Cheap bolt action rifles for son

Sigarms · Sep 16, 2018

2LaneCruzer said:
Your depression era "plastic" shotgun has me intrigued. I wasn't aware that there were any synthetic stocks of any kind made until maybe the late 1950's or '60's. I know that there were some military stocks made from Bakelite earlier than that though.

Savage 94B shotgun, made in Chicopee Falls, Mass. Honestly, you made me look which included having to find it all the way in the back of the safe.

Since my dad's living we me now, asked him the story. It's not a depression era gun, but he picked it up in or around 1943-1944 when he was still in grade school from his mom, who got it from her son in law (my dad's sisters husband) because my dad was acting as a "bird dog" in the field for their neighbor and wanted to shoot birds for himself (apparently my dad would flush the birds out of the field for the "hunters" when he was a kid for either a bird or some money....ah, the good old days when safety really wasn't a concern LOL).

Look up Tenite. Wasn't called plastic back then. Apparently not a very good type of plastic material (brittle and if cracked, hard to reconstruct).

2LaneCruzer · Sep 16, 2018

Sigarms said:
Savage 94B shotgun, made in Chicopee Falls, Mass. Honestly, you made me look which included having to find it all the way in the back of the safe.

Since my dad's living we me now, asked him the story. It's not a depression era gun, but he picked it up in or around 1943-1944 when he was still in grade school from his mom, who got it from her son in law (my dad's sisters husband) because my dad was acting as a "bird dog" in the field for their neighbor and wanted to shoot birds for himself (apparently my dad would flush the birds out of the field for the "hunters" when he was a kid for either a bird or some money....ah, the good old days when safety really wasn't a concern LOL).

Look up Tenite. Wasn't called plastic back then. Apparently not a very good type of plastic material (brittle and if cracked, hard to reconstruct).

Found this:

Nice looking old Stevens No. 94. Savage/Stevens must have pumped out a lot of these Tentite guns just after WW-II as they were only offered for a few years --

Tentite -- Tentite first appears in the 1940 Stevens/Springfield/Crescent-Davis illustrated price list on the Stevens No. 530M double. The No. 530 with a walnut stock had a dealer's price of $19.30 and a suggested retail price of $24.00. The No. 530M had a dealer's price of $18.20 and a suggested retail price of $22.75. For $3.25 extra either could be had with a non-selective single trigger. Offerings were the same for 1941 with prices up about $2 across the board.

Post WW-II the Tentite offerings expanded to include the Model 94 hammer single barrel, the now Stevens Model 311 double barrel and the Model 22-410 over & under. Also for 1948 the new Stevens Model 124 Cross Bolt Repeating 12-gauge Shotgun was introduced with the Tentite stock. Offerings were the same for Tentite stocked guns in 1949. By 1951 the only such stock still offered was on the Model 124 and the name Tentite wasn't mentioned, just "durable service-proven molded plastic." By the 1952 catalogue everything is walnut or walnut finished hardwood.

paulsharvey · Oct 4, 2018

Would I be insane to build a Bear Creek right side charging AR, with an adjustable gas block, turned to off, and run it manual until he grows that? Ideally, some kind of 18" light weight, 1:8 twist barrel?

As a side note, we loaded and shot some mild .270 Win (43 gr Varget on 100 gr varmint bullets) and the recoil wasn't an issue, over 10 rounds.

He also just this week got a Boyscout merit badge in Rifle shooting, and a couple awards for accuracy from over summer camp. All with some extremely nice, Olympic style .22 LRs. Anschutz-54 or something like that.

shooterdon · Oct 4, 2018

Once he has shot an Anschutz 54, most other .22's will look like a pigs ear. I have one of their early single shot bolt actions and one of their early bolt action repeaters (both about 60 years old).

I, for one, do not see the AR are a great platform for a hunting rifle. I have four of them but do not hunt with them. The T/C Compass is currently available for about $225 after rebate and is a decent rifle. I think you are over thinking it.

A .308 with 125 gr bullets loaded down will not recoil much and will be deadly on deer. As he grows, it can be loaded up. There are 100's of loads for the .308 and it will work from mild to full power loads. Not too difficult to cast for if you want cheap bullets. Brass is easy to get and will be affordable for ever. BTW, I am a rifle snob but bought two of the T/C Compass rifles. One will be my dedicated deer/bear rifle. I will not need to baby it in the woods and swamps and fear getting it scratched up or dinged.

Give a lot of thought to the scope. Do NOT go cheap! I like the Vortex scopes and they have a life time transferable warranty.

Good luck!

Jchonline · Oct 4, 2018

paulsharvey said:
Would I be insane to build a Bear Creek right side charging AR, with an adjustable gas block, turned to off, and run it manual until he grows that? Ideally, some kind of 18" light weight, 1:8 twist barrel?

As a side note, we loaded and shot some mild .270 Win (43 gr Varget on 100 gr varmint bullets) and the recoil wasn't an issue, over 10 rounds.

He also just this week got a Boyscout merit badge in Rifle shooting, and a couple awards for accuracy from over summer camp. All with some extremely nice, Olympic style .22 LRs. Anschutz-54 or something like that.

It is going to be harder to charge the bolt on an AR than on a bolt action rifle, just make sure he wont get discouraged. I also agree the AR is not the best hunting platform, but it is versatile. I would save the AR until he is old enough to understand how it functions and can fully disassemble/reassemble and clean it. I will leave that age for your son up to you.

You probably already know your state’s laws on caliber and magazines, but here in CO for instance we cant use over a 5 round magazine to hunt. I like the blunted .308 or .270 idea personally. Tough decisions!

paulsharvey · Nov 2, 2018

Picked up a TC Compass in .223 last night. Got it with $50 TC rebate, and $25 Academy gift card. If it fits the boy well, I either will get him one or give him this one, and possibly add a 2nd caliber.

I threw an old Weaver 4x scope on it; but was thinking about getting one of the fake Leupold 4.5-14 for $65. Anyone have any of the fake leopold's? I've heard good things about many of the "clone" ACOGs and some of the others.

ZTMAN · Nov 2, 2018

I am a big fan of the Vortex crossfire scopes. About $149 installed, lifetime guarantee. Got mine at the Field and Stream stores. Put them on to replace the cheap scopes that come on the Remington rifles as a package.

If the old Weaver has a good field of view, I would stick with that. My favorite scope is a 4x Weaver that I put on my first rifle 45 years ago.

paulsharvey · Jun 7, 2020

I know it's an old dead thread, but I ended up keeping the .223 myself, and got the boy a 6.5mm Creedmoor, Savage Axis bolt action. Pretty much stayed off the forums for a long time, and just decided to check out what was going on here.

sandman2234 · Jun 7, 2020

I am a little late to this post also, but live just up the road. If you decide you need to let your son shoot some of those calibers, i have several of the more popular ones mentioned. Ruger M77 in .243 was my first high powered rifle, bought it and headed for the local range. Paid my admission, dropped 3 bullets into it, raised it up toward the target, only to realize it didn't have any sights on it. I went back telling them they sold me a defective gun. Turned out somebody had taken the scope rings out of the box. I loaded 105 grain bullets in it for hunting, and you should ask my wife what kind of trophies you shot with it. (Her Dad's brand new Silverado). 100 grain was all i could find over the counter.
David from jax