Home Forums Hunting & Shooting The Lefty Forum best bolt rifle for a little lady

My wife is short 5' 3". I made a 7mm-08, or rather I shortened the stock and the barrel on a factory left hand Tikka. But that stock isn't right for her.

She also has a Marlin 30-30, which she shoots more than the 7mm. Again the stock isn't right.

What I think would be a good cartridge for her might be in the 6mm class, high comb, built for slanting shoulders etc.

Weatherby's Camilla model seems to be a good fit. Check it out on youtube

NOT AVAILABLE IN LEFT-HANDED.

Look into the Blaser R8 Intuition. Available in LH and in multiple calibers. The Intuition is cut specifically for the female body.

Brain dump of potential options from least cost, up...

> Replacing stock on current Tikka rifle. There is another LH thread discussing swapping the factory T3 stock for a McMillan Hunter Edge. Greatly improves the ergos for some shooters over factory plastic. McM stocks can be ordered with shorter LOP's. Or perhaps an MPI stock? There is a guy on eBay who will custom tailor MPI stocks for specific rifles and criteria. Known quantity here on 24HCF. Might be worth a reach out to see if he can shorten, and/or add cast on for a LH woman?

> Factory rifles. Possible to find someone or a dealer with a LH Savage Storm? Add/remove butt spacers and cheek piece risers to see if your wife finds a comfortable combination? A CA Mesa or Ridgeline and have a gunsmith shorten the LOP? Or, have Melvin build a NULA to her specs?

Good luck with your search !

Might be worth a call to savage. My wife has a lady hunter, and while they're not made in LH as the moment, who knows what's on the horizon.

Savage Storm. Adjustable length of comb as well as comb height. Available in a variety of calibers.

I just bought a LH savage storm in 243 for my daughter. Still waiting for the scope to arrive so I haven’t shot it yet, but I’m really liking the feel of the rifle and the adjustments in the stock. There are 5 different comb heights to choose from. Very nice cushy recoil pad.

Is Browning still making one. They used to.

Browning X Bolt in 6.5 Creedmoor. Youth model.

Had an old school Remington 600 Mohawk, they called it, 660, same thing.
Nice short bolt, on a medium, or short action, if I remember, Correctly.

When my Boys were coming up, and I mean young, just before teenager years, I got them that thing, and replaced the stock with a Camo'd
Plastic stock, can't remember the name, but that thing was perfect for both of them!

Low recoil, smaller, and Compact, and it looked like a million Bucks!

They were just asking me about that, not too long ago!

Traded it, along with a couple others, for an Antique, Winchester Hi-Wall! Sorry!

THE MODELS 600 AND 660 WERE NEVER MADE IN LEFT LEFT-HANDED VERSIONS.

You'll just have to get a custom stock built.

Here's another option: Ruger American Compact left hand.

They made them in .223, .243, 6.5 Creedmore, 7mm-08, and .308.

Here's one in 6.5 Creedmore. Price is $436.18.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/907979760

Or, here's a Browning X-Bolt Micro Midas LH 308 Win 20" NEW Price is $879.99.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/903268762

I’d go left handed McMillan Sako hunter in edge fill, 12.5-13” LOP. That’s what I am planning for a tikka I’m putting together for the wife.

Just bought my left handed14 year old daughter a Tikka T3X Lite in 6.5 Creedmoore, was told the T3X LH doesn’t come chambered in a 7mm-08. Replaced factory stock with a Boyd’s At-One (12.5” LOP and adjustable comb). Also replaced the plastic trigger guard with real metal from Mountain Tactical. Turning into a nice little gun

Good luck with yours.

The At-One looks like a gimmick but it's solid. It's not purpose built like the girl gun from Weatherby or Savage or any of the custom builders but it can be made to fit.

Another option if 6mm class will do is an AR in 6.5G. My wife went through a few of my tries at satisfying her until I built a lightweight one of those. She uses it. The kids use it. Everyone likes that rifle for deer killing.

The best option is probably to let her shop her own rifle. Also if she's OK with that 30/30 she's probably OK with a little more recoil than 6mm. Those little 30/30 carbines don't have the most recoil energy, but they do make the most of what they do have when it comes to hurting your shoulder.

If an aftermarket stock didn't work for the Tikka, it would be hard to beat the Browning mentioned above. If deer were the only large critter on the menu I would get a .243.

If not a 6.5 Creed

Leaping down in weight leads to a rapid increase in recoil, which she might notice more.

Reading the title of the thread, Browning immediately came to mind. Micro Midas should be a very good rig for a smaller statured person. Remeber that aftermarket cheekpiece's can be quickly/easily added or removed for a better fit. Plus the Browning shouldn't take a whole lot of tuning to get it shooting acceptably(Maybe not .2's all day long;).

YMMV