New rifle build for my son

[Bayourambler]

My 11 yr. Old son is really getting into guns and I want to build a rifle just for him. We deer hunt and shoot target together so it will be multi purpose. I'm getting a Savage 10 in 308 from a friend for the donor. I want to take the wood stock it has now and cut it down to fit him for now , and later he can put whatever he wants. I'm going with a 20" heavy sport barrel. We have it all figured out except I'm not sure if I want to go with a 260 Remington or 6.5 cm. I have everything to reload 260 but I'm concerned about later. If he doesnt pick up reloading , I dont want the gun to get locked away because he can't get factory ammo. I feel theres a better chance that in 20 yrs from now when he passes it on, there will be a better chance to find 6.5 cm factory. I want the gun to be used, and not get locked away!!

 

[Demi-human]

Then Creedmoor it is!

 

[Bayourambler]

Then Creedmoor it is!

Yes I have a feeling the 260 will vanish from the shelves. It will always live in reloading because the brass can be resized from so many popular cartridges.

 

[Bfh_auto]

My wife has a 260. While it has a slight velocity advantage, I wish she had gotten a Creedmoor. Oddball cartridges get no love from powder testers. So data for new powder is scarce.

 

[gotboostvr]

It's a Savage, in a decade he might just rebarrel it to whatever whiz-bang cartridge is popular then.

I'd go with whatevers easiest for you to stack deep now.

 

[mustanger98]

The Savage Model 10 I'd say is a good one to customize on. There's so many stocks out there, both aftermarket and take-off, that something's bound to fit. And no need to feel bad about some Krylon custom camo if that fits the function.

I noticed the donor rifle is a .308... that's probably one of the easiest things to find ammo for, but if someone feels they must re-barrel to something different, I wouldn't suggest a .260 either. Actually, I would've suggested .243Win. for the re-barrel, but it occurred to me that at some point, .243 fans may at some point be forced by logistics to choose between .308 and 6.5CM.

 

[horsemen61]

6.5 Creedmoor

 

[jmorris]

He’s 11, I still have my first rifle in the back of a safe somewhere, brings back good memories. I use lots of other stuff these days though. Don’t over think it, hopefully it won’t be his last.

 

[Bayourambler]

He already has his own .22 , 20ga, and a 308. I just want him to have one that I put together, it should mean more to him , I'd hope. I just want to pick something that will be useful and get passed on even if he doesnt reload.

 

[jmorris]

For an 11 year old a round with less recoil might be a good choice but my first centerfire rounds were with an 8mm Mauser, I guess to make a kid not shoot as much or teach respect for the power in a “do onto others as done to you” kind of way.

A 6.5 Grendel in a semiauto would have been shot a lot more by me back then or even today.

Neat thing about a Savage is that it can easily be pretty much anything you want it to be, short action, if you are starting with a 308.

If I was your kid, I’d want you to get a good 7mm BR barrel for it.

 

[Skylerbone]

I’d be in for .243 and not worry one bit about it disappearing. If you would prefer a different caliber, why not? Believe it or not, my dad loaded the rounds from these targets for my Remington 700 when I was in my early 20s. New brass, FL sized. I shot them last week through my Winchester 70 and I’m in my mid-40s.

I also ran a few dozen through the old 700 this Spring running the chronograph and they were still on. All these years of shooting my own loads I had forgotten about the stash at his house until winter had us scrambling to clear out the basement as melt made its way in.

If he shoots a lot he’ll want to load and if he doesn’t it won’t matter which caliber you choose. I think so long as your passion for it doesn’t exceed your willingness to share that with him things will be fine. .260 it is! Unless it’s .243! Best of luck on the project.

 

[herrwalther]

I vote for .243. I was going to do a similar long term rifle for my son. Used a Savage as a donor rifle, in 7mm-08. Even that round can be tough to find factory boxes of. 243 I can find at Bloomburg's big box store (Wal-Mart) and even Academy.