ORIGINAL: lswoody
I plan to get my daughter, which is now 7, a rifle for next years Bama gun season. Right now she weighs about 53#s. I've been told that A .243 would be too much recoil for her. I've also been told that there isn't much difference in recoil between the .243 and .223. I don't know because I've never shot either one.Which would be best? Also, I know that a .243 is a good 300 yd. gun but going by the ballistics of a .223, looks like it is a 150 yd. gun at the most. Would that be about right? Thanks, Scott Woody
The problem you are going to have is not so much the caliber, but the size gun your daughter is probably going to require. She will need a small, lightweight rifle so that she can handle it easily. Yet, the smaller and lighter the rifle, the higher the felt recoil.
As for the .223, it is a very nice round. I load my own ammo and have put many, many rounds through it at paper and varmints. That said, I would not feel comfortable using the round on a deer any further than 50-75 yards with any of the ammo I have tested. Hitting the deer is one thing, finding it is another. For a beginning shooter, I would say go with something in the .25 caliber range, such as a .257 Roberts or a .25-06. Both will handle 110-120 grain bullets very well, yet are fairly mild mannered. Of course, I'm basing this off of my .25-06, which is a fairly large rifle. I thought the same thing about 20 guage shotguns one time, until I shot an Ithica ultra-featherlight and got de-stooled when the first dove flew over.
My recommendation would be to get a .223 for her to begin shooting and practicing. Ammo is cheap, and recoil is minimal to non-existant. Then when the time comes, get a larger caliber rifle for deer.
If they made a smaller version of the Thompson Center, you could buy one in .223, then simply buy a new barrel in a largercaliber when the time comes.