single shot 243

[beeker]

heres the deal... this year my 10 year old daughter and I were sitting in the stand we had deer all around us on saturday the 3rd weekend.  she has fired my 243 before and I gave it too her to get her first deer.. well she couldn't get a good site picture.. It's my fault because we never practiced with all the clothing on. either way, I ended up taking a decent doe. she loved every minute of this. I'm thinking I need to pick up a rifle for her.

I'm wondering if anyone has or has used a Rossi, New England firearms single shot 243?
 
I see these are about $250 or so new.  has anyone used one of these to start a kid hunting with?

are they safe with the exposed hammer?
easy to handle?

I've only handled them in the stores and would like some real life experience on these... of course I understand internet advice is only worth what you pay for it.

 also does anyone have one of these they would like to sell or trade for?

Thanks.

[JCAMERON]

I think they are about $100 or so brand new. I've never shot one, but with a single shot crack barrel you really can't go wrong. Being as there really isn't an action and what not.

[MN RACK ATTACK]

The problem I found with the youth models and some of the other guns that would work for junior ourdoors person is the hand grips are to large and not comfortable. My 13 year ols daughter love to shoot my Remington 700 in a .270 caliber. She also found that the Mossberg 100 ATR and the 4 x 4 model fit her well. I think comfort and low recoil is very key in young hunters. I do not recomend using the Remington low recoil ammo unless you are not going to shoot more than 50 yards, thay drop more than there charts say. Good luck and I hope she hunts with you for a lifetime.

[dakids]

I bought a single shot 243 youth H&R for my 11 year old daughter.  She loves this gun and has become a crack shot with it.  It was a little over 200 new.  The dealer that I bought it from said that he could sell me a Rossi but if you plan on shooting it a lot the Rossi will get loose pretty fast.  He said that they are made pretty cheap and will not last to long.  After I purchased it I was warned by a person that teaches gun safety that the guns with hammers tend to be very dangerous for little hand, with gloves on, or when they may be nervous (shooting at a deer).
It was to late for me since I had already bought it,  If I could do it over again I would probably have bought a bolt action youth rifle.  I have made my daughter aware of this and she is very careful but first chance I get ($$$) I will be upgrading to a bolt action 243.

I have switched over to the barns X bullets for deer.  No lead and they are devastating on deer.

[beeker]

thanks guys.. I'm still unsure what I'm going to do, for the rossi.. gander is 259, sportmens is 239 and joes is 269.  a little out of the range for christmas.  this will have to wait a few months. 

[Stensethfan]

like Dakids stated the Rossi is not a very good quality gun.  Not many places in town carry the H&R guns, but I know you can usually special order them.  If you read on the H&R website they have a pretty neat hammer system that seems pretty safe to me.  I have a 20 gauge H&R for deer and it is nice. I am actually going to get rid of my riffle and buy a single shot rifle to replace it from H&R because I like the simplicity of the guns, the accuracy, and the one shot challenge!

[beeker]

the struggle is that kids grow so darn fast.. so do I spend it on a youth model or just pick up a decent rolling block or bolt rifle for her? it would be nice if I wasn't lefty and the kids all righty... maybe I need to talk to their mother about that one?

[Joe@deerhunters]

 I bought my daughter a Remington Spartan Arms in .243 it is a single shot break action with no exposed hammer.  I mounted a scope on it and it shoots great.  They sell for under $300.  I too did not want her to deal with hammers and cold hands.  This rifle is as safe as it gets and encourages one shot kills.