Rifle for the wife

Vortex! said:

Somebody mentioned 6.5 Grendel and that's a great option inside of 300 yrds.

Click to expand...

my 18" barreled Grendel carries 1000 ft/lbs to 350 yards, the performance on game with 123gr eld-m or 100gr Nosler ballistic tips is very impressive for a micro-action cartridge

I would second the 6.5 creedmoor in the Savage light weight Hunter . Something I may have missed but must ask , do you reload ? I load my wife's with a 100 grain nosler bt for anything deer sized or smaller , the extra speed makes it a Lazer beam (kinda) out there a good ways ! If needed I can get you a drop chart !
Just looked , hers is shooting a 100 grain bullet around 3200. Drop at 300 is 6-1/2 inches . Recoil is almost non-existent ! Good luck .

When my wife expressed an interest in hunting I wanted her rifle to be something she enjoyed shooting in the off season to get really good. After having her look at and shoulder quite a few rifles she chose a Tikka Hunter in 7MM-08. I had a brake installed and cerakote "stainless" on the majority of the rifle with teal cocking piece and trigger guard. It looks really nice and is unique and most importantly she loves it. With the brake it feels like a 22-250 in recoil. The gunsmith I used just completed a 6MM/284 with a brake for a woman that had serious neck injuries and she is very happy to be shooting again and says there is virtually no felt recoil. Just a couple ideas.....

goodkid1 said:

DF....I was afraid to post my sentiments that mirror yours, with so much support for the .243 here. I have successfully shot a .243 on deer for most of my life. I am a real good shot, and even with the .243, every deer I have ever shot never traveled more than ten feet...BUT THEY ARE STILL KICKING AND IN PAIN! I always go for a second shot to end any suffering, but that has certain problems. So for the last five years, I decided to hunt with a Savage Light Weight Hunter (5.5 lb.) 6.5 Creedmoor. It has solved the problem of a "one shot kill" for me very well. So I am here to cast a vote for just a little more "umph" than the .243 provides if the wife can handle just a tiny bit more recoil.

Click to expand...

haters gone hate

I'll use my experience with youth guns along side this......I started with a Rem 600 in 243 with a shortened barrel of 16-1/2" I always prefer heavy for caliber bullets when excitement or inexperience could cause less than ideal bullet placement. It killed deer, but I never got an exit with a 100 to 150 yard shots using 100 grain bullets.....it worked but tracking a runner would have been tough and it always made me nervous. I built a 6.5 grendel with a 18" barrel, and couldn't be happier with results on deer with 120gr Speer gold dots......complete penetration on a quartering shot that went through the offside leg, lots of blood even though it just stumbled around and went down. I'm not knocking on the .243, I just think you need a longer barrel to make good use of it. I'll probably look to rebarrel the Rem 600 to either .260, or 7-08 with a short barrel just to get the bullet weight up a bit......I know speed kills, but slow and heavy rarely loses game, even with less than ideal shot placement.

Lee D said:

why do you say a 243 will have more noise? they have pretty much the same case capacity. with equal length barrels I do not think one or the other would have more or less noise

and recoil would certainly be less on a .243, I'm confused as to why you think a 6.5 creed shooting 140 class bullets for hunting would recoil more than a .243 shooting 90-100gr bullets. The .243 in a equal weight rifle, will recoil less.

6.5 creedmoor is not inherently accurate because of the cartridge, rifles are accurate due to quality of components. The creedmoor chamberings do not possess some magical "X" factor making them better than any other offering.

Click to expand...

Inherent Accuracy can be improved by case shape and shoulder angle in that the best designs have more efficient powder burns leading to lower SDs, better pressure curves yielding better precision and velocity yield for a given powder charge. With the monolithic bullets every caliber can now perform at least one caliber bigger when looking at penetration to vitals and wound channel size and depth...i.e. better terminal performance. With Barnes X bullets I kill black bears DRT over bait with precise shot placement.

TysonLeal said:

Been doing the same for the girls in my life. Leaned towards the 7-08, wood stocks so they can be cut to fit and loading with light all copper bullets. I've considered the Weatherby Camilla, but it's still on the heavier side in the more affordable vanguard model. Win m70 featherlight is where I'm likely headed. Good luck in your search and finding the right rig for your wife, it's great she wants to hunt.

