Deer gun for wife

[coyote204]

My wife tells me that she wants to shoot a deer so I am trying to decide on a rifle for her. She's tall enough to comfortably shoot a rifle, but she's a little on the slight side. I'm afraid to go any larger than a .243. I'd like to go with a model 7. Anyone else have a hunting wife who can tell me what she uses?

 

[belton-deer-hunter]

a buddy of mine has got his wife jsut a marlin 3030 i tried getting it off of him but he insisted that it was hers

 

[willsnipe]

I bought mine a model 7 in 7-08. If you use 120 grain bullets instead of 140s the difference in felt recoil between that a 243 is almost nil, and I'm more comfortable recommending a little bigger bullet for inexperienced hunters. I know the debate on 243s as deer guns has raged for years, and about a brazilian deer have been killed with them, but IMHO the 7-08 is a better medium-big game round.

"A brazilian's a lot, isn't it"
G. Bush

 

[bowfin]

I have a son who uses a 7mm Remington Magnum with 154 grain factory loads for deer hunting, and he is closer to 90 pounds than 100.

I am one that doesn't buy into the "better to hit with a .243 than miss with a .30-06" argument. In my opinion, if one hasn't shot a centerfire rifle enough to be comfortable with the recoil of a .30-06, then I doubt they have shot enough to be effective with a lesser caliber.

By the way, I have no problems with the .243 or 6mm Remington as a deer rifle, I wouldn't hesitate using one at all, and have in the past.

 

[Lennyjoe]

.243 is a fine deer cartridge. Especially for them Texas deer.

 

[BigFatKen]

Ruger compact

I got my wife a Ruger Compact in .243 and she loves it. It has a 12.5" length of pull and 16.5" bbl. This is very important to a smaller framed shooter. It is plenty of gun for most deer.

 

[sumpnz]

Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, take her to a gun store/show and have her fondle a bunch of different brands and models. Make sure she handels bolt-action, lever action, semi-auto, and pump action (if available). When she finds one that feels right to her, then see what the caliber options are. From there you can discuss with her the relative merits of each caliber and let her choose.

Before you steer her to a small round like the .243 have her try out a few rifles from your and your buddies' collections so she can get an idea as to how different calibers feel in terms of recoil. You might well be surprised at how much recoil she can tolerate.

This is not to put down the .243 as a deer rifle at all. Just that a new hunter is often better off with more than the minimum acceptable cartridge (while some do use .223 for deer, and are quite successful with it, the .243 is generally considered by many people to be the smallest one should go for deer hunting).

 

[Sharps Shooter]

My wife is quite small too. However, she has better than 30 years big game hunting experience and currently uses a semi-custom 7mm Remington Magnum. Her first deer rifle was a .243 but she traded up in size to a 7mm-08 when 7mm-08s first became commercially available. Blindfolded, I don't believe many people could tell the difference in recoil between a 100-grain bullet from a .243 and a 120-grain bullet from a 7mm-08. And the 7mm-08 gives you the option of moving up to 140-grain or even up to 175-grain bullets for bigger animals. With practice and a good fitting rifle, IMHO recoil is not likely to be a problem.

 

[WYO]

My wife was using a Ruger Model 77 in .308 that had the stock cut to fit her and a Decelerator pad added. Last year she shot a Sauer 202 in 6.5x55 with full house loads and negligible recoil and wouldn't let go of it. Our 13 year old son uses a 7mm-08 Remington 700 youth with handloads tailored to his recoil tolerance level and wouldn't let go of that. While .243 should be adequate, it’s not as flexible as other calibers.

Did you check out the recent thread on .243 versus 7mm-08? Its at http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=177484

 

[willsnipe]

This is not to put down the .243 as a deer rifle at all. Just that a new hunter is often better off with more than the minimum acceptable cartridge (while some do use .223 for deer, and are quite successful with it, the .243 is generally considered by many people to be the smallest one should go for deer hunting).

Thanks for expressing that infinately better than I did. The average novice hunter is more likely to be less precise with shot placement than those who shoot 52 weeks a year. As long as it doesn't affect their enjoyment of the experience, i.e. uber recoil, a little more gun can help.

 

[willsnipe]

By the way...my original interest in this thread was because Deer gun for wife sounded like a great trade!

Sorry...couldn't resist

 

[Kingcreek]

My wife is 5 foot nuthin, and weighs in at about 100 pounds. Had no experience shooting a rifle. I handloaded a bunch of light .243 and had her shooting them in a Win 70 XTR Featherwt until she was comfortable with it. Gradually stepped up the loads and she didn't even realize a difference when she got to the hunting loads. She shoots it just fine, probably better than me. She has whacked deer and antelope dead with it 'cause they didn't realize it was only a .243
Make sure she uses good ear and eye protection so she doesn't learn to flinch.

 

[T.R.]

My wife and my brother's wife shot many western mulies with my old Remington pump gun in .243. It is fast and lethal. But a poor choice for elk. We all hunt together each Fall for freezer meat and elk steaks are second to none! So our wives needed low recoil elk rifles to be used for deer also.

My wife is a lefty and she wanted to stay with a lever action. So I looked around and found a slightly used Browning BLR in .270 and had it rebarreled to 6.5mm Swede. Nosler Partition 140 grain bullet penetrates as well as 220 grain 30-06 yet a fraction of the recoil. She has toppled many antelope with 129 grain PMC ammo.

