John,<br><br>I believe I purchased the 10-22 bbl from Midway USA - I can check my records if it's really important. The internal parts came from all over.<br><br>As for the M7... I dunno what to tell you. My kids have not had difficulty lugging heavier rifles around and they prefer shooting the heavier ones - the "problem" is the stock dimensions on adult-sized rifles. I'm sure you can figure out the same solutions I can and probably more.<br><br>Also, in my experience with our kids, I found that they were more focused on ultimate accuracy than I would like. All that practice with 22 and varmint rifles had that side effect... In other words, they expected a practical hunting rifle to shoot little one hole groups and were not confident in the rifles unless they also shot like that (some do, some don't - the M7 as-built seems to be in the "don't" category). It took a lot of additional practice at varying ranges on fairly elaborate cardboard and paper "game" targets before they accepted some equipment. YMMV...<br><br>But I think you have alternatives if I understood you. My constraint was that the rifle had to be capable of cleanly taking a wapiti - smaller calibers than what I used would be for the truly expert and/or desperate in my opinion. I would have been somewhat satisfied with ballistics in the 6.5mm M-S class, but the rifle wouldn't shoot for beans in that region (I tried all sorts of powders and primers and bullets). That particular rifle didn't begin to shoot acceptably until the case was getting fairly full (go figure) and then it was a matter of juggling blast and recoil caused by slow powder vs blast and recoil caused by higher velocity and pressure from faster powders, all the while keeping accuracy "good enough".<br><br>If a custom chambering is an option... one of the small capacity 6mms like 6mmx47 (6mm-223), 6mm PPC, or 6mm Rem Benchrest would do fine on deer with any of several off-the shelf bullets, within reasonable range constraints. The 6mm International (6mm 22-250) is pretty close to the 243, so not sure I'd recomend that for a small child. Would a T-C carbine be an option? I haven't used one, but they may be work looking into. Or how about a regular rifle dropped into a youth-proportioned stock with a little judicious bbl amputation? Or maybe something like a Mini-Mark X Mauser in 7.62x39??? That should be dandy out to 150 yards or so with decent bullets and be very comfortable to shoot. I've got to run, but hopefully this will seed some ideas for you to explore - hope they bear fruit for you.<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Tom