Click to expand...

Good suggestions all...also the Lady Savage..re. stock fit for women must take into account their proportionally longer necks, pitch is important as women have breasts, curve of pistol grip must address smaller hands, barrel contour can effect muzzle rise or "slap in the face" from the stock's comb, type of recoil pad can really make a difference, kicking the toe of the recoil pad outboard will prevent it from digging into pectoral muscle during recoil and proper hearing protection/discipline will make her perceive less recoil. Starting off with lighter bullets and reduced loads will allow her to gain confidence that will allow her to transition to the heavier more effective loads for the smaller caliber.

My wife is about 100 lbs. Ringing wet. She shoots a .243 win. First got her a .308 win but it was a bit much for her. Thought long and hard on the wonderful 7mm-08, but decided on the .243. Look hard at the 6.5 cm though. Oh and the .243 and .308 are youth rifles with tiny barrels.

By the way she has several deer and a good hand full of pigs with the .243 win. Just sayin.

CRaTxn said:

Inherent Accuracy can be improved by case shape and shoulder angle in that the best designs have more efficient powder burns leading to lower SDs, better pressure curves yielding better precision and velocity yield for a given powder charge. With the monolithic bullets every caliber can now perform at least one caliber bigger when looking at penetration to vitals and wound channel size and depth...i.e. better terminal performance. With Barnes X bullets I kill black bears DRT over bait with precise shot placement.

Click to expand...

That is still not called "inherent accuracy"...That is called consistency. There is no such thing as "inherent accuracy" in rifles, cartridges, and bullets. Consistent weight bullets, consistent capacity brass, consistent powder charges, consistent runout, consistent primer ignition, consistent powder burn, consistent atmospheric conditions...All lends itself into consistently replicating a particular velocity node in the barrel, which creates what we know as "accuracy". Cartridge design only plays into the role of case efficiency, which in-turn can relate to increased velocity, better throat wear, etc...

I killed my first whitetail with a Remington 700 7mm-08 when I was 14 and weighed less 100lbs never felt the recoil was heavy. I have killed many deer with different calibers and having shot .243 and feel no recoil difference between the 2. I'm going to start my kids out on the 7mm-08 and I recommend it to everyone when the are looking to buy a new rifle. I end my taking it to the stand over anything else but I have a 6.5x284 that I just got that I'm taking this year

7mm-08 is a great starter cartridge. My first bolt-action was when I was about 10, and it was a Ruger M77 MKII mountain rifle in 7mm-08. Previous to that I was hunting with an old Marlin .30-30 Win. so there was no noticeable difference in recoil there. But I've also never been a recoil-sensitive person. The .260 Rem is also a great starter cartridge.

goodkid1 said:

DF....I was afraid to post my sentiments that mirror yours, with so much support for the .243 here. I have successfully shot a .243 on deer for most of my life. I am a real good shot, and even with the .243, every deer I have ever shot never traveled more than ten feet...BUT THEY ARE STILL KICKING AND IN PAIN! I always go for a second shot to end any suffering, but that has certain problems. So for the last five years, I decided to hunt with a Savage Light Weight Hunter (5.5 lb.) 6.5 Creedmoor. It has solved the problem of a "one shot kill" for me very well. So I am here to cast a vote for just a little more "umph" than the .243 provides if the wife can handle just a tiny bit more recoil.

Click to expand...

Unless you are cutting off the neuro system between the head and shoulders they are all going to kick for a few seconds no mannter what you shoot them with or how many times in most cases.

Even with head shots you often get it simply due to nerve reactions.

They are already for all practical purposes dead already and there's really nothing you can do except let nature take it's course.

It isn't pain you're seeing it's just shock even on those that are still standing or down with their head is up if you made a good shot to star twith and the bullet did it's job.

Don't feel bad for them, you're not hurting them and they have no idea what happend.

mpayne said:

my daughter thats only about 110 LBS took a nice Mule buck last weekend with a 25/06 using the 115 vld's hunting bullet. She said dad you're right that thing doesn't kick much at all.View attachment 108542

Click to expand...

I shot the 25-06 as my primary for Prairie Dogs and predators for years doing a great deal of high volume shootig in Ruger No 1's.

Never even noticed one recoil running the old Sierra 110's.