Author Topic: Youth .243 or 30-30 (Read 1572 times)

snapcrackpop · « **on:** February 24, 2007, 12:50:36 PM »

Which gun would you prefer for a youth (deer) starter gun, a .243 or a 30-30? Youth can hunt at age 12 here in MN.
And why?

Or other choice and why?

huntnut · « **Reply #1 on:** February 24, 2007, 01:12:52 PM »

I say the 243 with 100gr softpoint it has less recoil then the 30-30. Both my boys shoot my 243 one is 10 the other 8 and they love it.

bluebayou · « **Reply #2 on:** February 24, 2007, 03:58:29 PM »

Between the two I would say 30/30 because he/she won't be shooting very far and the 30 caliber bullet will be less forgiving of shot placement. Neither recoil very much. but the 30/30 is about 11 ft/pounds versus 7 ft/pounds with 243, depending on bullet weight and all.

darat100 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 24, 2007, 04:08:41 PM »

I honestly like the 7.62x39. You get the 30 cal bullet and small recoil like in the 243. However, they are alittle hard to come by. If I had to choose from the two above, go for the 30-30. Keep shots short and maybe even consider the reduced recoil loads from remington. The .243 just doesn't leave enough room for error for the inexperienced hunter in my book.

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 24, 2007, 04:55:51 PM »

My choice would be the 30/30 just for the fact that there are so many diffrent loads to come by in factory ammo and if you hand load you can get an even better range of bullets , that and the fact that the 30/30 has been killing deer from day one .

As for recoil , if they can shoot a 243 they can handle the 30/30 .

JMHO

stimpy

ccoorreeyy · « **Reply #5 on:** February 24, 2007, 05:12:06 PM »

30/30 only because I require a 30cal. or larger bullet for deer. I know the 243 kill lots of deer dead on the spot year after year, but I just like the 30cal. bullet better for deer size game.

Daniel Laws · « **Reply #6 on:** February 25, 2007, 09:15:32 AM »

357 mag. My 11 yr old shoots 38 Sp in his, for practice. No recoil, cheap (especially with my reloads), and every store that sells ammo has 38's if I run low on the reloading chores. The long throated Handi lets me load 360 DW for his deer hunting. The 180 gr. Hornady SSP shoots accurately in the DW, with enough oomph for a 100-125 yd shot on Bambi. He gets to shoot it enough to get accurate and comfortable with it. It has worked out great for us.

snapcrackpop · « **Reply #7 on:** February 25, 2007, 11:26:26 AM »

Thanks for the replys and comments.
Good info to consider.

Pretty close so far...

rshunter · « **Reply #8 on:** February 26, 2007, 08:28:13 AM »

30-30 w/ managed recoil ammo, for a youth shooting a short distance( hopefully under 100yds.), more knock down and forgiveness. I have both in Handies and believe it or not I think the 30-30 w/ MR ammo kicks less than the 243!

PartsMan · « **Reply #9 on:** February 26, 2007, 08:43:42 AM »

30/30 is what I learned on.
Shot placement is not as important with the bigger bullets.
New hunters are bounnd to shake.(some old one to)

Plus they NEED to know how to shoot open sights.

DalesCarpentry · « **Reply #10 on:** February 26, 2007, 08:54:33 AM »

I would go with the 30-30. That is what my first deer gun was and it does a fine job.

RugerNo3 · « **Reply #11 on:** February 26, 2007, 10:08:16 AM »

I can relate to an instance with a 12yo boys bad hit on a small Pa Whitetail. Just too far back and no blood. Five hours of boring tracking for the boy pushed by his fathers insistence and the deer was found by a third party near dark. The kid was dead tired carrying a 700 Rem like a club. Until he saw the deer, he was all in and quite discouraged. A 30-30 would have laid a better blood trail in the brush from the bad hit as I saw it. Very small wound holes. The father put the killing shot in its head. A big flatnose 44Mag would be better.

joshco84 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 26, 2007, 10:20:50 AM »

a 243 in my opinion. i reallly like it for deer, and almost every kid i know of starts with one. But we are in more open country and sometimes its nice to have that little bit of extra oomph. Also just teach the child how to shoot right and you wont have to worry about shot placement, they will make the correct placement if taught too. Also if you are that worried about it, have an adult with them to shoot again if neccassary. a 243 is more than adequate for deer, even on a shoulder shot.

josh

troy5775 · « **Reply #13 on:** February 26, 2007, 11:49:50 AM »

My petite 10 year old daughter has been shooting a 223 for the last 2 years. With her not flinching from the recoil, she can hit a empty 12 ga hull from about 30 yards on a consistent basis. Shot placement is key.

PeterCartwright · « **Reply #14 on:** February 26, 2007, 01:58:06 PM »

I put a youth buttstock on my standard .30-30 Handi for my son's first deer rifle. His first deer was a big bodied spikehorn which he popped at a paced 90 yards. The factory 150 gr. Remington Corelokt punched through both shoulders (through and through) dropping the young buck in his tracks. I'd be comfortable with the performance of that rifle out to about 200 yards. I think the good old .30-30 is a more forgiving round on target than the .243 (i.e. less chance of bullet failure with standared cup/core bullets). It's a great first rifle-low recoil, plenty of accuracy (minute of angle with this Handi!) and great performance "on meat".

