Posted by Marty on 12/15/2012 to
One thing about being or perceived as being a gun guy is that you get asked a lot of questions. A buddy of mine came to me with this question? My son is at that age where he has demonstrated ability, and responsibility enough to get his own "deer rifle". He has shot a 30-30 lever action and its just too big for him in length of pull and power. My friends son is to the small side, actually quite small compared to some of his peers, but he doesn't lack spunk, toughness or determination. I suggested the new Thompson Center Dimension as a candidate in the 243 Winchester caliber. In Missouri where I lived at the time, whitetail gun hunting usually involved shots at 150 yards or less and I felt that not only was the 243 Win enough caliber to harvest a whitetail but also would be a reasonable recoil round that wouldn't punish his eager to hunt son. Also another key feature of the Dimension was the removable buttstock extensions that would allow us to shorten the length of pull and allow a better fit for his son . Also figuring that as he grew and he will that those extensions could be added back in one at a time. Essentially the rifle could grow with him, and taking it a step further, once he felt he outgrew the 243 Win he could upgrade to a larger caliber with very little expense.
My buddy bought the Dimension for his son and I got to be a part of him presenting it to him as a birthday present. Very cool to see the look on his face. His first words were "really this is for me"? Priceless. Bottom line he handled the Dimension very well and the 243 as well. Just had a cool thought, wouldn't it be neat to live long enough to see the son mature and someday pass that Dimension down to his young son. Shoot straight and be safe. Marty