Anecdotally, the only rifle I ever bought to give to a woman was a Ruger M77 lightweight/featherweight/whatever they called them back in the late 80's - in .257 Roberts. Shoulda married that girl. She was a small person, 4'11" and 98 pounds on a fat day, such that I had to shorten the butt stock a lot for the gun to fit her. Cut that thing before a round ever went down the tube. Put a Leupold 1.5-5 on it and off to the races she went. That thing would put three into a half-inch or so and then shots would start to walk vertically. No matter, she never needed more than one shot to execute a whitetail anyway. Special kind of girl who would brag on the .257 Roberts her man gave her when her girlfriends were bragging about their jewelry! I know, I know....
"You can lead a man to logic, but you cannot make him think." Joe Harz "Always certain, often right." Keith McCafferty
