Amazingly my 14 year old has had great success with a 22-250 hunting deer. Doe, spike, small 8, little bigger 8. All dropped. She’s gonna need a bigger gun. Thinking a .243 is next , but is there something I’m not thinking of that has low recoil, with high knock down power? Not opposed to an ar platform. Not interested in a suppressor at this time. Thanks

Ar platform in any of the following:
300blk
6.5 grendel
6.8 spc
.308
6.5cm
.243

BAR in any caliber available.

Semi-auto does a fantastic job at mitigating recoil. My 12 year old's favorite hunting rifle is a BAR in .270. His 2nd favorite is the 300blk.

6.5 Creedmoor with a 100 grain Barnes TTSX produces more reliable terminal results than a .243. If you go with the .243, the 100 grain Partition is the best option I tried. I’ve tried using both myself a fair amount testing them for kids and small women. My testing was with a .260 but the Creedmoor is the way to go now due to more ammo on the shelf, back when ammo was on shelves. The 6.5 100 TTSX really delivers impressive results and does so consistently. It turned into one of my favorite deer bullets. The .243 went down the road.

I started my daughter off on an AR-15, she is small and 11 at the time

She took a doe, pig and buck with that rifle.

This year, she’s 14 and I picked up a 22-250 and she shot her a buck on Saturday with it.

Our longest shots for her are 100 yards so I am going to stick with it for awhile

She cratered her buck this year around 75 yards

260, 6.5 Creed, or 7mm-08

My 10 yo has a 6.5 Creedmoor. I went one Christmas to buy him a .243, salesman talked me out of it and into the 6.5 Creedmoor. It has been a great gun for not only him but everyone else in the family including his younger sisters. Recoil is a lot less compared to his older brothers .243. IMO.

7mm-08 will do anything she needs the rest of her life.

7mm08

I know the conversation always turns into a caliber conversation. If funds permit, then rifle specifics will also make a difference; such as muzzle brakes, heavier barrel/rifle, recoil pads, etc.

The following is a product that I'm keeping in mind. I fancy myself a diy guy so I think I can install some sort of recoil mitigation system in a wood stock.
https://stockpositioning.com/pages/recoil-suppressors
I figured if I were in your situation, most importantly the kiddo showing real interest, then I'd try to go larger in caliber. Again, I'm assuming it will be a more longer term rifle. Putting some extra money in the front end on the rifle so they can handle something like a 7-08 and up seems like it would promote the kid to "grow into" some amount of recoil. I'm really just projecting my 4yo here so I don't really know yet. Besides, won't the kiddo still have the 22-250 to help transition?

Two data points is all I have. The wife, who hates rifle recoil, was amazed at the complete lack of recoil in the AR 223. And, my 260, with 100 gr bullets, has light recoil, and isn’t a heavy rifle.

This, and if you need reduced recoil in the short term, they make ammo for that or if you load your own you can do the same.

I haven’t seen reduced recoil ammo on the shelf in a long time and I go to a lot of gun stores in my off time


I would 6.5 or 708

7-08 and if needed at first go managed recoil loads.

One young lady on this forum started with a 223, then 243 and now hunts with a 7-08 and has taken lots of critters with it both here and in Africa. By the time she was 14 she was using the 7-08.

i have hunted with the 7-8 since 1982, though I have used many other rifles over the years the 7-08 could have done anything deer hunting the others did. with over 100 deer to it's credit all but 2 have dropped within sight of the shooter and those were bad hits and both were still recovered.

There are lots of calibers that will work for her though.

As far as rifles there are lots available and I would say get her something very nice since it can be a lifetime rifle.

LOL there are lots of things that are not on the shelf that you used to be able to pick up anywhere any day.

I started with a .243, but if she already shoots a .22-250 well, I’d skip that incremental improvement and consider one of these.

Get a heavy rifle, helps with the recoil. My 6.5CM weighs 15lbs and my 8 year old isn't bothered by the recoil from a rest.

Agree with this as well. I grew up shooting a 270 reming ton 700 BDL And a 280 Remington mountain rifle. The 270 I bought and hunt with weighs 10+ pounds and is much nicer to shoot.

But are they happy to carry it to and from the stand, or on a walking hunt?

My 8 year old doesn't do a lot of spot and stalk...

7mm08 with 120 BT's running 2800fps is a deer killing machine, very light recoil. 6.5CM and 130 AB's running 2700 is much the same.

I did 6.5 creedmoor for my twins when they were 12, at first I was doing 120 grain a max and as of late we been shooting 140 eld’s but they have done well with them since 12 they are about to be 16 and the rifles still fit them well. I bought 2 academy Remington 700’s and bedded them into a boyd’s at one stock so they can grow with the kiddos.

I had their names engraved on them so hopefully they will keep them forever, I tried to do my best to ruin the value so they can’t pawn them later lol!

I’ve personally killed many deer with a 243, however anything 308 (depends on load) and under will serve your need well..

If you reload, you can pick any short action non magnum cartridge and load it light. Doesn't really matter the flavor.

Yes it does, but with roughly 36% more recoil energy. A .243 produces 8.8 ft. lbs. (100 grain load) of energy compared to 12 ft. lbs. (142 grain load) with the 6.5 Creedmoor.

I've never understood why some folks claim the 6.5 Creedmoor is light on recoil. Perhaps that's a true statement when you compare it to the 16 ft. lbs of energy produced by a .270, or the 18 ft. lbs with a .308 Winchester.

Could be wrong but I suspect the light recoil claim that's often quoted with the Creedmoor can be traced back to its roots as a long-range, competition shooter where it faced more powerful loads. However, not sure it holds as much merit for kids who seldom shoot beyond 100 yards.

Probably because lots of us have actually shot it extensively, while it's likely something you've only read about, or are guessing, as usual.