gun for my wife

[MN Hunter]

I'm looking for a gun for my wife. It will be used for antelope, whitetail and mule deer. She loves to shoot. Does ok with recoil - 12ga trap loads are no problem. She's 5'4" about 100 pounds. Which gun and what caliber would you suggest? A break would be ok.
I may shoot it once and awhile.

 

[AJ Peacock]

If she is OK with recoil and a brake is OK, then just about any rifle will work.

The weight of the rifle will make a large difference in felt recoil, and some rifles won't require a brake.

A simple .243 Winchester is a fine rifle as long as ranges are kept to a minimum. The recoil isn't bad at all. I actually have a .243Win Rem 700ADL that was cut down for a lady about the same size as your wife. It was used for Antelope and Mule deer for several years in the late '70's. I'm sure it would work just as well today.

With the increasing focus on Bigger - Bigger - Bigger, the old .243 gets a bad rap.

There are other calibers that come to mind. 25-06 is a GREAT caliber for your needs, with an appropriately balanced rifle (a little shorter stock and a little heavier barrel) the recoil would be fine for a hunting rifle.

There are dozens of other cartridges that could be made to fit the requirements. 7mm-08, 280Rem, 6x284, 270, 6.5x284, 6mm Rem etc etc

I'd probably take a long look at a 25-06 with a little heavier than normal barrel contour at around 24" long and a laminate stock. End up with a rifle between 9 and 10 lbs with scope and the recoil would likely be very manageable and the range and killing power more than adequate for the animals you listed.

AJ

 

[CapDog]

My wife is pretty recoil sensitive, but shoots a 6.5x55 and my .260AI just fine. They are great calibres that are more than capable of taking the game you mentioned. A good fitting rifle is a must though as a poor fitting rifle can transmit more felt recoil to her.

 

[britz]

AJ summed it up pretty well. I'd be in favor of a 25-06, 260, 270, or a 7-08. One thing about the muzzle brake is the noise. Often people will flinch more from the noise than the actual recoil. Get a good recoil pad installed on a hunting rifle and let her try that.

on second thought, I'll even agree that the 243 is an excellent cartridge as long as the range is kept down below 300 yards. It has very very little recoil. What ever you get, it would help to have her shoot a similar rifle a couple times prior to buying. It's not good to be fearful of the rifle.

 

[dogdinger]

my first thought when i read this was "Good Trade"......

 

[nate270]

my wife said she wanted to go hunting and shooting with me and for me to find he a rifle that she could shoot and i looked at .223, 25-06, .243, 6mm, .270, .308, and even a 300w.mag and she liked my .270 the most since my dad and i built it i couldnt afford to buid her one and i bought a rem. 700 with 24 inch barrel and stock it kicked the *&^% out of me so i had the stock cut 1.75 inches and had a sholder saver pad mounted then had the barrel floated and a 3.5 inch long muzzle break fitted and for a rifle that cost me $600.00 i put in $300.00 the first time we took it out she said that it looked like a sniper rifle and was realy intimidated by the look of it but i explained what every part and mod was and how it benefits the shooter this is one girl that at 600 yard is deadly
ps. due to hers having a 24 inch barrel and mine having a 26 in bull barrel the hand loads are different even though "there both .270's" and she realy likes the 90 grain barnes with A.A 2520 @ 50.2 its alittle faster that my 130 grain nozzlers with imr 4350 @54.4 but there just as accurate and it gives me lots of time at my bench loading and on the bench shooting right next to her.

 

[upjeeper]

.243 has some great ballistics