My son is 8 and he's pretty big for his age. I've been wanting to get him a deer rifle but I don't want to get him a single shot or one of the cheap youth models. I'm thinking the model 7 in 7mm-08 would be a good first rifle that he could hunt with forever. Am I wrong in thinking this or does anyone have any other suggestions?

Good choice man.

Bought my Son the same gun in 243 at 9 years old. Killed his first at 10.

That will be an excellent choice.

Nice gun but the model 7 7-08 I shot kicked like a mule. Maybe because it was light wight.

With how the market is trending I would look at 6.5Creedmoor.
A hair less recoil and ammo can be easily had.

Hard to go wrong with anything 6-7MM really.

No desire to own anything I may have to reload for eventually

Fair enough. I'm pretty certain the 6.5Creedmoor is here to stay now.
I was at Academy in Tuscaloosa and they had 5 or 6 offerings.

Exact Same gun/caliber I bought for my son also for his first rifle

I wondered about that. He has shot my ar a lot but I figured the recoil isn't anywhere near the same.

My grandfather got me a remington model 700 243 youth model when I was 10 years old. It was synthetic black and he put a redfield 3x9 scope on it. I went on to kill 6 deer the next season with it, including my first buck. That gun killed a ton of deer and dropped every buck I ever shot in there tracks, except for one. I loved that gun! Sweet shooting rifle. May end up getting another one day

I've had a synthetic stock model 7, in 7mm-08 for 20 years. I shucks hornady light magnums for years and it wood wallop you . With 120 grain regular ammo not much kick. I might would consider a wooden stock one if it was for a kid

That 7mm-08 will kick like a mule. I bought my son a 243 in a Remington and it's manageable for him.

I was always scared to death of the kick on the 243 before I shot it for the first time. After the first few shots of practicing, I was not scared at all.The 243 did not kick bad, and I never felt it when shooting at a deer. My grandfather always told me you don't feel or hear it when you pull the trigger on a deer, and he couldn't have been more right.

Trick to kids and their first rifle is to only let them shoot it at a deer. No range shooting. .243, 7-08, doesn't matter. To a little kid they all kick to much.

My son was 8 when I bought him his first deer rifle. It was a Ruger compact in 7-08. I wouldn't let him shoot it until we went deer hunting. All he got to shoot was my .22 which we practiced gun safety, target shooting, where to aim on a deer, etc. First two deer he shot he said he never heard the gun go off or felt the recoil. I can't believe he would have said that if he had been beat up with it at the range.

Just my two cents and experience.

As to the question, I think that would be an excellent choice. You can also get reduced recoil cartridges for that as well.

Exactly what I bought my boy the day he turned 1

His paw paw has used it quite a bit but now that he 6 he is getting where he can handle it with some low recoil loads.

A .243 will kill a deer, and my 11 year old daughter doesn't mind the kick at all. You will have to track the deer, though.

I found one locally for 400 with a synthetic stock. May end up putting a wooden stock on it if the recoil is too bad. I think a 2-7 Leopold would be perfect for it

Try switching up your bullets.
I would try some Barnes TTSX or Federal Fusions.

If you found one for $400 you would be crazy not to pick it up

A Bell and Carlson Medalist would add some weight to it and it has an awesome recoil pad. I've got one on my Model Seven 7 SAUM.

Stockystocks.com usually has them on sale.