357 vs .44 vs .410 slug

[Joshua]

I know the 44 will preform better. But the question is which in a handy has less recoil? I let my 6 year old girl shoot a .410 slug and she said it kicked and scared her. She wants to go deer hunting. She is good to go with the crossbow and can shoot a .22 real good. She is just shy of the recoil. Thinking she is to small for the 357 and 44 also.   I am going to buy a new gun for her if you think one of  these will have less recoil.

[billy_56081]

Load a 357 with light 38 special loads and let her fire away to her delight. When she is hunting she will not notice the full power 357s.

[Joshua]

So how close is the 357 and 44 recoil to each other? I was looking at the 44. With the 44 and 357 both have less recoil than the .410 slug?

[quickdtoo]

See the recoil list in the FAQs.

Tim

[Joshua]

See the recoil list in the FAQs.

Tim

Found it thanks.

[Spanky]

Maybe she's too young to be hunting.
Let her grow a few more years until she can handle the recoil of hunting loads.
If she gets gun shy now you'll never break her of it.



Spanky

[Doublebass73]

My son is 8 years old and is afraid to shoot his .410. He had no problem with light loads in my .45 Colt BC, though. A few years ago I went through the same thing with my daughter. I used a .357 Handi and had her shoot .38 Specials to practice which she had no problem at all with. She was also afraid of shooting the .410 and to this day is still very recoil shy (she's 12 now).

If you reload get the .44 Mag and load it way down for practice and save the full power for hunting only, they'll never notice the recoil in a hunting situation. If you don't reload then go for the .357 since there are tons of factory options on both ends of the spectrum. You could use Buffalo Bore ammo for hunting only and .38 target wadcutters for practice which are more quiet than a .22LR and have zero recoil. Whatever you do make sure you stop shooting if you see her flinching at all then step it back down to shooting the .22. There's no sense making her shoot something that she's not ready for.

[necchi]

I'm with spanky an doublebass, ya don't wanna git into those bigger guns till their the right size for it.
 You can create a flincher an that's tuff too break,,you need to think a few years ahead. I didn't git the boy into bigger guns till he was nine or so,,bout 90-100 pounds of body weight,,you need body mass to balance recoil.

It's great she's willing and wanting too,,but "ready" is another thing.  

Think about getting a traditional muzzle loader, you can load those .50 cals down to 30 grns for fun shootin, and gradually work up the load. It gives young ones the feel of a bigger heavy gun, but theres little to no recoil.

[troy5775]

I let my son target practice with 44 specials in his 44 mag. handi. The recoil doesn't bother him a bit.

[Lon371]

 Hello, my name is Lonny and I am a flincher . First gun giving to me to shoot was a 12 gage and told to shoot at a squirrel in the top of a tree Nearly put me in the ground. I now flinch even on a misfire of a .22

 That said, My kids started with the .22's and when they were bigger went to 410's and 20's. I did not have a .357 or .44. I do now. The .357 with .38's is no difference in recoil from the .22.

 If you get a .357 you can always Max it later

Lonny

[Doublebass73]

I forgot about .44 Specials in a .44 Mag, that's another option if you don't reload. Lon is right about the .38's in a .357, they have no kick at all just like a .22. I remember .38 wadcutters were even more quiet than a .22 LR which helps with a recoil shy shooter.

[Ruskin]

What about a 6 PPC?  I know a boy who has killed elk and a bison with one.  I know hunters will sy it is to small of a cartridge.  His grandpa, ex army ranger, taught him "shot placement".   I would not argue with the young man.  His record of kills speak louder than words.

[troy5775]

Another thing to remember is to use hearing protection when target shooting. You would not believe how much flinch is caused by the loud bang and not the recoil. We always take earmuffs out with us when we shoot.

[moorepower]

Where is it legal to use a 6ppc for either elk or bison?

[petemi]

Sorry to be a Nay Sayer, but I wouldn't use a six on anthing larger than a woodchuck.  It's just me.....I need great big slow bullets.  As far as the kids are concerned, I'd go with the .357.  As has been said you can shoot wad cutter .38s and stilll blow it out later to a Maxi.

