Gun question?

Ok,my 9.5 year old daughter is wanting to go deer hunting. I have 30+ years deer hunting experience and I am MORE than happy to take her! I have a .308, muzzleloader and a gob of shotguns - none of which I feel is a good choice for her,so here's the question:
Which has less recoil, .44 mag or .243? Range is not an issue, what do you think?

I assume you are talking a 44 in a rifle, the 243 will have less recoil. You could get reduced recoil loads for your 308 and I bet she would be fine with those.

Yes,in a rifle, good idea with reduced recoil loads.

Maybe a slimline muzzle break on the .308? That will make it more than comfortable for her to shoot. Up here to get one matching finish, installed, runs around 180.00.

Osky

My friend raised 2 young daughters that hunt. When they started, the hunt was on to find a rifle that they could handle. They tried all the ones their family members owned just to see how they could handle the recoil. I loaned them a 20 ga. A5 Browning to try. Those girls opted for the A5. They also killed their first deer with it.
I do see youngsters who take deer with AR style rifles with reduced loads. That may work.

First and foremost is choose a gun which fits her. If the stock is too long, she won't be able to get a good cheek plant and will be punished regardless of the round.

I realize you didnt ask about a 223, but that is what I recommend for her. My 7 year old grandson took his first deer with the a TC Contender carbine and a collapasable adjustable stock that had about a 12 inch LOP. I is topped with an old Leupold 3x9. One shot, DRT at 125 yards. He shoots amazingly well from a rest.

The biggest concern I had was getting a small person lined up for the shot. Kids have a lower line of site than you do and are not strong enough to shoot of hand and rests are seldom available. We use a .243 with a suppressor and a .300 WSM with a muzzle brake, both are equipped with long Bi-pods which when a child is kneeling is almost a perfect and very stable rest. My 10 and 11 year old grandsons shoot 2 inch groups and the recoil of these two guns does not effect them.

The 44 Remington Magnum has 7.5 foot pounds of recoil in a 7 1/2 pound rifle. The 243 Winchester has 11.4 foot pounds of energy in an 8 pound rifle on Chuck Hawks site.

It is relative to the snap of the speed of the recoil, a gel pad to absorb that snap and if your 9.5 daughter has even fired a firearm with any recoil.

A point in this is, with the license, fuel, time and processing of the deer, you are going to have quite a bit invested in that deer if she shoots a yearling fawn as she should. Maybe you should invest in a 345 dollar kid's rifle in 223, with a box of high quality 25 dollar ammo, some ear plugs and practice, and with shot placement the 3 1/4 pounds of recoil will have her delighted and ready to go, instead of flinching. Tom Gresham on Gun Talk had a caller on today who noted a child shooting a 308 and was hurt by it, was flinching and the parent really messed that situation up.

As you have nothing on hand for a child, I would wait until 12 as numbers of states have that as the first age for a child.

Maybe sell one of your shotguns and invest in a light caliber, get her comfortable on the range with lots of practice and keep the shots close. Even if you go with a reduced recoil round, unless those guns have adjustable stocks, it's unlikely if they fit you, they will fit her, too. Unless you're the size of a 9 1/2 year old girl.

have you considered a 300 black out? my 8 year old cousin is driving tacks with one! And hes a pip squeak!!The one he shoots is considered a pistol that has the fold up adjustable stock

Consider the 257 Roberts. My wife and both daughters started with one, very light recoil and factory loads are much better than years past.. I reload and our rifles have killed deer, bear and elk. Although light for elk pick your shots and it will do the job.

I started out on a .223 my first 2 years until I was 10. After that, all I have used is a .308 with a couple exceptions target shooting.

IMO you should invest in a sled. For two reasons, 1. You can sight your guns in so much easier. 2. It will keep your daughter from flinching even from bigger guns. Then get your 22. rifle out (If you have one, if not the skip this step)and burn some ammo with her. once she is shooting like a pro then you can get out the .308. USE THE SLED and shoot a reduced load shot or 2. Don't over do it! She may even get scared of it just using the sled. If she can shoot decent with 1 or 2 shots then I would say she is OK.

If not I wouldn't keep trying, I'd get a lighter caliber. I shot one deer with a .243 and that might be a good caliber for her because I shot the .243 when I was 10. .223 would be the best though, but make sure you have good ammo. We had a problem with light .223 ammo once.

44 should have less recoil. It's a good deer gun under 100 yards.

People mentioned the 223 but I don't think it's legal for hunting in Indiana.

