Kyle's going to be looking for me to hand him his own coyote rifle this year...and rightly so I guess :shrug: :wink:
With the new job, for once in my life I think I can actually swing it without starving myself.
I'm thinking about an NEF 204...but wanted to hear from some you. I'm sure some of you been through this same "first gun" routine. It wont be his first gun, I handed down a 22 LR that my dad handed down to me...but you know what I mean. :eyebrownod:
Sounds like a good choice, Jim. A single shot is less complicated (read safer) for young hands and the .204 round has a lot of supporters. I haven't shot a .204 but I've been told the recoil is quite tame.
Semp
not familar with the rifle your reffering to; but here are some things to remember when buying that first gun considering safety.
if its a gun with a hammer and no safety its a little shakey, keep in mind that young fingers sometimes dont have the strenght to let a hammer down if a shot isnt taken, also when wearing gloves hammers have been known to slip. if your in favor of a rifle that holds only 1 shot keep in mind you only have to put one shell in it. i'd suggest a bolt action with a safety that is easy to put off and on.
Can't help you with the NEF part Jim but I really like my 204!! :biggrin:
I agree with Semp... sounds like a good choice.
Simple, reliable and accurate... Handy Rifles.
I don't own a 204 but I do own NEF rifles chambered in 223, 243 & 30-30. So far, all three have been very dependable and really good shooters. The down side of the NEF's are their heavy factory triggers. When new, mine were between 5-7 pounds pull. Not real beneficial towards accuracy or for teaching a younger shooter good trigger control. The triggers can be worked down to a lighter pull weight while still being safe but it takes someone that knows what they are doing to accomplish this. Also, if you have any parts work done (outside of NEF factory service center) you can also void your warranty. As far as the hammer and safety issue: All NEF Handy Rifles now come with a safety transfer bar system (which blocks the hammer from striking the firing pin, that is until the trigger is pulled all the way back). If safety is still in question, the NEF break action rifle (like any single shot or double barrel shotgun of that style) can be safely carried broken open, but still loaded. The rifle should also come with sling studs, a Weaver style scope base already mounted and offset hammer spur for scope mounting.
Jim,
If you feel confident in Kyle's ability to handle a bolt action repeater then you may want to consider the Savage line (200 series for example). Yes, a little more expensive than the NEF's but I feel they do offer more bang for the buck. Some of the Savage Tupperware stocks are not the greatest, but they do seen to shoot very well, out of the box. Yep, I've got a few Savage's too. :laf:
What are you calling a bolt action repeater?
To me a bolt action is a single shot. Cycle the bolt and chamber another round.
Or are you referring to a semi auto?
Ok, lets try this again. :argh: I suck at typin, had this nice long couple paragraphs wrote up, went to look somethin up, and came back, and all that I had typed was gone. :madd: Man that "P's" me off. :biggrin:
The NEF .204 is what I shoot. I like it. I had the NEF muzzleloader first, and liked it. I saw the .204 at a gun show for $175.00 so I picked it up. frshwtr made some good points, but I don't think with Kyle's age and size, it'd be an issue (This is where I stick in the disclaimer :biggrin:). With the hammer extension on it, it makes it even easier to "grip" and maneuver the hammer. The hammer/trigger mechanism uses a transfer bar system that moves between the hammer and firing pin, I thought that was a perty nice, and safer, design. You can see it, and it'll make more sense if ya go to the NEF site, and go to the gun that comes in the .204 caliber, you can click on owners manual. I think this gun would be a good option. Scott
See, two more posts up while I was typin. :doh2: :biggrin:
Jim,
What I was referring to as a bolt action repeater is a rifle like your Ruger... capable of holding more than one cartridge. There are bolt action single shots on the market also.. with no magazine or clip...one shot... reload. Savage makes one but I'm not sure of the model #.
:yoyo: Gotch'ya
Yeah I think he'd be fine with a magazine.
