[Shane06fl]

Helo it's good to get your young son shooting but please don't scare him away from recoil, if you do it now then it can effect him for a long time. Even a .243 is stout and sharp.

IMO the .243 is not a good deer cartridge and if it is used it should only be used by experts. There is little room for error unlike a bigger caliber, not saying you should take gut shots with a 30.06 if that is the only shot you have, you get the picture. I would rather see a young kid using a 30-30 with a rest out of a box blind than a .243. I have seen way to many deer lost after being shot by kids and seasoned adults using a .243.

I started my son shooting .22's then reduced load .44 Rem Mag out of a Marlin 1894 lever gun. He soon was shooting full loads with 240gr bullets. He then sharted shooting a Marlin 336 in .35Rem with reduced loads and 200gr bullets. At 8yrs old he used the .35 rem to take two deer, he did use a rest but recoil was managable for him. At 13 he is stepping up to a .270WSM with my hand loads with 130gr bullets and reduced charge. It's shooting very well, accurate and with plenty of energy for 100-150 yard hunting but most of his shooting will be done with in 50 yards. The Marlin .44 is awsome!! It's light, small and you can shoot 180gr-200gr slugs for practice. You can put a compact low powered scope on it and with in 100 yards the .44 will make a nasty would even on a bad shot (been there done that) that a deer won't go far. Not to mention the .44 will reak havoc on hogs. BTW the newer Marlin 1894 .44 Rem Mag will shoot .44 Special's, my older one will not cycle them.

But like was mentioned before a .308 or 30.06 with reduced loads are more than plenty for deer hunting with in a 9yr old shooting abilities.

I would buy a bolt gun with a 21'' barrel full grown model. Then buy a youth stock to fit it. When you son grows you can swap out stocks.That is pretty much all a youth rifle is. My Browning .270WSM is a youth model and the stock is only 2'' shorter than a full grown model. I also recomend the LimbSaver recoil pad, the absolute best recoil pad I have ever used.

For me it's more important to have them in the woods learning about hunting, gun safety during hunting and hanging out with Dad than the actual shooting. Of course these are my opinions and I did grow up bias with the thinking and teaching's that bigger is better and I still favor some of those feelings.