Wife's first rifle

BrowningRage

Long Time Member
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I have been married for 3 years now and my wife is only just beginning to appreciate hunting. She mentioned to me that she would like to have a rifle of her own, obviously something that isn't too big. She shot my 7mm Mag and thought that was too much gun. I've started looking into some smaller calibers and I think I want to get her a 22-250 to start off...

Any advice on if that is a good choice?
 
If you plan to hunt deer or similar sized game i think you would be best suited to get her something a bit bigger than the 22-250.

Might i suggest you visit "Guns, Bows, Shooting" Conference down below on the forum page. This topic has been well discussed many times there and you will get some great info scrolling down through the different threads and back pages.

Joey
 
I would get her a 243 or 6mm. They are great all-around guns. They have enough knock down and kill power for a novice shooter with little recoil. Any smaller a novice shooter may may pull a shot and wound with a small caliber. But if you going to be plinking/varmint the 22-250 fits the bill.
 
i would say an all around rifle. from mid sized game to big game. a .243 or 30-06.both good calibers, and sporting goods store you go to they got shells.
 
I would say a 270. It is a great gun, plenty for deer, little recoil, and with the right loads will do an excelent job on an elk as well.

DeadI/Jared
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I know a lot of people put stock in the 243 but I would consider the 257 Roberts. It has a little more versatility than the 243. My dad and I have both shot them for years and I have never witnessed anything but good results. It is also a gun your wife could shoot all day long without much recoil.
 
I second the 257 Roberts. I bought one for my wife and kids. The cartridge is accurate, little kick and ammo is availible. I bought a Ruger light-wieght. Sweet little gun.

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www.sagebasin.com
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25-06 might be worth taking a look at. Fast/flat and does not kick a great deal.

Aim Center Mass
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270 with a muzzle brake will kick less than a 243 without. Great caliber but if you can afford 2 rifles start with the 22-250 and move up when she is ready to hunt big game.
 
instead of the muzlebreak i would get a limb savers recoil pad. then you dont have to deal with that loud noise
 
I would get her a 7mm-08, get it in a womens model or a youth model and it would be hard to beat. Great caliber and not alot of recoil. just my .02
 
.257 WEATHERBY
.308
Any if the new short mags like .270

really it depends on if she is hunting big game or plinking.

Jeff
 
My wife LOVES her 270 she shot a few different calibers and preferred this caliber because of the advantage of being able to take down larger big game like elk when she draws a tag in 20 years.
 
My wife has an TC Encore. She practices with the .223 barrel/scope set up and shoots the heck out of it. I switch her barrel to a .270/scope setup and she never even thinks twice when squeezing the trigger. Works awesome. If she needs to muzzle hunt, switch again. If she decides to go to big bears or bulls, I will get her a .300 Winchester Mag or bigger set up. As long as she doesn't have to sight it in, I think she will shoot fine. She weighs 125. The .223 is the key. She loves to shoot is all day long. We have booked a trophy prairie dog hunt this April. Lots of practice.
 
I second, third or fourth one of the 25 calibers. 257 or 25-06 or even a 250 Savage. They are not bad to shoot especially if you have the option of handloading some starter/practice loads. All are excellent coyote, antelope and deer guns.
 
Just my opinion. My wife has shoot a 243 Rem for years and has not had any complaints about the kick. Great for deer and antelope sized game. The 25-06 is also a great rifle caliber without the hard kick.

You can also have one of the different butt pads that are on the market put on just to make it that much more enjoyable for her to shoot. My 13 year old twins (80 Lbs) have shot my 270 with a kick eze pad for the last two years and bagged three antelope, five deer and one cow elk. Several of these animals were antlerless hunts, but great hunting experiece for them to start on. They have done great and do not have any problems with the kick. The pad works great!!

Start her out with something that she is not going to dislike because of the kick, or she will not enjoy shooting and hunting.

If she enjoys hunting and shooting and does draw an elk down the road you can always have a muzzle break put on your 7MM. I have done this and my other son shot this rifle several times when he was twelve and older on a couple Wyoming hunts without any problem. The break will make it managable for her after she is acustum to shooting and not just beganning.

I really enjoy the break myself, but they are loud for the person that is not directly behind the muzzle. I like them and have them on sebveral of my larger calibers.

Good luck and make it fun and enjoyable for her and she will hunt with you for years to come!!!
 
Hi there, I am a petit female and I have used a .280 Rem for years and have taken everything from moose to prairie dog with it. I did get it ported, so that it kicks about like a .243, and with the new vibration technologies, you could get one to feel about the same without the extra cost.

Either way, I have an all-around rifle that weighs less than 7 pounds. :) It travels well upon the shoulder and is now a popular enough caliber that one can get everything from 120 grain ballistic tips to 165 grain Nosler partitions.

Look at it ballistically, and it's not a far cry from the tried and true 30-06!