Thanks for the input so far guys. I appreciate it.
Your all making me lean more & more towards the NEF so far.
Jim, I had the NEF .223 and it was a good shooter. I had to try a few different types of ammo before I found the one that gun liked. After that, no problem at all. My son has it now.
Are you gonna reload for it?? If not then the 32gr V-Max will probably shoot the best for you. The 32&39gr Sierras should do very good also. HTH
I wont personally. Not really enough room for another time consuming interest. But I do have a local that reloads for my Ruger, and we'll probably do the same thing for Kyles gun as we did mine.
Make up several different loads with different type bullets and powders and spend a day at the range chartin em.
That'll work!! :wink:
I bought a NEF for my son in .243. It shoots pretty good, but I have had a little trouble with the spent shells ejecting. RP
I think that's part of the reason they quite makin the ejection models, now they just make the extraction models.
Scott
Jim,
The single shot is probably a good choice as far as for a new hunter/shooter. It should help him learn the value of one well place round. If I were in your position I would seriously consider a litter more horsepower than the .204 for a new shooter. My personal minimum for yote is a 22-250 but I tend to make some long shots and the wind always seems to blow in the desert. A good choice for him may be a .243, you can get light loads for predators and if you plan on him shooting deer it will pull double duty well. Just my opinion.
rwehuntn
I agree with the guys suggesting .243 .... It will wack a varmit hard and double as a deer gun. I like bolt actions, but also have a mossberg single shot break action with a safety on top which I really like. I have both .223 and 22-250 barrels for it and may look into a .243 as well [someday].
Not enough info. to go on.
How old is your son? What experience/exposure has he had to shooting and hunting? Is this rifle strictly for coyotes, or do you plan on him using it for deer and other game as well?
What type of hunting do the two of you do (stand, still, etc.)? What type of hunting terrain? Long open shots, thick brush, timber...???
He's a Wisconsin boy.... here's a pick from about 18 months ago.
http://www.finsandfur.net/forums/index.php?topic=3600.0
Kyle is the one holding the dog in the pic Jim posted.
Seems to me he was a whole lot bigger at LBL this past feb, so he is growing like a weed. If he's hunting with his dad then he ain't doin to much walking :hahaha: and from some of Jim's pics I'd guess they would be hunting a lot of timber and thick stuff. Couldn't say what all else they might hunt, but Jim can untangle the mess I laid out here when he gets home from punching the clock job. Hope this starts to give ya a sense though.....
Gawd!...your are such a STU! :nono:
I'm not 100% sure if he'll want to deer hunt or not. We have talked about it some and he changes his mind like a woman. I wanna go, ah forget that, I wanna go, ah forget that. :shrug:
I gave up deer hunting years back because no one would eat the damn thing and there's so many yahoo's with guns in the woods during deer season around here it gets scary.
I think when he says he wants to go, it's for the mere purpose of hunting SOMETHING. But then changes his mind when he remembers it's not Dads cup of tea. :shrug:
He'll be 16 in July and we coyote hunt the Mississippi River Bottoms, some hellacious bluffs along the river, and a few private ranches with tillable and wooded lots, mixed with deep thick draws.
I carry a Stainless Ruger M77 22-250 bedded into a Boyds thumbhole and rigged with a Timney. He's deathly afraid of that gun :iroll:
He's afraid to shoot your 22-250? Is it the muzzle blast that intimidates him? Does he wear ear protection when shooting?
How much practice has he had with shooting? Has he spent much time behind a .22LR?
Asking a lot of questions as I've got a fair amount of exposure with introducing kids to shooting and hunting.
He has spent a ton of time behind a 22lr, and still does. But I have to wonder if that's why he's so afraid of the 22-250, because there's so much recoil when compared to his 22lr
I don't think the Timney helps the situation. It's at it's lightest setting which pretty much makes the rifle, "thought triggered". All though he has never prematurely discharged it.
