[colroggal]

Hoven,
I've been watching your thread and I'm curious if the rifles are for hunting or just range shooting. If hunting I would.suggest a pair of marlin 336y rifles. Even with Skinner sights on them you'd be looking at $1400 all in. They could use those rifles for years to come and I doubt you'd lose much money if you ever sold them.

I am a lefty and I can attest to the viability of the 30-30 out to a goodly range. Even with the shorter barrel of the youth model you can take game out to a couple of football fields.

As for bolt guns. I am a ruger fan because once again there are plenty of left hand options available (Prophet River plug - no, I am not affiliated). The Hawkeye is a sturdy platform available in everything from .204 ruger to .458 win mag. In line recoil is very manageable and the rifles have a decent heft to them which helps as well. My 25-06 feels the same to me as an 1894 in .44 mag

At the end of the day, let the kids decide what they want.

Colin