If you aren't looking for a rifle for her that is big enough for elk and moose, then I'd second any of the .243 and .257 Roberts suggestions.

Pred
 
The first thing to find out is if she will be doing any hunting of just interested in punching paper. If it is just the later of the two, I'd go with a .22-250 .204 or a .223 all have very light recoil and are fun to shoot. also don't over look the fun and cheap .22 my little lady seen the pink laminate stock .22 at cabelas and just had to have it....she shoots it more then her shotgun or her 270. I guess I can live with a pink gun in the safe if it makes her happy. But now if she is going to hunt that brings on a whole new list of guns. Ape is short and needed a youth model firearm so her selection was cut down abd ended up going with a rem. 700 youth model 270 with reduced recoil lods she can shoot all day and never flinch......she made a great shot on an antelope last year. and is itching to try it out on a mulie next season. If she wants to hunt I'd look into the 270 7mm-08 or the 30-06 all are available in youth models if you need it and the 270 and 06 I know rem makes reduced recoil rounds for the cut down on kick to get her started.

Best of luck to ya!
~ Get'em Duck!
 
look at the rem 260(6.5mm). Very little recoil, and very flat shooting. 6.5 has S.D in the .30 cal. Alot of guys us them for target shooting.
Just my 2 cents worth.

Bake
 
The guys talking about a 7mm-08 know what they're talking about. It has the most power proportionately to kick. It has as much power as a 270 with about 1/3rd less kick. A 280 is just one step behing a 7mm and a 7mm-08 is about a third of a step behind a 280. I cannot think of a better ladies rifle and they make some models to specifically fit smaller women. With a 7mm-08 she'll have enough power to hunt anything up to elk.
 
The 7MM-08 gets my vote, besides the .257 Weatherby, it has some of the best ballistics of the smaller calibers mentioned.

Plus you can easily find it with a shorter stock as in a youth model.

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)
 
I would have to agree with the 7mm-08. I have one that my wife enjoys shooting and it packs plenty of punch. Mine is a Winchester Model 70 Westerner that used to be a .243 Win. I had it rebarreld and did some stock work and installed a Decelerator pad on it. Pretty little gun, but not as light as some other choices out there. I watched a buddy (about 6'3" and 250#s) put down a spike bull with his little Remington Model 7 in 7mm-08. No problems whatsoever.

I reload for mine and it has really been a joy to find accurate loads for. Load a 140 ish bullet on top of Varget or IMR 4064 and you have a heck of a great deer gun. With proper bullets, a good elk gun too.

That said, the 25-06 suggestions are worth considering too. Kick will be similar, trajectory will be flatter than the 7mm-08, but you are giving up a little bit in the larger game arena with bullet choices. That said, plenty of elk have died from good shots with a .25-06 I am sure.

Have fun and let her pick out the rifle. That will go a long ways in her appreciating it more and wanting to participate as well.

Good luck!

Firehawk
 
My thought if this was my choice is: this will only be the first of several rifles I will buy her.

In other words, don't try to make this rifle "do it all" If possible, let her shoot a couple of different ones and she what SHE likes.

You can't go wrong with a 243 or a 25-06 as a starter gun. Both great guns with minimal kick and good deer knockdown.

However, you could also get a 270 or a 30-06.

Until this fall, I have never owned an 06. However, I really like it! I got some remington "reduced recoil" loads with 125 grain bullets. Kicks about the same as a 243 and has the same killing power. Then when you get ready for bigger game, put a SIMS recoil pad on it and go up to 150 or 165 gr bullets.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
 
For your wifes 1st rifle get her a nice .22 cal so she can shoot alot.If you plan on having her shoot with a scope on a big game rifle,then set up the 22 that way also. Then the choices become a little harder... as far as a big game rifle. Will she be using it mostly for deer and antelope to 350 yards. Then 243, 257 roberts or 25-06. Will it also be used for ELK???I must say that I have several 270's and I bought a youth model 7mm-08 for my daughter, for combo deer, elk hunts.specificially, because of recoil. A 243 win has roughly 8ft lbs of recoil.The 7mm-08 has roughly 12ft lbs kick,a 270 win has roughly 16ft lbs of kick.This ought to give more food for thought. There are lots of good calibers that will do the job.It also makes a slight difference if you reload or not.Loaded 243 and 270 ammo is still pretty cheap if that makes a lot of difference.I have shot lots of deer antelope and elk with a 270 win when that was my only rifle. My wife shoots a 270 with a really good recoil pad. 7mm-08 is hard to beat all around, especially if she is recoil sensitive.
 
Another vote for the .260 Remington. Pleasure to carry and shoot. My daughter does very well with hers.
 
Lots of great advice already but I'll share some too. I bought my wife a Remington model 7 stainless steal in a 7mm-08. It is a fairly smaller rifle and easy to handle and the caliber is plenty for deer,antelope and even elk and has very little recoil.Sad thing is I sold that rifle before it was ever used...
 

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