My girlfriend is looking to buy her first hunting rifle. She's 4'10" and 100lbs so a full sized stock is to big for her. She is currently shooting a barrowed marlin 336 chambered in 30-30 with a youth shock and a 20" barrel. We've been shooting the Remington factory 150gr load and she's handling the recoil well.
We looked into buying a new 336 but the gun shop owner said that more than a few of the newer marlins that have come through his store have had quality and accuracy issues. He suggested finding an older one if that's what she really wanted but he really recommended looking into the Ruger American compact. Well we took a look at the compact and I thought it looked and felt like a nice rifle for the price and my girlfriend thought that it fit her great.
She'll be hunting mostly whitetail and black bear. I know the .243 has probably killed plenty of bears but I would feel better about her using something a little bigger and the next step up in the American is the 7mm-08. I've never fired a 7mm-08 so I have a few questions. The ruger American compact has an 18" barrel and weighs only 6lbs without scope. Where she hunts shots rarely exceed 100 yards so the loss of some velocity with the 18" barrel isn't a big concern but I've been told that the muzzle blast could be severe. Also what would recoil be like in a 7mm-08 rifle that is only 6lbs? What do you think of the RA compact chambered in 7mm-08?