Pete

[canon6]

moorepower, here in Montana,the only requirement is a centerfire cartridge.There  are  other states  in the same  frame of mind.   Doug

[Joshua]

moorepower, here in Montana,the only requirement is a centerfire cartridge.There  are  other states  in the same  frame of mind.   Doug

Same here for deer. Elk has a min

[steve@357maximum.com]

Joshua,

I had a similar issue when my son was 9yrs old and wanted to deer hunt.  He was smaller than average.  At that time there was no rifle hunting in Indiana (he is 26 now).  I ended up buying him a Traditions .50 caliber youth model muzzle loader.  For practice he shot 50 gr. of FFg with a 240gr bullet, very mild.  For hunting I bumped it up to 80 grains.  He killed his first buck at 100 yards from a solid rest and made a heart shot.  I never remember discussing recoil with him.  If I were in the same position today I would probably go with a .357 magnum handi rifle and practice with light .38 special level loads, then bump it up to .357 magnum loads for hunting, and sight in the heavy hunting loads myself.  Then down the road if your child still likes to hunt, ream it out to .357 Maximum.  The .410 slug is on the light side for deer and the 20 and 12 gauge produce too much recoil for a young shooter, in my opinion.
Good Luck which ever way you go,
Steve

[Joshua]

I'm really thinking about the .357. Does it come on a SB2 frame new or the SB1? Also can you buy it with the survivor stock since it is shorter than the youth stock? 

[quickdtoo]

Current model 357 and 44mags only come on an SB1 frame, the Survivor stock would have to be swapped later, they don't sell it that way, but the stock can be bought from H&R, Midway or direct from Choate, or second hand, all H&R single shot stocks are interchangeable, so you can put any stock you want on them.

Tim

[Dinny]

I say let her shoot the .357 Mag. Place a nice Sims Limbsaver recoil pad on there and have her wear her hunting coat/jacket when she shoots it. The recoil should be negligible.  IMHO, .410 slug hunting should be left to an adult who practices often. The small bore slug will get the job done only when the shots are short and the shot is placed perfectly. The .357 is a little more forgiving, it has better performing bullets.

Thanks, Dinny

[Dweezil]

Hunting entails a lot more than shooting accurately and handling recoil.  6 is awfully young.  I would think you would want your child's first exposure to big game hunting to be a good one.  How is her attention span?  Her cold tolerance?  Can she be quiet for long periods of time? Has she ever shot/killed anything living, perhaps small game?  Does she understand what death really means, and, if so, how does she handle that fact? How well do YOU handle it when she gets bored/irritable?  I think it would be tragic if your child was exposed too early, had a boring/painful/cold/ traumatic experience that ruined her for hunting forever.  My, larger than average, 8 year old daughter is learning to shoot a .22 and may be ready for squirrel hunting in a year  but is definitely not yet ready for the discomfort/tedium of a big game hunt. Psychologically, she's had enough of her own pets die to accept it philosophically...sometimes better than her parents do.

Back to rifle choice: 1st choice- 45LC with load options from mild to wild, a stronger receiver and actually lighter weight than the 44 or .357.  2nd choice: .357, for all the reasons previously mentioned by others.

[Joshua]

A few people mentioned the 45 LC. My ? is do the 45 LC come on the shotgun sb1 or the sb2 frame.

[Doublebass73]

A few people mentioned the 45 LC. My ? is do the 45 LC come on the shotgun sb1 or the sb2 frame.

The 45 LC Carbine comes on an SB2 frame.

[bikerbeans]

Joshua,

Assuming it is legal, I would just keep her on the crossbow.  IMO a 38 spc in a 357 mag, light enough to eliminate recoil, is probably not much of a deer killer.  The 410 slugs she was shooting only weigh in the 90 to 110 grain range so if that is too much kick then the 357/38 will be too much also.  A good Xbow will have as much range as a 410 foster slug anyway, probably out to 40 yards.  Good luck and hope she has a good time in the woods this season.

BB