Hoss50 Report post Posted April 20, 2017 You can't go wrong with most anything 6.5 and larger for a single all around gun. I think .243 is very marginal for elk especially with a young shooter. A 6.5 creedmoor is honestly what I would lean toward for a newer shooter for a nice easy off the shelf gun that may not need a brake. If you are willing to brake a rifle you can advance much higher in the power spectrum right away. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sjvcon Report post Posted April 23, 2017 Both of my boys started on a 7-08. Great smaller gun for larger game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stallone A. Report post Posted April 23, 2017 Any of the calibers that were mentioned are great. I purchased the Tikka .243 for my Son and purchased .7mm-08 for my nephew. Both are the Tikka T3 youth model. I wish I could upload a video I made years back when I was faced with the same decision as you. I had borrowed a .243 and a 7mm-08 from a friend and had my son and nephew shoot. My nephew at the time was 13 and my son 8 and I let them pick which caliber was right for them. It was so funny to see the reaction on my 8 year old sons face after shooting the .243 to the 7mm-08 (it was priceless). As you can see I purchased the .243 do to recoil but my 13 year old nephew chose the 7mm-08. Now If you are purchasing the gun for Elk I would go with the bigger caliber. I don't know if Tikka makes a .260 but I can say out of the box the Tikka in my opinion makes the best compact and light weight rifle for kids. The action is very crisp and the trigger is great. No need to put a timmney on this gun. Hope this helps... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rock30golf Report post Posted April 23, 2017 Any of the calibers that were mentioned are great. I purchased the Tikka .243 for my Son and purchased .7mm-08 for my nephew. Both are the Tikka T3 youth model. I wish I could upload a video I made years back when I was faced with the same decision as you. I had borrowed a .243 and a 7mm-08 from a friend and had my son and nephew shoot. My nephew at the time was 13 and my son 8 and I let them pick which caliber was right for them. It was so funny to see the reaction on my 8 year old sons face after shooting the .243 to the 7mm-08 (it was priceless). As you can see I purchased the .243 do to recoil but my 13 year old nephew chose the 7mm-08. Now If you are purchasing the gun for Elk I would go with the bigger caliber. I don't know if Tikka makes a .260 but I can say out of the box the Tikka in my opinion makes the best compact and light weight rifle for kids. The action is very crisp and the trigger is great. No need to put a timmney on this gun. Hope this helps... Awesome insight Thank you Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PRDATR Report post Posted April 23, 2017 I'll add that the trigger on the Tika can be adjusted through the trigger guard without taking the action out of the stock. I had a T3 Lite in 308 great rifle. After I bought it I decided I liked my 7 Mag better so I gave it to my nephew. Tikka is top notch. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hoss50 Report post Posted April 23, 2017 I like tikka and they make 6.5x55 if I am not mistaken that would be a great option if you hand load. The one thing I don't like about tikka is that you can not top load the gun. It all has to be through the magazine. That is a personal thing though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeke-BE Report post Posted April 23, 2017 I like tikka and they make 6.5x55 if I am not mistaken that would be a great option if you hand load. The one thing I don't like about tikka is that you can not top load the gun. It all has to be through the magazine. That is a personal thing though. And the 260 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KBarter Report post Posted May 13, 2017 https://www.cdnnsports.com/marlin-xs7-243-synthetic.html?___SID=U Great rifle for the money, but finding a youth stock maybe tricky. (The are some youth models in Gunbroker). My buddy and I bought one for our daughters to share about five years ago. Has something similar to an accu-trigger. We went through the same decision process, 7-08 vs .243 and went .243. Now that they are older they mostly shoot my friends synthetic Savage 111 in 25-06. 6.5s are awesome but being able to buy ammo at Walmart is a definite plus. Though the 6.5 CM Abolt Micro Stalker on CDNN looks pretty nice. Good Luck, Kent Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
