Re: Youth Rifle
Don't go with a single shot light rifle, even in 243 there is too much recoil. Even the Ruger youth 243 had a lot of recoil for my 11 yr old boy small frame.
DO NOT buy a single shot 20g youth, it almost brought tears to my eyes after I got done laughing at the boy and I took a shot.
What I did was get a Tikka T3 Light in 30-06 and if you reload start out with reduced loads. There are a lot of reduced load data for the 30-06. Check your caliber to see what is offered. Trail Boss has the lowest recoil and thats with a full load. I tried several reduced loads with 100g 110g bullets and then tried Trail Boss. No recoil with Trail Boss. Nice thing about Trail Boss is the youth can load his/her own ammo as there is no chance to over load with Trail Boss.
With other reduced loads, my boy can shoot the 30-06 all day long as there is hardly any recoil. I slowly worked up to the Remington Reduced loads they offer and by the time he was up to 16, he was shooing full loads.
You can do this with other calibers but if you start with a youth rifle/small caliber you will be replacing it soon after.
Its strange to see a small boy shoot a 30-06 likes its a 22lr and its even funner to shot it your self...Till the boy throws in a full load to the mag!!!
I don't know why ammo manufactures don't make "Starter Load" for youths and woman??? Even the Reduced Recoil Rem loads have a kick. More people would get in to rifle shooting if they could work their way up to full loads.