New Gun for the Girl
 

I'm Looking to get my girl a hunting rifle she will be hunting with me and with not hunt for anything bigger than white tail.. i was looking into two different cals 7mm 08 and 308. Any suggestion what make model and cal would be good as well as good price.. much appreciated

My hunting buddy got his 15yr old daughter a 7mm -08 and it is a sweet deer gun. Not sure what frame it is on but it is pretty small, light and almost no recoil. She dropped a 191" muley last year with one shot.

Rifle for girl?
 

I would look at the Savage Model14 Classic in 250 Savage. If you have have a problem with the quarterbore you can't go wrong with a 7/08;
however it will have a bit more recoil. The last two deer that I have taken with my 250 have been DRT. One was at 96yds(lasered) and the other was at an estimated 130yds. With 100gr Partitions or BalTips the
250Savage is a fine whitetail cartridge for anyone,especially for the ladies.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!!

i was looking at three makes the Weatherby, Remington, and Thompson Centers... preferably the models with free floating barrels... anyone have and experience with these... im looking in the $450 to $550 price range? i use a tikka t3 30-06 but there models are to expensive for her since she will not be hunting as much as me

Take a look at these;

http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=117270

http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=117249

http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=113410

http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=87768

http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=99595

http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=90826

http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=86358

http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=86703

My opinion would be to go with a Savage model. Good gun for the money. Either a .243 or a .270. They have little or no kick and are very flat shooting. Look at the ballistics. You really don't need anything bigger for deer.

I have a Savage Model 111 GCNS in a 7mm-08,Bolt-action with the wood stock and the Accu-trigger and its a great gun and it has a lighter recoil then a .308 or 30-06.Another thing You can do is to get the Remington Managed Recoil shells if You get Her a Bolt-action Rifle,the MR shells are great for less recoil and as Your Girl gets older She can change over to the regular shells and the point of impact on the regular shells won't be far from the other managed recoil shells.

As Cuda67 mentioned the .243 is also a very good Rifle for a Younger Hunter and I also use one too for Hunting Whitetail Deers!

You didn't say how old or how small she is. Assuming that she's not that large, you can't go wrong with a .243 or a 30-30. The .308 recoil will probably be a bit much. It's much better to give her a gun that won't scare her.

shes not a young girl she has shot my Tikka 30 06 to much kick for her but i have 223 she likes that one... there is a Remington varmint 308 with the heavy barrel that's a package deal for 549 but its not a free floating barrel though don't know how much that would affect accuracy... Ive never shot a 270 so i couldn't compare it to anything

I have to be honest with you. If the 30-06 has too much kick, then you should forget about the .308, .270, 7mm-08. On paper that 7mm-08 might look like it has less kick, but chances are she won't like it either. My best suggestions to you are; if she's a good long range shooter and you hunt where long shots are possible, then I'd get her a .243 win.. I'm tired of getting beat up by my guns so I switched to a Marlin 336SS in 30-30 a couple of years ago. This is an awesome deer rifle. I'm honest with myself and my shooting abilities, and this gun is able to hit and kill deer further than I'm capable of shooting. With Hownady Leverevolution ammo you have a 300 yard rifle, or you can load cast bullets using Trail Boss powder for plinking loads. I load 8 grains of Trail Boss under a Ranch Dog 165 grain fn bullet. My daughter is 5' 4" 100 pounds, and when we go to the range with these plinkers, I have to beg for range time with this gun.

If she is on the petite side I would strongly recommend you look into one of the youth models. Some recommendations would include the Savage 14 and Remington Model 7 in the youth configurations. Both come in the 7-08.

If Your 30-06 Rifle is a Bolt-Action You could also use the Remington "Managed Recoil" shells in it,I used them in my older Bolt-Action Remington 30-06 and was amazed at how light the recoil was....felt like a .243 Rifle when I shot it!

You also have to watch the Youth Rifles because if they are too light weight the Youths are going to feel more recoil from them too!A .223 Caliber Rifle is ideal for a Youth starting out,then the .243 would be my next choice,after that You need to check a Recoil Chart to see what would be next in line for the amount of felt recoil.I'm thinking the 6mm is right in there with the 7mm-08?Again I can't say enough good things about the "Manged Recoil" shells...they make a larger Caliber Rifle more managable for any Youth,Woman or Man that wants a lighter recoil Rifle and You don't have to go out and buy a different Rifle.If You re-load your own bullets You can do the very same thing and it states on the box of Remington shells that You need to be using a Bolt-action or single shot Rifle because there isn't enough powder to properly eject a gas operated Semi-Automatic Rifle with the lighter recoil shells.

My recomendation is to take her to a good shop and let her handle several. One will "feel better" to her and she will be a lot happier having chosen her own rifle. As to caliber, the 7-08 isn't a bad choice, as would be the .257 Roberts, .260, 6.5x55 and several others. If she is smallish, you might want to stick with a short action for easier handling, or even go with a TC Encore-my wife is shooting one in 7-08 and the limbsaver pad and flex tech stock soaks up a lot of recoil.

if ya looked at the bal fer a 270, ya wouldnt get it.

