Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Rifle caliber for wife and daughter

My thought is that the 223, if configured in the same way as the 6.5 Creedmoor, acts as an understudy that you shoot a lot during practice and the transition from understudy rifle to primary hunting rifle is virtually seamless.

I would go with a 7mm-08 in a sporter weight, not lightweight, rifle. Rifle, scoped, should be up around 8 to 8-1/2 pounds. 24" barrel moves the blast away from the shooter decreasing perceived recoil. Drop it in a youth stock if you need to shorten length of pull. Feed it 140s to 150s. Kill stuff.

Tom

A neat light rifle for what you need would be a 6.5 Grendel in the HOWA mini with the lightweight 22 inch barrel. Rifle itself weighs less than 6 pounds, recoil is very mild and accuracy is excellent. You can get super cheap steel cased ammo from Wolf and pretty cheap factory ammo from Hornady. both a match style and a hunting style ammo. It would be hard to find a better rifle for a woman or a young shooter.

My Daughter and two Granddaughters all shoot Tikka compacts in 7-08 and love them. One of the most accurate rifles I have ever seen. They all shoot under once inch groups with whatever you put in them. I feel the compact stocks make a great difference in shooting comfort as they really fit Women and youth. My Daughter also has a Tikka 7 mag we put in a compact stock with a couple of Edwards recoil reducers. It has been my experience over the years as a gunsmith/custom stock maker that Women handle recoil better than men as they do not try to do the macho think of standing up to recoil. They just accept it what it is and let it take them where its going to. The most important issue is not the cartridge as much as proper rifle or shotgun fit.

7mm-08 Was my choice for My Daughter and two Sons. Worked great on Pigs,Deer and Antelope as well as some Axis and other exotics.

I'd go with a .257 Roberts, either used Ruger or Winchester, or maybe a new Kimber Hunter. Or just re-barrel the .308. Or get a Savage Axis youth model in .243, if you must have a .243. Obviously, I'm prejudiced toward the .25s, but I have friends that I reload for who have no issues laying deer low with their .243s.

My 100 lb granddaughter shoots full power 120 grain loads in her 6.5 Creedmoor.

Yep, not that much recoil, kills like a bigger gun.

Would be my choice for anyone who could handle more than a .223.

DF

If you reload, you could always use your current .308 and download it to a level they’re comfortable with. If not you could try some of the reduced recoil ammo sold by the factories. If your current stock is too long, you could always pick up another and shorten it. This would be easier (and cheaper) than buying a new rifle. Just a thought.

The .243 is a great choice. First wife, three of my kids, one grandkid, girl cousins and several friends and their kids use the .243 and 6mm Remington with great success. I have used it four times myself on deer. Some of the gals use it for elk to this day. We just used 100 grain C&C bullets though I have some 100 grain NPT's if someone wants to go for elk.

I did buy a 6.5 CM to fool with. It's recoil is pretty negligible as well.

Yep.

I've killed deer with the 130 Horn, DRT, typically good entrance/exit wounds with lots of blood and plenty of destruction in between.

The 125 NAB is a good one, tougher than the Horn. You can load it down to around 2,800 fps and have a deadly, mild shooting .308. Then, you can crank it up to over 3,200 if needed. The 125 NAB or the 130 TTSX at 3,200-3,250 fps are serious rounds.

DF

I would get them a couple light weight 7X57's or 6.5 Swedes, low recoil, accurate, and both punch [kill] way above their weight class.

Winchester Model 70 Featherweight Compact in 6.5 Creedmoor. Find a load for the 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip and use it to hunt everything. Should come in close to 10 ft lbs of recoil.

Develop a load for the 120 grain Barnes TTSX if either ever wants to hunt elk or moose.

Don't sell the 308 till you have her try some Remington Managed-Recoil ammo.
My wife like a 30-06 I had so I let her give it a try with that RM-R ammo.
She liked it and claimed that 30-06 for herself.

X2
I would at least try reduced loads and maybe a new recoil pad like a limbsaver if the 308 has a hard pad on it now.

The stock design on some rifles seem to help a lot with recoil also. My 7mm-08 Montana feels to have less recoil than a Sako 7mm-08 I had that was 2 lbs heavier. I've shot them back to back with the same ammo and had friends do the same and all agreed that the Montana felt to have less recoil. The Sako did have a hard red pad but was just over 2 lbs heavier.

That 7-08 Montana recoil is light enough with starting loads in 120's that my 65lb 8 year old son shoots it without complaints about recoil. I do let him wear a shooting vest that has a shoulder pad when we shoot in warm weather. He will be wearing a coat when hunting anyway,and it's much better than a T shirt that many wear shooting in warm weather.

The 300 Savage is a sweetheart to shoot. However, I'd keep the 243 and keep shooting it.

The thing about a .243 as a starter, some get stuck and don't want to experience other rounds as adults. I've known a few men like that.

Why reinvent the wheel....

243, or 260 Rem....

243... 55 to 105 grain bullets in the standard 1 in 10 twist..

260 Rem..... 85 to 147 grain bullets in the standard 1 in 8 twist....

I have known a couple of gals. None of the boys stayed with the .243 for elk. They use '06's or .308's for the most part.

That said, my favorite girl cousin and one of her friends still use 6mm's for elk. Very well I might add.mIt may say something about their lack of need to prove much.

A reloader can make a .308 shoot like a .300 Savage...

DF