One more thing: .30-30 ammo is cheaper.

turftech28 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 26, 2007, 02:03:13 PM »

i just purchased my 9 year old a 30-30 he is kind of small for his age but with the recoil managment loads he does very well with it the first time to the range he shoot 2 box`s and did a very good job of placing it where i told him to but he has been shooting a 22 for a few years

i was very werry of what to get him for hunting i was leaning to the 243 untill i bought some of the rm remington and let him shoot my gun a few times my advice is to find some of your friends that have what your leaning to and let thim shoot it and see how thay handel the recoil thats my opinion hope it helps

grouper sandwich · « **Reply #16 on:** February 27, 2007, 03:32:47 AM »

I've purchased both for my 12 year old daughter. I bought the 30-30 first with the thought that it was better for her to shoot 150 grains of .30 caliber lead since most of her shots would be under 80 yards. BUT, she didn't like the recoil so I bought a 243 (kept the 30-30 for myself

). The recoil was less but she still noticed it with 100 grain slugs, most likely from shooting the larger 30-30 first which in retrospect was a mistake to get that large of a gun for her first centerfire experience. So I'm in the process of working her up a load of 85 grain partitions on top of a light load of IMR 4895 which will hopefully solve her recoil issues. The 85 grain partition should have no issues with complete penetration under 100 yards, even at reduced velocities. But I would get the 243, or even a 223 if the shots are going to be close, and let the youth work up to the larger gun.

PartsMan · « **Reply #17 on:** February 27, 2007, 03:58:39 AM »

125g hp Fedreral tamed the recoil on my 336.
I don't know how it would work on deer but might make good practice.
Lo recoil and acelerators might also be good.

quickdtoo · « **Reply #18 on:** February 27, 2007, 05:23:10 AM »

I would think a reduced load in the .30-30 would be a better choice than a reduce load in the .243. FWIW, my son used an M94 30-30 when he was young, never was a problem with factory loads.

Tim

30-30 reduced loads

243 reduced loads

grouper sandwich · « **Reply #19 on:** February 27, 2007, 08:09:49 AM »

It's phsycological at this point, she's scared of that gun. I got a 30-06 when I was 13 and never had an issue with recoil. But every kid is different. Besides, the deer she'll be shooting rarely break 100#'s for a full grown doe.

Hunternz · « **Reply #20 on:** February 27, 2007, 08:20:21 AM »

"The .243 just doesn't leave enough room for error for the inexperienced hunter in my book."

Quote from: bluebayou on February 24, 2007, 03:58:29 PM

Between the two I would say 30/30 because he/she won't be shooting very far and the 30 caliber bullet will be less forgiving of shot placement.

[/quote]

I think flinching causes alot of bad shots, and I don't think a badly placed 30-30 or 7.62 x 39 is going put down a deer any better than 100gr .243,
its all about bullet placement,
Regards Howard.

troy5775 · « **Reply #21 on:** March 04, 2007, 04:55:27 PM »

When we go out shooting we always use ear protection. A big part of what people, especially kids, perceive as kick is flinching from the big boom.

PeterCartwright · « **Reply #22 on:** March 06, 2007, 04:06:48 AM »

Quote from: troy5775 on March 04, 2007, 04:55:27 PM

When we go out shooting we always use ear protection. A big part of what people, especially kids, perceive as kick is flinching from the big boom.

+1 Adults, too!

mt3030 · « **Reply #23 on:** March 06, 2007, 06:40:01 PM »

Quote from: snapcrackpop on February 24, 2007, 12:50:36 PM

....a .243 or a 30-30?....
....And why?....

30-30.
Why? Experience.

trotterlg · « **Reply #24 on:** March 06, 2007, 07:16:19 PM »

A 30-30 is the classic deer rifle. A .243 can have a very sharp harsh recoil that I have never experienced with a 30-30. I would go with the old stuff, lots of Elk have been taken with a 30-30 along with most everything else in North America. Larry

Hunternz · « **Reply #25 on:** March 06, 2007, 10:10:10 PM »

I wish that there was good hearing protection, I need all my hearing when stalking the bush, all the hearing protection I have tried is uncomfortable and even the electronic types give an unnatural sound,
Regards Howard.

quickdtoo · « **Reply #26 on:** March 07, 2007, 05:36:02 AM »

Howard, there is good hearing help, but at a cost!

I use sportEARS, they work very well and aside from some wind noise, are very natural.

Tim

sportEARS

http://www.earinc.com/p1-electronic-hunting.php

Hunternz · « **Reply #27 on:** March 07, 2007, 07:40:16 AM »

ouch, $899.00 US

something to think about though,
Regards Howard

LoneGunman · « **Reply #28 on:** March 08, 2007, 04:42:05 PM »

30-06 with Remington managed recoil ammo, feels like a .243, even a little less. My 12 year old and my 8 year old are shooting Remington 700's that Ive cut the stocks down to fit them. When they get older Ill just replace the stock and then they can use full power ammo, they will never need another rifle.

Poll

Which gun do you prefer for a youth (deer ) gun?

Author Topic: Youth .243 or 30-30 (Read 1572 times)