# youth or standard rifle?



## aewhite (Oct 15, 2013)

My daughter has shown interest in wanting to shoot this deer season. She is about 5'4'' tall. My question is for the ones of you that have bought your children or wife a youth model rifle did it make a difference for them in there ability to handle the gun.  My daughter can handle my 1100 in a dove field and I have a ruger 243 that she can shoot.  She has held a youth model and says its "ok" too.  I feel like the youth model might would help her be able to get the view through the scope easier.  Any opinions as to what yall think. Go with a youth or just let her shoot mine.  Thanks.


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## Crickett (Oct 15, 2013)

We got our 11 year old daughter a 243 youth model last year. She is almost the same height as me 5'2". She shot it for the first time this past Saturday & killed her first deer. She likes it. I've shot it before as well & I'm comfortable with it. I'm short & my arms are not long so it fits me well.


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## 280bst (Oct 15, 2013)

What ever she feels good with the 2" in the stock is the difference between youth and standard


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## brian lee (Oct 16, 2013)

Got my wife a ruger American 308. She handles & shoots it very well. She's short with short arms & it fits her well


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## LittleDrummerBoy (Oct 16, 2013)

aewhite said:


> My daughter has shown interest in wanting to shoot this deer season. She is about 5'4'' tall. My question is for the ones of you that have bought your children or wife a youth model rifle did it make a difference for them in there ability to handle the gun.  My daughter can handle my 1100 in a dove field and I have a ruger 243 that she can shoot.  She has held a youth model and says its "ok" too.  I feel like the youth model might would help her be able to get the view through the scope easier.  Any opinions as to what yall think. Go with a youth or just let her shoot mine.  Thanks.



Different manufacturers have widely different ideas what constitutes a "youth" model in terms of stock length, gun balance, and overall weight.  A 5'4" female can fall on either side of the youth/adult choice, depending on her arm length, strength, and ergonomic preferences, as well as the specific differences between the youth and adult models in question.

In my view, under 5' is the clear "youth" zone in most cases, and over 5'8" is the clear "adult" zone in most cases.  In between, the shooter really needs to try both options and see what they are more comfortable with.  

I've helped 10-12 youths, including a number of girls kill their first deer.  We've also done a lot of work with youths target shooting 22LR, pistol,  rifle, and shotgun over the years.  It works best to have a few guns to try, including a choice of youth and adult stocks.  It is best to work with the youth shooter sighting the gun and dry firing in a variety of realistic field positions before guiding the youth to a choice.  In one case (years ago) where we had to fully prep for a hunt without the youth actually firing the gun (sighting and dry firing only), the youth aimed and killed the deer well enough, but the scope hit his nose and there was a bit of blood drawn from the recoil.  Oops!  Fortunately the adrenaline of killing a nice buck more than compensated.


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## BPR (Oct 17, 2013)

My wife started off shooting a standard sized rifle, but had trouble getting her sight picture in the scope and handling the rifle comfortably.  We bought her a youth model a couple years ago and it made a big difference.  

Its not just height, but arm length.  If you are unsure on which one to get measure the length of pull.  You can physically measure her length of pull with a tape measure.  You can google for detail, but basically it is the distance from the inside of your elbow to mid point of the finger with her arm bent 90 degrees.  

Or the easier way is to check it against the rifle.  Hold her arm up with the elbow bend 90 degrees.  Rest the rifle stock on the inside of her elbow and see where her finger is in relation to the trigger.  If her finger barely reaches the trigger, its too long.  Ideally she should have a joint to be able to pull the trigger.  

Also not sure how much she has shot, but I'd start her out on a smaller caliber like a 22 to get the basics.  And not overdo it with the deer rifle.


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## Silver Britches (Oct 17, 2013)

I've got a Remington Youth Model 7 .243 that my father bought for my 12th or 13th birthday, and I still hunt with it exclusively today. I absolutely love the little thing. I have harvested some very nice deer approaching 200 .lbs with it, too. However, most of my shots are well within 100 yards and I won't take any shot much farther than that. I only shoot 100 Grain Core-Lokts in it. Never had an issue at all. Check my user profile and view my photo albums of some deer taken with this little gun. I highly recommend it for your daughter.

Good luck in what ever you decide on.


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## aewhite (Oct 17, 2013)

shooting the gun won't be a problem. She has shot a 22 plenty and has moved to shooting my 20 ga. shotgun.  As some of you have stated, I also think the youth model will help her get the site picture in the scope.  My wife is going to measure her LOP as I'm out of town working and hoping to bring a new gun home to her.  243 is definately the caliber I'm going for as that is what I shoot as well and know it is plenty capable of taking any deer.  Thanks for all input and any recommendations on brand of gun is welcome as well.  I have been looking at a savage with the accu-trigger.  Thanks everybody


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## Crickett (Oct 17, 2013)

I believe my daughter's is a Savage. I'll have to check. I'm not sure if hers has the Accu-trigger.


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