Need Help for Baby Bro

[KRob]

I am getting ready to go down range. I am trying to schedual my mid tour leave to coinside with Deer season back home. My baby brother is finally old enough to go hunting with me however i have been out of the shooting game so long i dont know whats out there. I am in need of some suggestions for rifles/calibers for a smaller young man (Just turnd 15).

I have always used either my 223 savage or my 300wm savage and unfortunelty i think the 300wm would be to big and the 223 too small. So suggestions on rifles and calibers.

My biggest concern is recoil. I also need it to be something i can pick up easily, because i will not have the time to search around for it.

I was thinking savage in 308 but dont know about 308 recoil, I dont know about a 243 i'd like him to be able to use the rifle for elk too.

I havnt payed any attention to the shooting world for about 4 years so i really dont know whats out there. Oh yeah a grandfatherly neighbor who can really shoot is going to be working with him so he will probably shoot better then i do when i get back. He grew up plinking squirrels, rock chucks, and other varmints with me untill a couple years back when i left.

Thanks ROb

 

[Buffalobob]

Cabelas sells a very nice shoulder pad with a gel inside it that does a really good job and I use it when shooting a lot of rounds on a short time.

Cabela's Recoil Pads

When he is practicing in warm weather he can wear it and by the time hunting season comes along he will have enough shirts and coats on that he won't need the pad. As he gets older and gets more shoulder muscles to absorb the recoil he can do without it or use it as he pleases.

 

[KRob]

Thanks, Last time i had to deal with a recoil pad type thing it was not so much fun but i will look into it.

SInce i havnt ever really used a 30-06 how much of a recoil on a light synthetic stock is there compared to a 12g 870, or un padded 94 winchester 30-30? Thanks.

 

[Buffalobob]

Down in the Bullets, Barrels, Ballistics Section is a Sticky which is an excel based recoil calculator.

The general rules are
Light rifles recoil more than heavy ones
Heavy bullets recoil more than light bullets
Faster bullets recoil more than slower bullets.

One thing I used to do before I bought the shoulder pad was to to take a bath towel and fold it a lot of times and just drape it over my shoulder when shooting and use it as a recoil absorber. I have also taken heavy duty bubble wrap and cut it into a good shape and duct taped several layers together and safety pinned it to my shirt for a recoil pad.

I try very hard to avoid developing a flinch because once you get to flinching it is hard to break.

I would not particularly worry about a 308 or 30-06. With 160-180 grain bullets, recoil should be moderate and if he will wear some kind of pad while practicing everything should be fine.

I do not shoot a light 308 (mine is fairly heavy) so it is hard for me to compare it to a 12 guage but think the 12 gauge will feel worse.

 

[CapDog]

Have a look at the .260 and 7mm-08 as well. Both are mild recoiling and with the right bullets are good on elk. My wife shoots a 6.5x55 which is pretty much the same and it has worked wonders. I shoot a 260 my self and although it is not my deliberate elk/moose gun I wouldn't hesitate to use it.

 

[BountyHunter]

second the 7mm-08! great light recoiling cartridge.

start with 120 gr and move up

BH

 

[KRob]

See i am glad i got back on here. I had totall frogotten about the 7mm08.

Bubble wrap. Hmmm. All good ideas. But that is what i am worried about is him building a flinch. He use to shoot trap with me using a harsh 20g and two 870 12g...as hes gotten older he has gotten worse too. To bad he use to be really good.

Hes got to start praticing before i am going to start working to hard to find him a rifle though, so we shall see what happens.

Im going to go take a look at that recoil calc.

Thanks
Rob

 

[Buffalobob]

If there is a 22 RF lying around the house that would be a good choice to practice with. I do not care how bad it shoots and I do not care if it has iron sights or optics. The objective is to practice good mechanics and develop good habits and cure bad habits. He should be shooting form a bench and really concentrate on getting the best possible accuracy from the rifle. To break up the monotony and boredom he can do some tincan shooting and goofing around as long as he picks up his trash after he is done. Shooting 100yards or further at small targets with a 22RF can be fun and reinforce the idea that the mechanics must be prefect.

I taught my kids shooting mechanics with a pellet gun. Even at just 30 feet it challenged them.

 

[buckaroo324]

Have a muzzle brake put on.You might loose little accurcy but not enough to miss game with.

 

[jasonstewart]

at 15 i was shootin a savage 7 mag. i always had a craving for larger than needed though.

 

[jasonstewart]

the 7mm-08 is the way to go. having shot many 12s and 20s the 7-08 is far less brutal. as far as the flinching, most rifles are able to have the triggers adjusted perty light out of the box. itll go off before he can flinch. thats how i had to handle my huntin guns. 2 to 3 lb pull max for me. hope this helps. jason

 

[CapDog]

Have a muzzle brake put on.You might loose little accurcy but not enough to miss game with.

A properly installed muzzle brake should not affect accuracy. You may have to switch to a different load, but exceptional accuracy can still be achieved with a brake attached. The added muzzle blast may be a problem for a novice shooter though.

 

[LostInSpace278]

Put a couple spent cartridges in the mag at random with live rounds. This will show him how bad of a flinching problem he has. Usually this is enough for a person to concentrate on the basic mechanics of shooting. I used this method long ago, when starting to shoot high power rifles. I was taught to shoot with a 20 ga. using high brass 4 shot. Dad would never consider shooting a shot gun with anything less than 5 shot hi-power shells.

 

[KRob]

I am curious if he may have already developed a finch because when he was about 10 he was pretty good with a 22 when it came to plinking varments, now though when i went home this summer and we ran around he was sucken pretty bad. (might have been the rifle zero though) I think he is out of pratice and shot to much with 12 or 20g and developed a flinch.

I think i will look at a 7mm08 probably see if i can get one in savage with an accutrigger for him since that is what i have always had....unless you guys want to proswade me other wise.

(Sorry about my spelling)

He may end up working for the ranch, that i worked for when i was a kid this summer. Pest control was a normal slow day job there. That will help his shooting out.

Rob