Quote:A 243 isn't in the category of harsh recoil.
One thing to consider is the child's stature; while the 243 is not considered to have a harsh recoil, I learned the hard way that the felt recoil of a 6mm Rem. felt, to my 8 year old son, like my 300 Win. Mag recoil did to me.
Long story short, my son was slight of build. The first two groups he shot with his new rifle were 5/8" three shot groups. They rapidly opened up to 3" or more and I suspected he was flinching. He would not admit the recoil was bothering him, but I suspected it was.
It finally occurred to me that he weighed only 60# or so to my 180 so, to prove my theory, I set up a video camera beside the shooting bench and got him to turn it on while I shot the WM. Then I put him on the bench with his 6mm and filmed that. Surprisingly, the 6mm pushed him back farther than my 300 did me.
He did overcome it, but recoil to a young, new shooter is definitely a consideration, as is muzzle blast.
Regards,
hm