This year I have booked a management hunt at a ranch for my son and I to both kill a cull buck and we are supper excited. I’m even more excited that this will be our first hunt together and his first deer! Last year I bought him a Rossi youth 22/20ga and he is excellent with the 22 and thinks the 20ga kicks to hard and was kind of discouraged from it…(Even I thought for a 20ga it packed a punch). I really don’t want I’m to be scared or discouraged from the recoil of a deer cartridge so my question is I am going to get a replacement barrel in either a .223 or a .243 but witch one would be the best for him so he won’t get discouraged? Thank you!
Brian

either will work fine with the right bullet and proper shot placement. I'd go .223 if it were me.

Dave

I would try to get him out of that cheap little rifle if you can afford it and get him in a bolt .243 or 7mm/08. The better equipment you give your kid the better chance for success!

Likely on a booked hunt they may require .243 minimum might check that as well.

Whichever you chose, be sure to pick a bullet that is designed for deer and not varmints. The BULLET is more important than the cartridge!

I just emailed them to check on the requirements, but for now just dont have the budget for new rifle but a new barrel is only $125...

.243 with a 95 or 100 grain bullet...like someone said a load intended for big game and not varmits...I have both guns and really dont think there is much diff in the kick...now going from a .243 to 30-06 tons of diff..

You could get the .243 and a good recoil pad. I am going to teach my son on my .243.

TSX or nosler partitions in .243

Yea i was planning on using the TSX for him. I have only heared good things on that bullet in deer and hogs. Diego how old is your son?

He is 8, not quite ready just yet but I am currently teaching him on his little cricket. He should be ready by next season.

I was thinking of starting him on the 55gr to get him used to shooting a .243 and then work him up to the 100gr powerpoints.

My son is 8 too...he shoots his 22 and is accurate. Here is his group with his rossi 22 at 100yards!

I know he can hit what he will be shooting at, thats why im wondering if a .223 would be better as of recoil and still get the job done as for a .243 witch is know for Texas deer hunting.

Do you know the twist rate on the .223 barrel?

The regular .223 barrel is said to have a 1-12" twist

I wonder if it would stablize the heavier .223 bullets. I believe you can find upto a 75gr .223.

Winchester makes a 64gr Power Point for the 223 that is designed for deer. It should be a lot cheaper than the TSX. And it should be accurate enough at the ranges your son will be shooting. Let us know how it goes!

I defiantly will give y'all a range report and the hunting report in November! We are headed out veterans day weekend and im super excited

My son started out at 9 with my .270 and never had a problem. I think in most cases if you give them a gun they never complain about the recoil because they don't have anything to compare it against.

He knew it would kick harder than a .22 but he never had shot a .223 or .243 so he did not have those to compare it to. Just a thought but it is one way to handle the recoil issue with kids.

I have bot as well but would go with the 243 my son shot his first buck at 9 with the 24:

I'd get the .243, and then select correct ammo for minimum recoil.

look at http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm and even http://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_recoil_table.htm to see what your 20ga was doing (what ammo were you using in the 20ga)?

The rossi is quite light, and if you were using max-20ga ammo, it could have had 20ft/lb or more kick - about like a 270.
(I'd certainly suggest managed-recoil 20ga shot-shells for now, till he grows into it a bit better.) I've even seen 20-ga managed recoil slugs even . . .

anyway, you can probably get .243 with good deer-hunting ammo under 10ft/lbs recoil. He can certainly handle that. And that will certainly take a whitetail here in Texas - don't let his first whitetail experience be a run-off with .223 on a slightly-misplaced (read youth/inexperience) shot.

Like other said, .22 has like -0- recoil, so you WILL need to get him some range-time with some center-fire so he learns proper recoil response with whatever caliber you select.

.243 every time. You can expect some buck fever from a kid on his first hunt and a .243 will give him more wiggle room.

243

1/12 in .223 will handle 75gr I assure you, will do good with 60gr

Thanks everyone for the input!

hey brian i have a youth model 243 rossi i got when my boys were younger if u like u and your son are welcome to come up here in east texas on our lease and let him shoot a few rounds see how he responses to it . i had same problem with 22/20 gauge rossi i got one for my youngest son in 2003 i am 6ft tall and 270ibs and the 20 gauge rocked me way to much for kids, i think eathier 223 or 243 would work fine with tsx ammo for texas deer, am between linden and huhges springs we talked before about a hog hunt u could bring your son we will start running feeders about 1st of next month, let me know and yall could come up one weekend when we are all open