Savage Axis YOUTH .243 - Thoughts?

[55chevypost]

I'm new to the site but just purchased the Youth model Axis in .243 for my 10 year old daughter. My dad bought her a Rossi .243 last year and we could never get it to shoot. After looking around at many youth models, I ordered the Axis for her and am awaiting it's arrival. Can anyone offer me reviews on it?

Thanks so much

[thomae]

I own a Rossi youth .243 I purchased for my Daughter as well. The Rossi is not a tackdriver, but does seem to have "minute of deer" accuracy with most factory loads.

I don't recall the twist rate on the Rossi, but are you are shooting light enough loads so that barrel twist rate does not adversely affect accuracy?

The Rossi is rather light, so it recoils more than a heavier rifle would. This can affect a 10 year old, especially if she is petite and doesn't have much padding or mass to distribute recoil. I would not use full power heavy bullet loads when she is behind the trigger. You certainly don't want her developing a flinch this early in her shooting career.

I would recommend a PAST recoil pad of one type or another. There is one that slips onto/under the strap of a brassiere.
Here's something we, as guys, don't usually think about, but that my daughter learned from experience: If there is a little metal loop on the front of the brassiere strap between the Rifle butt and her skin, it can hurt a lot when the rifle recoils against it. The PAST pad prevents this, as does selecting the correct brassiere for her to wear.

I don't have an Axis in .243, but have one in .223 (have not shot it yet, still working on setting it up the way I want). The factory trigger may make it hard for a young shooter to be consistent. I would suggest you do a search on this forum and lighten/smooth the trigger just a bit. [Not too much; I do not recommend a really light trigger for hunting, especially for a youth hunter.] It's not difficult to do this yourself if you are mechanically inclined, and this will help keep your daughter from being prone to jerking her shots.

The biggest problem my daughter has is that she is petite and so holding the gun for any period of time is difficult for her. She has the strength, but it is harder for her than for you and I because she does not have the leverage advantage that we have since we are bigger and our bones are longer. She and I practice shooting from kneeling and sitting positions, and also using shooting sticks. She is still is working on getting the gun into position reasonably quickly and holding it for a shot when she is not using a bench.

Those are my thoughts and comments. Thank you for taking your daughter out with you. We need more girls/women hunting and shooting. I hope she enjoys it.

[SN13]

I was actually considering the same rifle for ME. I want a super light bush rifle. Any Idea why they dont make the YOUTH in .223?

[thomae]

+1 for SN13:
Youth Rifles are great when you are wearing lots of padding during the cold winter months.
Shorter barrels also tend to make them good handling rifles in the PA woods.

How about you buy two (Youth in .243 or 7mm08 and regular in .223) and then you can change stocks whenever you want to. :D

[SN13]

Ah but that would defeat the purpose of the axis. It's so cheap I can justify it... I plan on equiping it with a red-dot to keep weight down. I don't plan on reloading. And MAY even cut the barrel down to 18" so the .223 makes more sense. I just want the shorter stock for balance/weight etc.

[SN13]

I just realized that my AR is about 6.5lbs empty and already has a red-dot on it.... So maybe it's cheaper to buy some 5rd mags for it :)

[55chevypost]

Thanks Thomae
Those are all great points on the issues that come with being a young female shooter. I plan to reload light loads for her to shoot and I also have a slip on Limb Saver recoil pad which I think will help. We also spend most of the time shooting a .22 Mag with a scope to get her form down and used to looking through the scope and crosshair placement, etc. I also have invested in electronic noise reducing head phones. I have found that the noise is more intimidating than the recoil in a lot of situations.

As for the Rossi, I tried every load I could, factory and reloads and still couldn't get it to group. When I say group, I mean it won't stay on the target at 50 yards. The gun actually broke last Friday when I shot it and locked closed with a spent shell in the chamber. I called Rossi and just mailed it back to them for the 2nd time in 9 months to see if they can fix it. They have already replaced the barrel on it once so we'll see. I'm very excited about the Axis youth and will post some pics once I shoot it.

Many thanks!