If any of them are synthetic stocks you can fill them with something to add weight. That's assuming you're hunting from a blind or stand.

fit is going to be an issue unless she is a very tall 9.5 year old

shoot them each one right after the other and see what you think has the least felt recoil.
try reduced 308 or managed recoil 243 loads and you could try 44spl in the 44 mag.

shot placement becomes critical


if you can add a muzzle break it really does tame recoil , I just put a AR Stoner 7.62 muzzle break on my 308 and now I am watching the target still seeing the impact in the scope. it adds some noise she should already be wearing hearing protection during any practice , the electric hearing protection can also be worn in the field so she can hear , keep warm ears and keep her hearing protected.
but muzzle brakes require threaded muzzles and that isn't as common as it should be.

I know you didn't ask about purchasing a new gun , but getting a rifle that fits her that can grow with her might be a good investment .

I have a Hand r in 44 mag have killed several deer with it. I just enjoy hunting with single shot rifles. Most where i hunt shots are 100 yds or closer and i will flat knock them down. I say this because a kid loses a deer because the 223 is not enough for a deer in my opinion the 44 will anchor him down.

The .243 would be a great gun to start out on. I started on a 30-30 when I was 9, and have tons of deer to its record. But when I was 14, dad got me a bran new model 70 .243, and I love to hunt with it. Its done well for me, and my older sister, who is waaaay smaller than me love to shoot the .243 too. The .243 a perfect deer rifle imho

The 243 has way less recoil than the 44 in a rifle. I have a 41mag rifle that absolutely thinks deer but it hits me pretty hard too. All guns have a lot of muzzle blast. This can be worst than recoil to some children. A muzzle break won’t help with this. I make my child take a lot of dry fire shots before putting an actual loaded bullet in. Helps to keep him from developing a flinch.

I have a Rossi 1892 lever action 44mag with a 16" barrel
and that darn thing kicks like a mule

My daughter is no were close to hunting Age, she needs 9 more years. I got a 243 2 years ago and have been using it. I like it way better then my 30/06 for the most part. But I have been playing around with reduced 30/06 loads with 125 bullets and the recoil is not bad maybe a little bit more then a 243 with full power 100 gr loads, but I can't really feel much difference, the 243 will get an adjustable stock for when my daughter and sun start to shoot it, fit is so important . I lurned to shoot my dads 20/06 and that gun beat the snot out of me, I hated shooting it and was not accurate at all with it. But one of the things I am doing now is getting her used to the noise of the rifle going off. Good luck and 22lr are cheap to practice with.

Hot loads? I shoot 44mag out of a pistol all the time. It's no .454 Casull.

243 doesn't have much recoil at all

Does she want to kill a deer as much as you want her to kill a deer?
Take her squirrel hinting with a 22 which fits her short arms. You don't want to ruin her with the startling recoil and loud report of a center fire rifle.

if you are gonna use a 223 for deer then it is absolutely critical that you use a quality bullet such as a nosler partition or one of the all copper monolithic bullet such as barnes or Hornady gmx. these bullets will stay together and not come apart. stay away from the varmit bullets like Hornady v max nosler ballistic tip and the like these bullets are designed to come apart and shooting big game with them is a recipe for disaster. frankly id stay away from a 223 for deer period lots of better choices out there with mild recoil

both my boys started out on a rossi sigle shot 223 between them and all there cousins the rifling is about shot out! Light and super short kids love it! Me I hate them ugly stubby guns and not a fan of a hammer gun for kids! But I will say the kids sure piled up the deer with it! Rossi sales one now that's either a hypo barrel or shotgun 2 guns for the price of one!

Started my girls deer hunting with .223, love this gun, they both took deer with it, not only for recoil but teaches a kid shot placement and selection. Now they are in their teens one carries the .243 and the other the 6.5 creed.

Those that say the .44 has more recoil in a rifle than the .243 are wrong. I raised 4 kids starting them out with the .44 Deerfield 70' style Ruger semi auto. That rifle has been in on many kids first few hunts. I believe if you're getting recoil from your .44 rifle it's only because it's a single shot or bolt. We also have .243's and 25-06 for the young'ns to use.

Keep in mind that recoil comes in 2 forms, felt and energy. Ruger m77 Mk2 or some Mossberg rifles of same weight and caliber, the rifles felt rifle is significantly higher than say a Savage. A heavy helps but also makes controlling the rifle more difficult for the youth to handle.

Length of pull is an issue as well.What I did for my boy is I am building him a rifle with a chassis system. I am a big fan of Savage while others may prefer Remington. Check out www.MDTTAC.com If you can, thread the barrel of the rifle and use light loads and recoil will not be an issue. With a chassis system, you can adjust the height and LOP for you or the child without re-zeroing the rifle.

Winchester jhp from Wal mart they kick a lot more in the rifle than a s&w revolver might be the steel butt plate

According to their website that gun only weighs 4.8lbs. The ruger Blackhawk weighs almost 3lbs so probably a lot more felt recoil than with the average bolt or semi.