Rifle Recommendation for Teen

[tdbmd]

Hey everyone. Soliciting hunting rifle recommendations for my teenage son. Rifle will be intended for deer and hogs. My son is 15, about 5'5, 120 lbs. I expect he'll get quite a bit bigger. He's a tad recoil-sensitive, but nothing he can't overcome. I'm thinking of something in either a .270 or 6.5 Creedmore. I was at my LGS store and found a Savage 110 Apex Hunter XP combo (Vortex 3-9x40mm Vortex Crossfire II scope) for $649. The trigger on it was very crisp, I was surprised! He probably won't do tons of hunting in the future. Just the once-twice-a-year thing.

Anyhow, any opinions regarding the Savage, as well as any opinion on a good caliber, make/model?

Thank you!

.350 Legend is an effective, light recoiling round for deer/hogs. We have been using it for the last 3 years in Iowa and have taken about 10 deer over that time. Surprisingly accurate as well.

 

[Legionnaire]

Sure is a lot of entertaining silliness in this thread.

My kids all started hunting with a Remington Model 7 in .243 Winchester. My third daughter now owns it. Between the options you present, I'd go with the 6.5 Creedmoor for a number of reasons: (1) short action makes for the possibility of a nice, compact package; (2) perfectly capable hunting cartridge at reasonable ranges; (3) lots of factory ammo available; (4) it's widely supported by ammo and rifle makers alike. The .270 is a fine cartridge but it's somewhat obsolescent (I did not say obsolete) and kicks harder. If you're open to looking at other cartridge options, I'd look at a .243 or 6 Creedmoor.

Savage has a reputation for excellent accuracy and "bang for the buck." Choose one that fits your budget and your son.

 

[foxmeadow]

I bought a Savage "package", in .243 for my daughter when she said she wanted to hunt our local Blacktail. Well, she went off to nursing school and I used it that fall.
It kills deer just fine, just like my Model 94 in .30-30.
I don't want to give it back..