Halfbaked, must be true! The 270 hasn't been running #2 only behind the 30-06 since its introduction in 1954 for no reason. It is considered by many to be one of the best chamberings for north american game (excluding big bears) for over 50 years.

Good post. A 30-30 takes many deer each year. Most people don't have the honed skills to shoot farther than 200 yards or the knowledge of when to shoot and when not to shoot. However, many are shooting a 500 yard deer rifle. If they miss, that bullet has the potential to travel a greater distance than a 30-30, .44 Mag, etc. Everyone needs to make sure we are not using too much gun for our abilities at the time.

i looked into some of the .243.. now the question is with Remington coming out with the managed recoil rounds would that be making a .308 , 7mm 08 or a .270 a viable option?

Honestly, the difference between the .243 and the 7mm08 isn't all that much. At least not with the X-Bolts I've fired in each caliber. Full power loads were used in each caliber as well.

You really can't get a much better comparison than what was done by my Father and I. We have the same gun aside from the caliber, and choice in scope.

If you can, get some rifles in a few different calibers and let her try them out. Some of the ranges have rifles you can rent, and ammo for sale on hand.

whatever it runs, the bal arnt very good. have you looked at them..even compared to a 243?

1/2 - I've used the .270 for about 30 years using 54 gr of IMR4350 and 130 Nosler ballistic tip bullet. I've killed whitetail, mulies, antelope and black bear from literally point blank to over 400 yds. And every animal was killed with one well placed shot with most dropping in their tracks.
So I don't what ballistics you are looking at or how you came to your conclusions. I also hunted with the .243 for several years and was also pleased with my results. But the .270 using 130 gr bullets is ballistically superior in every aspect to the .243.

I agree with bronko22000. The .270 is the way to go. When my kids were smaller they all shot .270's with Managed Recoil Loads. No kick at all with these. And I found they shot the same as regular loads. Or a .243 with regular loads. Good luck.

Remington 700 ADL varmint or the Merlin x7 both are around the price range both models are not free floating would that greatly affect the shot, also the Remington 700 is a well know gun would they make a stock that would free float the barrel. my Tikka is free floated haven't shot a non free float... sorry for the Noob ignorance

i aint doggin ya er anything, just recently shopping fer a rifle fer my 5'10", 175lb 12 year old daughter..and after lookin through bal on alot of rifles, i still have no decision. i just remember thinkin how good a 270 would be, and looking at the bal, and being disappointed. so i was just concluding, if you were open to any rifle, and you were just lookin a bal.... and ya ran by 270, you would keep going. everything kills, i aint arguing that a 270 wont kill.

No one is saying that the .270 isn't a good caliber. The question is, would a lighter caliber work better for a new hunter?

That's the debate here. The .270 has a fair amount of kick, and some people can't handle it. My brother never could deal with full power .270 rounds. I'm certain he could handle a lighter round like the .243 or my 7mm08. They kick less, and are just as effective killing rounds for most game in North America.

If it was me I'd look at a marlin xs7 in 7mm08. Put a good quality 120 gr bullet in it and let her impress you.

I agree, the 7-08 would be a better choice than the .243. Start out with 120 bullets and the recoil would be just a tad more than the .243. Remember these are all basically the same case (.308, .7-08 and .243) with the .308 being the parent case. Then if you decide to hunt something a bit larger than deer, you can up to the 139 or 154 gr bullet. I won't knock the .243, it is a great little cartridge - but the 7-08 will give you a few more options.

.243 = deer + predators/varmints

.270 = deer + large game


You can find the ammo in any Wal-Mart across the country.

270 win +1000 and what Sheridan said.

I think you're conidering the free-float a little too seriously. If you want to float it, just sand the barrel channel open. (Most factory free-floats don't have enough float as it is anyways :D) If you're slow that might take you 5 minutes.

I'd opt 700, and the 7mm-08. Iffin she can't handle it, teach her, cause that's on the low end of recoil.

I think a 7mm08 will be perfect for her. I started out my daughter with a 7mm08 at the ripe old age of about 11 or 12 years old. Her 1st year she got 2 clean, 1 shot kills on deer. In fact I'm looking around for a 7mm08 for myself. Before she took my 7mm08 I killed the biggest 12 point I've ever killed with it. It was a clean 1 shot kill as well.

Thanks for all the great information it makes it that much easier think I'm going to get her the Remington 700

For me either a .243 or a 7mm-08 would be a great choice.

As far as the gun, I'd personally get a Savage Model 10 with the accu trigger if you don't want to spend too much. They are great guns and the price is very reasonable. If you can spend more another gun to consider is the Browning X Bolt, I really like them, but they are a little more pricey.