:roflmao: never as far as you know :roflmao:
sorry...back on topic. :innocentwhistle:
Take him skeet shooting..... your stainless a heavy barrel? I get almost no kick out of my mossberg and really not much out of my rem 700. Shooting a light barrel at Randy's seemed different, though I was also shooting his reloads and I can only imagine how those compare to factory loads :nono:
I'll have my 10 guage at LBL. He can shoot that a bit and after the bruises heal up he won't think nothing of a 22-250.
could be the light trigger because it goes when he isnt quite ready; also some calibers have a sharp crack others have a boom. i'll let you decide what it sounds like. booms arent as hard on my ears then cracks. then again its louder when someone is shooting, maybe he doesnt like the crack rembering how it sounds when you shoot.
Could very well be a combination of the muzzle blast and trigger pull. Even with a stock that doesn't fit well, the felt recoil from a 22-250 isn't intimidating.
Do you have a .223 he can shoot?
It's not a heavy barreled 22-250... and as far as the load, it's a hand load made up of 55gr Nozler Spitzers with 39.5 gr of H-380. The gun loves em. Holes inside of holes from a bench.
I never thought of the stock bothering him or being uncomfortable to him. And now that i think about it, the trigger was put in two seasons before the stock. So he's shot it both ways.
223? :nono: Not in my house. Not to start a caliber war..but I despise that round. I've watched more coyotes get shot AT, then shot with a 223.
Granted it may all be the round, the gun or the shooter, or any combination. But first impressions are hard to replace.
I feel the same way about the .204 :laf:
The suggestion on the .223 wasn't specifically for what caliber rifle to get him.... but rather to experiment and see what is bothering your son. Recoil.... muzzle blast.... stock fit..... trigger pull....
If he's been shooting your rifle from the bench,.... have him shoot in field positions instead, or off of shooting sticks. And also have him wear hearing protection while shooting (not hunting).
Actually I dont think he's ever shot mine from the bench. When were at the bench something needs to be done or checked and I do the shooting. We both always wear hearing protection at the bench.
His experience behind that rifle has all been afield. ..and with sticks. But I follow what your sayin...experiment with another caliber to diagnose his fears.
That could get expensive :laf: Keep buying rifles, he might like this game
One can never have enough rifles! :laf:
I would actually look into borrowing a couple different calibers from friends to experiment with.
I've found with most kids, it's not the felt recoil that bothers them..... but the muzzle blast.
Jim, I still think the NEF .204 would be a good choice. If my weekends weren't so full, I'd run over there and he could do some shootin with it. With such little recoil, when he saw that he could watch the impact through the scope, I think he'd feel more comfortable. Plus if he'd like to go deer huntin down the road, the barrels for them are perty inexpensive. If he ended up not liking it, your not out as much money, or you'd have a nice little backup gun. :biggrin: Scott
Yeah...I seen some ballistic pics over yonder last year on the 204 and I was pretty impressed.
It's going to come down to expense, more then likely, but I've always wanted a 204 too, if he dont like it ... :highclap:
Whatcha come up with Jim?? Inquiring minds want to know. :biggrin:
Haven't settled on anything yet.
It'll be a christmas present, but I'm really leaning towards the 204 :eyebrownod:
:biggrin: I like my 204!! :wink: You'll He'll like yours his too I'm sure. :laf: :laf: Less recoil,noise, & powder if you're gonna reload for it. It's a winner all around. It'll never replace the ol 22-250 but then again it wasn't brought out to. I wish you the best of luck with it & hope Kyle gets to enjoy it for a long long time. :biggrin:
We, as I refer to my sweetheart and I, both have NEF Handy Rifles in .223 and they shoot great. I think it would be a great first rifle for a youngster. If you can afford a bolt action repeater that would be an awesome thing to get for a young one. I remember when I got a Remington 788 in .308 Winchester from my dad when I was 14 and I thought I died and went to heaven.