My 11 year old has been saving his money and is wanting to buy a gun. He is tired of always using one of mine. Anyways, he is considering these two calibers and we were looking for some feedback. He is specifically looking at the Weatherby Vanguard s2. He has been mowing yards and doing chores for grandma and I want to make sure that he gets the best gun for him and his money. Any feedback would be appreciated.

7mm/08 no question!

Another vote for the 7mm-08

7mm-08

7mm-08

What are the reasons for everyone choosing the 7mm-08. And what type of scope would you put on it. I told him I would buy the scope if he bought the gun. Do not want to spend more than 300 on the scope.

The 7MM-08 can go with him all the way through adulthood, and has twice the power and distance.
243 are good guns, but don't have the knock down power of the other. Plus 7mm-08 is built on a 308 casing which is better for longer shots too!!!.
My Dad hunted with a 7MM Mag all his life, but in his 70"s now, the 7MM-08 is the perfect gun for him.

a .243 is a .243, cant do much more with it, the 7mm-08 you can go down to a managed recoil 120 grain load with nil recoil and in time load it with 160 or even 180 loads for really big North American game like elk, mule deer, even moose, a .243 cant do that. a kid will outgrow a .243, but can grow into a 7-08. no comparison, the 7-08 is an amazing caliber. read up on it.

as for a scope, Redfield 3x9x40 or 50 for less than $250 fits your need.

Since he is 11 it would depend on he handles recoil and whether or not you think it would lead to bad shooting habits (flinching etc.) in the future. Only you can know that.

My Dad killed mule deer in Colorado with a .243. Since I have shot a .270 and 30.06 I know very little about the 7mm-08. So I googled it and found an interesting article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7mm-08_Remington

Scope Zeiss conquest 3x9x40 from www.cameralandny.com perfect scope for kids rifle great eye relief!

forget about articles and other peoples opinions, find out for yourself.

either should be great, a rifle builder grey bull precision takes some nice animals with a little .243! His latest is a young girl folding up a elk using his rifle and hand loaded 105 grain vld at a close 688 yards! His videos are on youtube. He loves the .243 for long range on animals.

this may sound silly but what ammo can you buy at walmart? walmart are everywhere and lets say you forget ammo - I bet they carry 243.

7mm-08 is a round popular on this forum. BUy what the kid is comfortable with.

I hate both rounds personally BTW

And you hate them because.....

I swear you troll to go against the grain in every thread. Can't wait to hear why you hate both

since Bobo is out of commission I will say 25-06.

Yup...

7mm-08.

Biased much?

The 243 and 7mm-08 are both part of the 308 cartridge family, ie same case just the neck changed to hold a different size bullet.
The rest of the 308 family are 260Remington, 338Federal, and 358Winchester. There are also a few more wildcats on the same case 22-243 (I really like this one) and a 25 caliber that the name escapes me right now.

Of the 2 listed in the OP I still say the 7mm-08

The 7mm-08 does not have twice the power or range of the 243. I have both and reload for both along with 22-243, 308 and 338. But then I am a fan of short actions and the 308 case.

I don't troll anything. I just don't like either cartridge. If anyone ever looked at ballistic charts, most rounds are so damn close to eachother,its crazy. So why in the hell would anyone buy the more expensive round? TO gain 45 FPS? Or to gain 25 pounds of energy? Most of tese threads trying to decide between rounds are so damn close it does not matter. At that point, it is all opinion.

It is not like asking if we prefer a .223 or a .458 win mag for elephants.

And before you accuse me of trolling again, read back through my few posts. Not the case popcorn eateing troll man.