Kid's first rifle; .270 win or .243?

[leVieux]

My older Son and I have been discussing a "first rifle" for his 14 yo Son, my Grandson.

Years ago, hunting deer & hogs mostly in South or Central Texas; I standardized boys & I to Remington Mod 7's in .243. We have been very happy with these little, very handy bolt guns.

Son has decided to start my Grandson on a Remington Mod 700 in .270 Win. No one else in our group has a .270. We all use .243 or .308. Son based this on advice of a couple "armchair experts".

What do you-all feel is the best for this?

Or, more honestly, help me push the .243 Win. !

leVieux

 

[Vaquero]

All your and your son's wishes aside, you couldn't run fast enough to give me a 700 in 270.
I thought I wanted one back in the early 80s. Found and fired one. I've never had a worse reaction with a rifle.
No to Remington! No to .270!

 

[Vaquero]

Added.
I use .243 in a Ruger 77 mkii
I've fired all sorts of thumper rounds from ruger 77s.
They don't phase me one bit.
What beast that is native to Texas won't fall to a .243?
Besides the North American Bison? I doubt y'all are hunting buffalo in the wild.

 

[Younggun]

I've had a .243 since I was 12. It was my first deer rifle and still shooting it. Darn good round with light recoil and works just fine for deer. Savage model 11, shoots right around an inch with 80gr Remington Core Lokts.

I've shot .270 before and have nothing against it. Shoots flat enough, handles a wide spectrum of game, but for a youngster the .243 rocks is I never "outgrew" it. It's just pleasant to shoot and doesn't have sharp recoil that could give a youngster bad habits.

I'll second the aversion to Remington. Their QC just hasn't been up to par in recent years. Plenty of other very good rifles out their. I'm partial to Savage, but could make a long list of rifles I'd choose over Remington.

 

[Charlie]

Were it me, I start him out on the one with the less recoil (243). That caliber can be used for almost anything a young man wants to shoot in Texas. Just my two bits.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

I agree with your thoughts.
Killed my first deer at 8 with a. 222, I believe the next couple were with a. 243.

 

[Dawico]

.243 over .270 definitely. 7mm-08 is another good choice for a lower recoil round.

Anything but Remington. Savage is always my go to manufacturer. Remington is too spotty now days.

 

[HKShooter65]

I agree with your thoughts.
Killed my first deer at 8 with a. 222, I believe the next couple were with a. 243.

Yay .222.

My dad hunted TX game with his .222 for decades till he passed on.
I, too, took my first deer with it near Boerne at age 11.
Still have it.

I've passed on the less-caliber-is-better with good placement hunting philosophy to my sons.

My son is old enough now to buy his own rifle.
At my urging he picked up a gorgeous .223 Kimber with a light French walnut stock.
Since November I've seen the two deer, one turkey and three tasty little yearling pigs he's taken with it.
None of them ran 10 feet with his well-placed shots. All 50-75 yards.
Some of his venison is in a bowel with plenty of spices and some Prague #1 curing salt in my ice-box as I type. Will be jerky by Friday morning.

Just sayin'
Less is better for the patient and skilled hunter.

.243 is my east choice germane to this thread.
Though, for the little TX hill country game the .223 needn't be overlooked.

HKS

 

[oldag]

Definitely the .270, unless the .243 comes with a deer dog to chase down all those wounded deer.

 

[Moonpie]

243 all the way.

 

[Bozz10mm]

I really like my Remington 788 in .243 caliber, and that is the caliber I would recommend. However, if I was buying new today, I would look at something like the Ruger American, or for a little more refined rifle in the same price range as a Rem 700, CZ USA makes a mighty fine rifle.

 

[texasnurse]

.270 in a Higher Quality Firearm


Sent with my IPhone with electronics and fuzzy logic...

 

[navyguy]

Just my opinion but I think .270 is a poor choice for a "starter" rifle. While it's a popular, powerful and flat shooting loading, it brings with it recoil nearing the 308/30.06 range. I know they build 14 year old boys pretty stout these days, but learning basic rifle marksmanship while getting your shoulder beat to hell may be counter productive. .243 has humanly taken deer sized game at reasonable distances for many decades and I've always thought it was a very good choice as a first rifle or one to keep and shoot unless you graduate to larger game or want to venture past 200 - 250 yards.

I personally would opt for a 7mm-08 or 6.5 Creedmore in a Tikka T3x Lite.

 

[jetcycles]

Definitely the .270, unless the .243 comes with a deer dog to chase down all those wounded deer.

If that boy develops a flinch to anticipated .270 recoil, you'll need that dog as well. I vote .243 as well. Solid fundamentals and sound shot placement are key, no matter what you choose.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[DwnRange]

Just an alternative suggestion here - buy a 6.8 mm SPC AR15 caliber rifle, which is the exact same 270 cal sized bullet, generally lighter weighted (110, 115 & 120 gr). I have had great success with mine using hand-loaded Barnes 110 gr TSX rounds on both white-tailed, mule deer and big hogs, (the Double Tap brand 110 gr TSX load, while expensive, shoots the exact same POA as my load - an excellent choice for hunting use by those that do not reload). My CMMG 1/10 twist upper has an Endine buffer making felt recoil a non-issue and you'll have the side benefit of using standard 5.56 or 300 BO uppers on the same lower - if so desired.

PS - you'll see a 5 shot 100 yard group at left (avatar) - from this old CMMG 1/10 twist 16" 6.8mm SPC AR15 rifle - note: this rifle does not use an A2 FS, but runs a 30 cal Vortex FS from Smith Ent. Inc., along with the custom buffer mentioned above - which I highly suggest as these 2 minor changes, along w/ an old RRA 2-stage match trigger, turned my CMMG 6.8 into a tack driver.

 

[avvidclif]

I've always heard the 270 was a shoulder stomper and therefore never had one. But I have had 243's and did fine for years. Now my son and I are standardizing on 6.5 CM. A great grandaughter got her first deer at 9 yrs old with a Savage in 223. Her little sister killed a hog the same year, same rifle, I think. But then their parents are a little different than most. They both hunt, grizzlies down. When the girls were younger and not able to go to the deer lease he would go one weekend and she would babysit. They would swap the next weekend and yes she killed and field dressed her own deer.

 

[lonestardiver]

.243 is a good starter rifle like the others have said. Also being a short actions weighs a little less in the field. Get a savage in .243 and later you can do a barrel swap to .308 or 6.5 creedmoor or 7mm-08.

 

[Army 1911]

.243 all the way. No reason to make the boy uncomfortable when shooting. Hunting weather will do that.

 

[BRD@66]

Well, I'm late to the thread & it's all been said. Kudos to pro-.243 & anti-Remington thoughts.

 

[Younggun]

Had a guy tell me my .243 wasn't enough gun before. The next evening I was helping him locate a deer that had run after being hit by his .270.

Much better to become proficient and hit where you need to than to depend on a larger cartridge to compensate.