Cartridge choice for a woman

Cole

Cole

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My lovely wife and I were at a friends place last night for dinner and an aquaintance from my younger days came by with her kids and joined as well. She is in the market for a new rifle and apparently one of her friends has a Sako Finlite chambered in .270 WSM. Now, this lady is not a waif by any means, but I have seen a picture of her with a nasty scope cut from a .30-06 that she shot. She asked me if she should get the .270WSM or find a 7mm-08 to hunt with. I told her I would seriously look at the 7mm-08. Kinda thinking that a fast steppin magnum, with expensive ammo to boot, might be the wrong direction for her to take. She is not a hard core hunter and wants a rifle to hunt dder and elk with. Think I told her rightÉ
 
Yes... if one becomes afraid of being smacked by a rifle, accuracy will suffer badly. 6.5X55 would be a good choice as well and better ammo availability. 300 savage...

257roberts, 250 savage (to bad 270 savage never caught on) might be considered by some, to light for elk but fine deer rounds.
 
Maybe she could go out and shoot the friend's .270 before she lays out any cash, then she'll know whether she likes the cartridge and rifle. Scope cuts are usually from poor rifle fit, scope poorly positioned, or bad posture. Calibre doesn't necessarily have anything to do with it. I've been clunked on the head a few times from a .30/30 because the scope was in the wrong spot for my shooting form. There was a rubber bumper around the eyepiece, so there was no blood loss.
 
I think this is a great place for the 260 .I think it would make a great round for deer and elk ,not a lot of recoil lots of bullets to choose from ,I really want one know lol ,Dutch
 
9.3mauser said:
Scope cuts are usually from poor rifle fit, scope poorly positioned, or bad posture. Calibre doesn't necessarily have anything to do with it.
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^^^This^^^
My wife has zero issues shooting my 7mm rem and by all means thats not exactly recoil friendly. Maybe considering one of her friends owns the gun, she should try it before she buys it?
 
My wife shoots a Tikka T3 LS 270WSM with 140gr Accubonds no problem ( has some recoil but no issue for her). A 7mm-08 would be a good choice , maybe a 6.5 x 55 Swede next choice. 308 is another.

Find a rifle that fits her best then choose the caliber.

Have fun !
 
Its amusing how people feel that a woman "needs" a smaller calibre rifle when in reality they probably just need a gun that fits and/or proper instruction on how to shoulder and shoot (as any one would starting out). My daughter is tall and weighs in at about a buck 30 and likes to shoot my 375 H&H. My wife, who is around the same size prefers her .50 muzzle loader with 150 grains of 777 pellets and leverevolution 325 gr pills out of the 45-70. Neither flinches or wears the scope when they shoot.

RC
 
Our experience the biggest thing is to either get a youth model or else a savage lady hunter. Women are just built different.

Tried wife with a variety of calibres, recoil was never an issue (30-30, 375win, 30-06). We finally found her a, "home" in a youth model xbolt in 7mm-08. It shoots a 140gr lead about 2800fps giving it good trajectory and downrange energy with the recoil of a 243 or less and most importantly it fits her.
 
My wife got her hunting licence 2 years ago and now hunts with a bolt gun in 300 Savage, but she has shot my 308, 30-06 and 300 WSM with no complaints.

I think it's a good idea to start a new shooter off with a 22 or 22 mag, then move up to something like a 243, then to 308 etc,
so not to turn them off with too much recoil too soon.

Proper shooting technique and lots of practice is important.

A bolt action in 300 Savage has similar ballistics to a 7mm-08.
 
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Get some lighter loads for your 30.06 and adjust the scope for proper eye relief.

I shot 130gr rounds in 30.06 when I was a skinny 12 year old and I still shoot the same gun today, only with heavier loads.
 
I find felt recoil really depends on the gun , my benelli r1 in 300 win mag has the same recoil as my browning bar in .308 . The benelli r1s with comforttec stocks are a good choice for recoil sensitive people that want to shoot a larger caliber . My experience is that scope bite is usually caused by improperly mounted optics or from people not using their eye reliefs . Just my opinion .
 
You did good pointing in the 7-08 direction... Long as she can find it in a rifle that fits her.

I've had the misfortune of trying to find a rifle that fits a woman before and it is no easy task, necks too long, heads too small, LOP is depending on there mood and if you try to teach them how to hold a rifle they give you that look like your trying to tell them how to push out a kid... Mind you that all only applies if your in a relationship with said female... Lol

7-08 is getting more popular every year, starting to see not only stock on the ammo shelves but variety as well and that's a gooood sign, the .270 WSM is a bit more of an odd duck and that price tag leaves a bit of sticker shock :-/

I hunt with my girly gun, a pro hunter in 7-08... Kills everything I hit very very dead and very very quickly out about as far as you can see clearly and identify with a 3-9x40... Minimal recoil, lots of punch with federal 150gr factory loads for elk, Hornady American Wt is loaded with a 139gr interlock as well and I'm very confident it will knock down an elk with a solid hit inside 200M... It's got a lot going for it with very reasonable recoil.
 
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