Curious if anybody has experience with the 7mm-08 and specifically reduced recoil loads for kids? My eight year old has been coming to the lease with me this year and is ready to start practicing to be able to take a deer of his own (he currently has just been shooting his .22). I'm trying to decide between a Model 70 Featherweight Compact in .243 and 7mm-08 but am worried about recoil for him. It seems the reduced recoil loads could work well. I've never shot a 7mm-08 so don't really know what the recoil is like.

I'm shooting 130 gr loads with mine and it does not have much kick for me. Of course I'm not 8 and coming from a beater 30-06 round. I think you would be fine using soft loads for the 7mm-08

Bought 7mm08 for my 11 yr old daughter who has already shot a bunch of animals with a 223. Bought hornady low recoil, still too much recoil for her.

My son started shooting deer with reduced 7-08 loads when he was 6. He's now 13 and has shot around 30 deer and many hogs. Its the perfect caliber for kids especially if you can get ahold of reduced loads. He now shoots pretty much normal loads but when they are younger the reduced loads are fantastic especially if you keep shots to under 100yds which you should probably be doing with young kids anyway.

Here are some loads that we have had great luck with in accuracy and killing power.

34g H4895 with 120grain Nosler Ballistic Tip Velocity~2350
29g IMR4198 120grain Nosler Ballistic Tip Velocity~2514

Also, Remington used to make a great reduced recoil ammo that was great as well. Not sure if they still make it or not.

Hope this helps and good luck! Hunting with the kiddos is as good as it gets!

I'm always a little bit curious why everyone wants to go with the larger calibers for kids right off the bat? I shot a Remington Model 7 .223 till I was in high school and never lost a deer. Was raised to shoot neck shots only which makes a kid very accurate. Dad bought me a Model 700 BDL .243 in high school and said ok, body shots are a go now. A 22-250 would work even.

Alta.....I worked up a handload that my wife shoots in her 7mm-08. She is really recoil sensative and I worked this load up just for her. It shoots really well out of her 700 Rem VLS. We just moved and I need to find my load data and I will send it to you. She has let a lot of children use the rifle for their first deer on our ranch and they really like it. One boy said it did not kick as bad as his .243.
Ill find it for you.

One other thing to consider is that the lighter the weight of the gun usually the more recoil it has. The heavier guns greatly reduce recoil and make it easier and more enjoyable for kids to shoot.

eastcut96 said:

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One other thing to consider is that the lighter the weight of the gun usually the more recoil it has. The heavier guns greatly reduce recoil and make it easier and more enjoyable for kids to shoot.

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Correct. That VLS above you ain't a light gun. I have one in 6mm with an 8x Kahles on it and it weighs around 11 lbs.

I have used the reduced recoil rounds in both 30-06 and .243.

As you should suspect They do entirely change the zero.

They were both deadly at 100 yards. Couldnt tell the difference looking at the deer.

Think 30-30 ranges and you will be good.

I can't speak for all kids, of course, but the 2 things that spooked me when I shot my first centerfire other than a Mini 14 (a .25-06) was the loudness (stupidly didn't have hearing protection) and getting scoped (also no eye protection; actually still had the scar after about 30 years but it has subsided; go figure). I was, I think, 12 at the time. I don't recall even noticing the recoil.

With that said, the lightest 7mm-08 load shouldn't be too much for a 10-12 year old to handle. Especially if they start on a bench. For a smaller kid, .223 would probably be the way to go.

I think everyone should have or have access to a .243.

Used Remington reduced recoil 7mm-08 with my kid and they work great. Great knock down power and lots of damage once inside.

Got 7mm-08 for my 9yo and used reduced recoil. They have worked great and has taken 5 deer in the last 3 years!

7mm-08 is also he can grow in to and take larger game with!

Are you located in DFW? If so, you can test some out before buying if you would like. In Frisco.

Yea shot my first doe with mine last week. It put quite a whole on exit. She ran about 30 yards and dropped. I was impressed with the damage.

Edit: jeez what is it with my mad face mistakes.

I bought my daughter an off the shelf Remington 7mm-08 synthetic stock gun when she was just 11 and chose reduced recoil 140gr core-lokt psp rounds. We had worked her up to this starting with just a single shot 22. She's a little gal (now 19) and it was a great combo. She took a lot of animals with it. Very accurate and comfortable for her although I probably should have selected a little heavier gun in retrospect.

Anyway - I can report it was a good combo for us.

I'm just here as a 7mm-08 fan. Picked up a LH Tikka T3 last year. Wanted a Sako but sadly couldn't find one new in the states in a left handed model.

Really good looking stock for the price point of the rifle. Haven't had a chance to break in the barrel yet. It's on my to do list for Christmas - New Year's break. Will post pics when I do. Glad to see there are a lot of other fans on the OB.

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I think everyone should have or have access to a .243.

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I agree

I have a lighter weight synthetic stock Ruger 7mm-08. I have tried the reduced recoil ammo and it doesn't make much of a difference for that gun. Definitely kicks too much for my 9 yr old son. I would definitely go with a heavier gun. Most of our shots in Texas are shooting from a rest in a blind at 100-150 yards.

7mm-08 reduced recoil loads have approx the same recoil as a 243.

2 of my kids just started hunting this year and had never shot anything more than an airgun before. I didn't even have a rifle so I got a Kimber 84m in 7mm-08 so they could shoot it with reduced recoil ammo and I could use it with regular loads. However, since that is a super light weight full size rifle and they had 0 experience shooting before it ended up being a bad fit for them as they weren't really comfortable shooting it. My son did ok at the range but really had a hard time managing it in a blind when he wasn't just shooting off of a solid rest. If they had grown up shooting a lot from a young age they probably would have been fine as I was shooting a 270 at their age but they just weren't ready with no experience shooting.

so I scratched that plan and got a Howa Mini Action in 6.5 Grendel with a shorter custom Boyds stock and that has been perfect for them. I let them pick out the stock configuration and color combo and they really enjoyed that. It's quite a bit heavier so recoil is very light plus it's just easier for them to maneuver. And it's a fun little gun to shoot.

Personally, I think the butt pad makes a pretty big difference. I started off hunting with an old Montgomery Ward (Marlin knock-off) 30-30 with a hard rubber butt pad, and always had a sore shoulder shooting it. When I finally switched to a Remington 700 in 7mm-08 with a nice soft recoil pad, it felt like 1/5 the kick. Huge difference.

Thanks all - all of these replies were very helpful and I really appreciate the load suggestions. I am going to go for it and get him the 7mm-08 for Christmas this year. I like the Model 70 Featherweight Compact a lot as he likes the wooden guns more than synthetic and it doesn't seem to light so the weight should help manage the recoil some as well.

Why not try a recoil pad?

Thank you very much for the offer but I am down in Houston.

My sons have been able to handle the Hornady Custom Lite ammo in .243 very well, and they are both quite small. I have been impressed with the performance with deer though I will admit their shots are about 80 yrds max. A big plus is that Academy stocks it so it is easy to come by and surprisingly not too expensive.