factory ammo. I'm thinking a short cartridge 308, 7mm-08, 7mm Mauser... Ed F

[biglakejake]

7x57 w partitions.

 

lee

[AzDiamondHeat]

The 7-08 might be a nice tame round for her. Plenty of knockdown too.

[singleshot]

The 7-08 might be a nice tame round for her. Plenty of knockdown too.

This

[Hoss50]

7x57 is a fine caliber if the barrel is still in good shape. It will do anything any of the other calibers you listed will do.

 

7x57 has killed pretty much every game animal on the planet including elephants. I think it would be fine for a cow elk. I picked up a Ruger in 7x57 for my kids that I am going to work with as their elk rifle.

 

Don't overlook the old caliblers like 7x57 & 6.5x55. They are no slouch and often can do and have been doing the same things or better things than the "hot new calibler".

[Explorer]

7x57 is a great cartridge. Most factory loads are underloaded though due to so many old 95/96 models floating around. Handloads do it justice.

[Allforelk]

What others have said about 7x57. It will buy you a couple of grains of powder capacity over the 7-08. In modern actions with the 150 grain Partition, it would be a great cow elk gun. You can expect 2550-2650 fps with tame loads and over 2800 pretty easily without pressure signs of you step it up. Partitions aren't the prettiest girl at the dance but they do their job on elk, and that's what counts.

[MT_Sourdough]

With right load, the 7mm-08 can hammer a cow elk at any reasonable distance to which a new hunter should be limited. Retaines enough energy, conservatively, for 300 to 400 yards on a cow elk. All the while, the 7mm-08 shoots like a well mannered princess. Typically a very accurate cartridge, to boot.

[dse]

If you where hand loading I'd say leave it a 7x57. Not going to find a cartridge much better for a kids elk gun. But being you want to run factory ammo I'd go 7-08.

[Smith2260]

When my daughter was 10 she killed a cow with a 7mm-08. No muzzle break needed. She shot a lot before the hunt also. Factory ammo for that hunt.

She will be 13 next week and easily shoots our 7mag and 300wsm, both with breaks.

[singleshot]

Marlin XS7 in 7mm-08

 

 

Versatile

 

 

 

139 grain Hornady GMX Entrance

 

[lancetkenyon]

.280 Rem or .280AI with a brake.

[Benbrown]

My 14-year-old grandson (who is small for his age) killed a very big cow elk this year with one shot from this mother's 7mm-08 at 307 yards with a 120-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. I have used 7mm-08s to start a number of my grandchildren as well as guests who had never hunted deer or elk. Most of them killed their first big game animal, either deer or elk, with those rifles.

[apache12]

7mm-08. the Bullet your rifle shoots well. If you'll have the youth carry the rifle I think the Tikka is a great light rifle and the 7mm-08 kicks a bit more than a 243 so it's a nice set up with a light rifle and an easy kick. Short barrel swing too 22 inch . Eurooptics has the tikka t3 on sale for a nice price

[yotebuster]

If you go with the 7-08 or the 7x57 give the 150gr scirocco from swift a hard look. I've killed elk, moose, deer, oryx, and a boat load of smaller stuff with them out of my 7mm STW and all of the recovered bullets could have been in an advertisement they looked so perfect. Anywhere from 15 yards to 1015.