I found the Blazer ammo to be pretty user friendly. I don't care for an hour or two of full housee 240 grain bulletsts, most of which will travel at 1700 fps or so, it's a pretty hard thump, but in the end no worse than any other chambering worthy of being callen a deer cartridge. I think it will serve your 11 year old well, as well as any 243 or 30-30, and has been mentioned, it has the advantage of being able to chamber 44 Specials which will give some very low recoil practice and build confidence in the youngster in the rifel and their ability ot shoot it well. A 243 or 30-30 can be intimidating to some youths.