My brother's wife rec'd same rifle but in .257 Roberts. I've witnessed several of her one shot kills at the yardage of 250 or so. It killed two elk also. But back in '99 she shot a young bull in the chest at approximately 175 yards and it just ran off. We chased it all morning and she shot the animal 3 more times. Two bullets hit the chest but one went back too far into the entrails. Finally, the bull lay down and was too weak to run and was finished up close. After that, the Roberts was declared no good for elk. My brother bought her a BLR in 7mm-08 and it is a keeper!

7mm-08 shares many of the same attributes as 6.5mm Swede: moderate recoil, good long distance accurasy, very good performance on big game, and many outstanding bullets to choose.

I recently had a chance to shoot a .308 carbine that had been handloaded to 30-30 velocity. Sierra 150 grain flat nose bullets produced an average velocity of 2200 fps from a 20 inch barrel. Recoil was easy to take. Accurasy at 100 yards averaged groups of 2 inches. Certainly a good deer outfit.

Hope this is helpful.
TR

 

[coyote204]

Thanks for all the input

I agree that the .243 is the smallest caliber one should use for deer. I have had no experience with the 7mm-08, but I like the sound of it. The only 7mm-08 I ever fired was in a 14"contender. My wife has fired my Weatherby .270 and says that it is too much recoil and I don't want her to develop a flinch. I've got a sporterized Swedish M94 6.5x55 that I have had her shoot a few times and she didn't mind the recoil of it, but that was my grandpa's deer gun and I don't really like it being carried afield. I don't want to get her a 6.5x55 because I don't have alot of time to handload and we have to shoot factory ammo. I think I'll see what I can find in 7mm-08.

 

[rocky]

Nothing wrong with the .243. My GF (113 lb.) shot 2 deer with hers. Shot placemnet is more critical than anything else.

 

[WYO]

If you don't have time to handload, and recoil is a concern, I think you'd best stick with the .243. Most 7mm-08 factory offerings are in 140 grain weights. Another possibility for factory 117-120 grain loadings is the .257 Roberts.

 

[usmarine0352_2005]

Youth Model

Youth Model

You could always go with a "YOUTH MODEL" gun in .243 or like a light "MOUNTAIN RIFLE".

 

[coyote204]

I got my wife a Ruger Compact in .243 and she loves it. It has a 12.5" length of pull and 16.5" bbl. This is very important to a smaller framed shooter. It is plenty of gun for most deer.

I am a coyote hunter at heart and also wanted my wifes deer gun to be able to double as her coyote gun. A 16.5" bbl. just wouldn't have the range and accuracy I would want. I do like the Ruger Compact though. The length of pull is just right.

 

[coyote204]

I like the .257 Roberts, but

If you don't have time to handload, and recoil is a concern, I think you'd best stick with the .243. Most 7mm-08 factory offerings are in 140 grain weights. Another possibility for factory 117-120 grain loadings is the .257 Roberts.

I like the .257 Roberts myself and would like to own one, but the selection of rifles is getting smaller. She wants something "brand new" and I am not going to argue because it gives me an excuse to buy another gun. Most of the guns I have shown her weren't offered in the .257. She really likes the Winchester model 70 Classic Featherweight so that is probably what she'll get.

 

[xring44]

This is my idea of a perfect deer rifle for the little wife.



This is the Remington custom shop Model 7 in .257 roberts, very mild recoil, short and easy to carry.

 

[WYO]

Guns America has a listing for a NIB Ruger M77 Ultralight in .257 Bob right now. You still can find NIB Remington 700 Classics and Winchester Featherweights in the caliber if you look around and bide your time.

 

[beaverboard]

My wife isn't very sensitive to recoil, but was very sensitive to the actual weight of the rifle. I took her to several gun shops and incouraged her to look at everything. She finally settled on wanting a lever gun, so I borrowed a 30-30 and let her shoot it. The recoil was very manageable, and seemed to be a good fit, but she wanted something she could shoot alot. So after quite a bit more searching we found a marlin 1894 in .357. You can cover the first three round group she shot with the palm of your hand( offhand at 40 yards). She absolutely loves the gun. 38spc. feel like shooting a 22. And while hot .357 loads are different the recoil is still very neligable. Where we hunt 100 yards is a long shot, and the ability to take reasonably quick shots is important. Most importantly though she shoots the gun a lot, and is very comfortable with it. As a matter of fact I'm about to order a progressive reloading press so that I can keep up with her shooting demands. Really the main reason that we went with the .357 rifle was that it is was so cheap and easy to reload for.
DC
p.s. She killed her first two deer this year.

 

[coyote204]

Thanks to everyone

I appreciate the input from everyone on deer guns for wives. I've settled on the .257 Roberts in a Remington model 7. I am a Remington nut anyway.

 

[MCgunner]

My wife tells me that she wants to shoot a deer so I am trying to decide on a rifle for her. She's tall enough to comfortably shoot a rifle, but she's a little on the slight side. I'm afraid to go any larger than a .243. I'd like to go with a model 7. Anyone else have a hunting wife who can tell me what she uses?

I love my M7 in .308. My other rifles collect dust these last 10 years or so since I got that thing. It's a compact, light, accurate rifle. The .243 is a fine light kicking rifle for deer and there are no shortage of good factory loads for it. It's been popular as a deer caliber for since it was introduced. People that put it down tend to think you can't kill a deer with less than a .460 Weatherby, belted magnum freaks. They don't hunt deer much or they'd know better.

 

[Hobie]

By the way...my original interest in this thread was because Deer gun for wife sounded like a great trade!

Sorry...couldn't resist

That was actually my first thought and why I opened the topic. I need a little self-examination today, don't I.