|
RE: Need Caliber for 15 year old daughter
All good choices, how ever I would go with a Winchester model 70. 150gr lite loads.
|
RE: Need Caliber for 15 year old daughter
gkellys...A .243 will serve her well...Forget the .257 Roberts and the .250 Savage...The .243 rendered them obsolete years ago...Just look at any manufacturer's list of centerfire rifle cartridges avaliable...most have several .243 loadings and one or two for the .257 Roberts and .250 Savage...They were good loadings..but they are now for reloaders....
.243 an experts cartridge??? Where do you plan to put the bullet?? In the guts or in the hams??? If so...get a .300 Mag...Frankly I have seen more deer wounded up and lost because of poor shooting (flinching) than from shooting them in the lungs/shoulder from a .243....The guys that think a .243 is too small for deer....How many have YOU shot with this round??? How many were recovered so you know where you hit them...Or did you just think you hit them where you were aiming....I have used a .243 since 1980...have killed over 130 whitetails with....its entirely adequate... especially for your Georgia deer.... Jack O'Conner once said that guys that used big guns are like guys that drink hard liquor....must make them think they are more of a man.....The size of the man has nothing to do with the caliber in his hand....I'm 6ft 5...250....If you can shoot...a .243 is all you need for most situations.....I have killed them out to 300 yards...all this foot pound garbage is for the gun salesmen...I have never killed a deer on paper... |
RE: Need Caliber for 15 year old daughter
Boy, That stirred up a hornets nest! Ton's of great advise and options that I had not considered. I will look at the re-barreling options from NEF again in light of the advise. I am leaning towards .243 and will do a bit more research on the 30-06 light recoil options as well. She can always put the 30-06 barrel back on if she is going for heavier game. I let her hold the NEF rifle and she said "I like it". So I told her I will change the caliber if needed and consider it hers. She was especially inspired when I told her the last deer we ate was killed with that gun. Thanks for the great advise!
|
RE: Need Caliber for 15 year old daughter
ORIGINAL: nchawkeye gkellys...A .243 will serve her well...Forget the .257 Roberts and the .250 Savage...The .243 rendered them obsolete years ago...Just look at any manufacturer's list of centerfire rifle cartridges avaliable...most have several .243 loadings and one or two for the .257 Roberts and .250 Savage...They were good loadings..but they are now for reloaders.... .243 an experts cartridge??? Where do you plan to put the bullet?? In the guts or in the hams??? If so...get a .300 Mag...Frankly I have seen more deer wounded up and lost because of poor shooting (flinching) than from shooting them in the lungs/shoulder from a .243....The guys that think a .243 is too small for deer....How many have YOU shot with this round??? How many were recovered so you know where you hit them...Or did you just think you hit them where you were aiming....I have used a .243 since 1980...have killed over 130 whitetails with....its entirely adequate... especially for your Georgia deer.... Jack O'Conner once said that guys that used big guns are like guys that drink hard liquor....must make them think they are more of a man.....The size of the man has nothing to do with the caliber in his hand....I'm 6ft 5...250....If you can shoot...a .243 is all you need for most situations.....I have killed them out to 300 yards...all this foot pound garbage is for the gun salesmen...I have never killed a deer on paper... I hear you hawkey, you know I shoot a .243 and have picked it over many calibers. I've tried to explain that energy doesnt kill, 2000lbs of energy is a load of crap, almost all bullets hit with around 10lbs of force, period ! This is actuall ft lbs, not some theory. I also get tired of hearing about marginal shots or room for error, a missed shot is a miss, .222 or 300 mag, you better have some tracking skills. A .222 in the vitals is better than a .460 in the gut, any day of the week and on sunday too. I also cant believe people recomending an 30-06 for a small girl, that is ridiculous. I dont know if you know but HELLO ? A 30-06 is a big game cartridge, Jeeeez, and offers no better killing power on deer than a lot smaller cartridges. People need to match cartridges to the game their after. |
RE: Need Caliber for 15 year old daughter
I would either get the .243 or look at the 25-06. Either way make sure she relizes that with a Handi-Rifle she will have one shot so she'd better be able to hit the mark.
|
RE: Need Caliber for 15 year old daughter
Yep, I already explained one shot, one kill with that rifle to her. Being athletic, she was intrigued even more by the challenge. Of course I will make sure she can hit the paper plate at 100 at will before I leave the deer at her mercy. And I will teach her towork that single action reload with decent speed. Thats about as long a shot as you get in the woods around here, typical shot being 50 yards or less. I have rarely had a chance to take a second shot around here anyway for the same reason. Ga. woods aredense.I prefer her to start with a single shot because it is simple, basic and I feel safer to operate (load, unload, checkif cocked)for less experienced shooters. I even prefer to hunt with one because like bow hunting, the one shot dynamic adds to the challenge.I guess I will have to get myself another one.
|
RE: Need Caliber for 15 year old daughter
gkellys, apparently everyone's overlooked one option - Remington's Managed Recoil offerings as well as the low-recoil options from Federal. When I bought my first deer rifle last August (2004), I bought one chambered in .30-06. My 12-year-old daughter can easily shoot it using the Managed Recoil loads. According to the Remington web site, the .30-06 recoil is equivalent to a .243. From my experience, they are indeeed close to 1/2 the recoil of the regular 150gr loads I've used.
The Remingtons are designed for shots out to 200 yards and use a 125gr bullet. Federal goes a different route with a 170gr bullet in the low-recoil load, but, as one would expect, it doesn't shoot as flat as the Remington. Try them out. I think you'll be pleased. Then, if you ever need some "full-power" loads, you don't need to buy a new rifle. ********************* Edited to add: Ooops, I wasn't clear in my statement. I meant the .30-06 managed recoil load is equivalent to a .243 in recoil. Wasn't comparing ballistics. Sorry for the confusion. (Edited my statement above slightly to make it clearer. |
RE: Need Caliber for 15 year old daughter
Check balistics, dont see how the -06 125 managed recoil is equivalent to the .243.
Sectional density lacks way behind, velocity also, and for those who care energy is a little behind also. trajectory is way behind, twice as much bullet drop. That cannot be good. No comparo. |
RE: Need Caliber for 15 year old daughter
I agree that the managed recoil 30-06 does not compare to the 243 full loads as Zrex says.
That being said, Gkellys mentioned that 100 yards is as long a shot as he gets in the woods there. The 30-06 managed recoil loads will certainly perform to that range. The added benefit here is that he does not have to rebarrel the gun or buy another one. I have shot the managed recoil from both a 270 and 30-06 in an effort to find a reasonable recoil for my 13 year old. The 270 was great, probably around that ofthe 243 and the 30-06 was less than my 30-30. |
RE: Need Caliber for 15 year old daughter
Ya but heres where people get Ironic.
People will say a .243 is marginal ( which is way wrong) but then advise someone to use 125 gr managed recoil rounds. HUh ? that makes no sense. If you dont reccomend a 243 why would you reccomend managed recoil rounds. The fact is the 125 gr bullet in 30 caliber offers no sectional density, coupled with low velocity, your asking for trouble in my opinion, specially for a begginer. Fact is its very hard to have just one gun in the cabinet. I would just buy another NEF or the H&R in .243 they are not very expensive, you could get away with just a Tasco on it, for 100 yd shots. 300 bucks totall and your girl would have her very own gun. Christmas is just around the corner. Hint hint... |
| All times are GMT -8. The time now is 11:27 AM. |
Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.