hey all thx for the good advice i do know exactly what you all are saying about the cold that is all we do up here is cold weather training so i got that part down to a T, about the rifle advice thx i am small ( 5'3" ) as far as recoil shy i dont know like i said the only rifle i really only shot is an m16 wich has very little recoil i think i will check out the 243 and see how that suits me so again thx all.