look at a .243

+1 HEAD0001. That lever may be a great choice.

I have a rem 700 243,its a light gun,can't hardly feel the recoil,and has more thanenough knockdown power on deer.If u want to look into lever actions,Marlin 336 30-30 is HARD to beat!!

I also would go with a lever in .30-30. But you cannot beat the .243 either.
-Jake

.243 is hard to beat. 6.8 SPC is probably better all-around, but very rare so I wouldn't recommend getting it because of difficulty of finding ammo.

For a small woman I would recommend a youth model. Have her decide which one feels best to her. Remington and Savage make some dandy youth models. I got a Savage for my grandson with a detachable magazine and adjustable muzzlebrake. Blued with a black synthetic stock. I opted for the 7-08 because I already have a rifle in that chambering and a 140 gr 7mm bullet doesn't recoil much more than a 100 gr 6mm bullet. But your choices can be anything like the .243, .260, or 7-08.

Last year I bought my wife a .243 Model 7 Remington youth model. It has a recoil pad and a synthetic stock. Much lighter than my 700. A very sweet little gun.

308 or something based on a .308 the 7mm08 or the 308 would be my first choice considering bullet choices, but like i mentioned at first the 260 is a great little low recoil cal as is the 243

out of those four i prefer the 7mm-08 simply for reloading and my bullet choices

Got the same for my son for his 12th birthday. This year, I'll be retrofitting it with a full size stock...

Check out the recoil tables here. It gives a pretty good approximation of relative recoil of different cartridges.


http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

Cartridges mentioned in this thread:


Cartridge Bullet Wt/Vel. Rifle Wt. Recoil Energy Recoil Velocity
.243 Win. (100 at 2960)-------7.5 --------8.8 -------8.7
.30-30 Win. (150 at 2400)---- 7.5------- 10.6 -------9.5
.44 Rem. Mag. (240 at 1760)-- 7.5------- 11.2 -------9.8
7mm-08 Rem. (140 at 2860)--- 8.0------ 12.6------- 10.1
.260 Rem. (120 at 2860) ------7.5------ 13.0 -------10.6
.308 Win. (150 at 2800) ------ 7.5 ------15.8------- 11.7

Ive got a Remington 710 in .243 that was my first centerfire rifle. Not the best action in the world, but it's a pretty accurate little rifle. I shot two doe with it, both dropped with in 10 yards so I've got no question about the power of this caliber, and now my 13 year old brother is hunting with it. He'll sit at the range all day and put round after round through it, he's about 5'9" about 135lbs. He says his .20gauge with slugs kicks harder than the .243.