Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Caliber for my daughters hunting rifle.

I am trying to decide on a general purpose hunting rifle for my daughter. She is 14yrs old and I want to get her a rifle she can use for the rest of her life. The first thing that I need to do is pick a cartridge. The 3 cartridges that I am considering are the 308 Winchester, 270 Winchester and the 7mm-08 Remington. My criteria are suitability for general purpose hunting, low recoil and muzzle blast and ammo availibility/selection. I will reload for her but this may not be an option for her in the future. My son and I use 30-06's but I think that it may be too much cartridge for my daughter. Once the cartridge is selected we will work on the rifle. What do you guys think?

243 Winchester
Deer and varmints
ammo available everywhere
Low recoil
Flat trajectory

Out of the cartridges most likely the 7mm-08. You may be able to find or reload reduced loads for the 30.06 and 270 if you go that route.

My sister uses a 25.06 and has killed several deer with it or maybe go to a 243 or 257 roberts.

My daughter has always liked the 6.5x55,my daughter in law the .257 Roberts. I would suggest you have your daughter try several different cartridges and see what she can handle and what she prefers.

I like the 6.5x55 and the 260 Remington, along with the 7x57 but I am worried about ammo selection/availibility if I am not around to reload for her. The 243 Winchester and 257 Roberts are great deer cartridges but I was thing of something a little more versatile on larger game. Of course I could be wrong.

Of the 3 you have listed I'd go with a 7mm-08. Reduced loads are available I believe and also I've seen ammo on the shelves at Wal-Mart.

Yeah, I'd go 7-08. Ammo is easily available in a wide variety, it doesn't kick much, and will take game larger than deer quite handily.

I've started several young shooters with 7-08 and 308. Reduced load data is somewhat scarce, but i've been able to come up with several good combinations. To start, a 308 loaded to 30-30 velocities works great, and a 7-08 loaded to 7-30 waters velocities works nicely as well. There have been several good suggestions already made, but I've not had the opportunity to work with them in a "reduced" capacity. When starting a new shooter recoil is definately not your friend. The 308 or 7-08 should serve her well in the future also for most anything she would have the opportunity to hunt. The selection of suitable bullets for reduced velocity loads may lean a little toward the .308.
I would be happy to share some ideas on starting places as far as loads, and Seafire on this board has considerable experience in this area as well.
Good Luck to both of you,
Rick

From the three you list, the 7/08 imo would be the better call for your daughter. But the 270 and 308 are also very tough to ignore because she will grow and with more experience, she will become more accustomed to the heavier recoil.

Other good smaller caliber options as was mentioned are the 243, 257 Bob and 25-06.

I've got a .260 and a friend an identical rifle in 7-08. With similar bullet weights, there is no noticeable difference in recoil. So, .260 fan that I am, if ammo availability is a concern, I also vote with the 7-08. Load near the starting load data with a 120 grain bullet or so, and I'll bet you would have a very moderately recoiling rifle that would drop deer like nobody's business. And as MD mentioned, it's not limited to deer if you get serious with a good bullet.

.308 at 30-30 velocities.

Of those three, 7-08 all the way.

14 year old daughters come in all sizes and shapes, I think the stock fit will have alot to do with recoil management . Do not assume a small statured girl needs a short length of pull. Much more important is the grip and forearm dimensions. I have found that Kimber short actions fit an amazing number of smaller shooters (with an average length of pull). My wife is 5'2" shoots a Kimber 7/08 and a Winchester 42. The 410 has a 14" length of pull, the Kimber is box stock. Thin grips and forends make all the difference in the world. A straight grip Marlin (with the thin forend) fits very small or young shooters, also very well.

On the special occasion an elk hunt seems to justify a larger caliber, having some time behind a .25,.6.5 or 7MM caliber rifle will go far towards handling a bigger gun. Buying a bigger rifle later will not be such a bad thing...

I want the 260 to be available for a long time to come, but this seems unlikly. The 7/08 seems to be here to stay and is a proven performer.

I would not rule out a 30/30, (as a no handloads in the future option) mild recoil, low cost, most rifles fit smaller shooters and ammo seems to be available everywhere.

I'd go with the 260 Remington or the 6.5X55mm Swede. Both are proven, light recoiling cartridges. I've always thought of the 243 as a little light for deer.

Buddy of mine had Bob Hart build him one of his stainless synthetic lightweights in 7/08 for his 14 year old daughters Christmas present. She shoots it like a house afire.

He started her on reduced loads from a .270 remington 700 when she was 9.

H1 is giving excellent advice! And data for those .30-.30-308 loads is on the Hodgdon website.

14yo is an important age for any young gal or guy. Is she as committed to hunting all her life as her brothers?

The .308 is my favorite short action round, but along with the .30/06 would be two of the easiest ammo to find in a crisis, depression, SHTF scenario.

I'd recommend the .308 in a Model Seven!

ADDED: I've heard of several husbands who trained their brides on .308's at reduced velocities when more than deer was on the schedule (elk, sheep, mtn goats, etc. )

FWIW, I started both of my daughters out on .243s, but switched to 7mm-08s with loads on the light end of the spectrum for the the grandsons. Both of the 7mm-08 youth rifles that I had were traded or sold on the classifieds here to campfire members looking for a first rifle for their young sons. Both were very happy with the cartridge.

I, too, would go with the .308 at .30-30 velocity. The same thing can be down with 7mm-08, though, so its not an option that excludes the other calibers.

I started both my daughters a bit younger than that, 12 and 11, and both could shoot a M600 Rem in 308 better than I could. That gun would turn me black and blue in just a couple of shots but it fit them well. Recoil was never a problem even with full loads and 165g bullets; 150's would reduce recoil a bit more. Fit of the gun is the biggie. If she's an average size even an '06 wouldn't be too much though the longer and heavier action might affect handling. After all, the ballistics and therefore recoil, are very similar to the '06 with the lighter bullets.

I would lean more toward the 7/08 over the 308 because a 120gr game bullet like a Ballistic tip will perform better (and fly MUCH better) than a similar weight 30 cal bullet.