Looking for rifle recomandations.

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Talonstylz

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The wife decided she wants to get into long range shooting, she's 5 foot nothing and 105 lb. So pretty small.
She tried my 308 and that was abit to much kick for someone her size to shoot constantly.
She also shot my sks and the kick was fine.
So looking for caliber and rifle recommendation in the $400-$500 range without scope, new or used.
Want to stay away from 22, and 7.62x39.
Would a 243 be ok? Never shot one so not sure how they are for kick.
Goal is to be able to shoot 300 to 500 meters max consistently.

What would you guys recommend?
 
I can recommend that you try a rifle before you buy it, regardless of the caliber.
My 308 is a very easy gun to shoot with not much felt recoil. Whereas one of my 30 30 94s kicks like a mule, it's the rifle that you definitely feel the most.
Whether it's the butt stock design or something else, I found that guns that I didn't think would pack a punch sometimes do.
Plus you could always make up some lighter loads as well.
 
Do you plan on reloading or factory ammo? Any possibility she may to hunt with it down the road?

.223 rem is a great low reoil caliber.22-250 will give her a little more range on a windy day. 243 is slighty more recoil but a great target caliber too. 6.5 creed also worth looking at.
 
fade2black said:
Do you plan on reloading or factory ammo? Any possibility she may to hunt with it down the road?

.223 rem is a great low reoil caliber.22-250 will give her a little more range on a windy day. 243 is slighty more recoil but a great target caliber too. 6.5 creed also worth looking at.
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No hunting, and will be reloading. Ive never shot any of those calibers to see what the recoil is like. Any recommendations on rifles in that price range?
 
Magellann said:
I can recommend that you try a rifle before you buy it, regardless of the caliber.
My 308 is a very easy gun to shoot with not much felt recoil. Whereas one of my 30 30 94s kicks like a mule, it's the rifle that you definitely feel the most.
Whether it's the butt stock design or something else, I found that guns that I didn't think would pack a punch sometimes do.
Plus you could always make up some lighter loads as well.
Click to expand...

She tried mine a friends rugar precision 308 and felt it was too much recoil for her. I would love to have her try a bunch of rifles but hard to come by unlike hand guns that most ranges keep for people to try.
 
6.5 Creedmoor with a big brake. Load some 123 to 130gr bullets with a moderate load.

Recoil is similar to an unbraked 223 and once she is comfy, no issues reaching to 1000yds and beyond.

Love the 223's and have done wonderful shooting with them but if you want no brainer LR shooting without big fuss, the 6.5 CM is just SOOOOO much easier.

IMG_1616.jpg

For a rifle, consider something with an adjustable stock. I set this up as a demo for customers and I can get a very short LOP but also extend to suit me. There are now several off the shelf chassis type rifles with adjustable everything.. or you can grab a chassis like this and add an AR carbine stock.

Jerry
 

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Mystic Precision said:
6.5 Creedmoor with a big brake. Load some 123 to 130gr bullets with a moderate load.

Recoil is similar to an unbraked 223 and once she is comfy, no issues reaching to 1000yds and beyond.

Love the 223's and have done wonderful shooting with them but if you want no brainer LR shooting without big fuss, the 6.5 CM is just SOOOOO much easier.

View attachment 147543

For a rifle, consider something with an adjustable stock. I set this up as a demo for customers and I can get a very short LOP but also extend to suit me. There are now several off the shelf chassis type rifles with adjustable everything.. or you can grab a chassis like this and add an AR carbine stock.

Jerry
Click to expand...

Talonstylz said:
The wife decided she wants to get into long range shooting, she's 5 foot nothing and 105 lb. So pretty small.
She tried my 308 and that was abit to much kick for someone her size to shoot constantly.
She also shot my sks and the kick was fine.
So looking for caliber and rifle recommendation in the $400-$500 range without scope, new or used.
Want to stay away from 22, and 7.62x39.
Would a 243 be ok? Never shot one so not sure how they are for kick.
Goal is to be able to shoot 300 to 500 meters max consistently.

What would you guys recommend?
Click to expand...

I think you may have missed that comment Jerry...
 
With that price range I would go for a Savage Axis. They shoot very accurate for the price, although they are not the most durable (lots of plastic), but you cant get everything for 500$. In my opinion they would be great for medium range target shooting. 243 would be great, flat shooting and since you hand load you can use some light bullets and loads still get great performance at 500 yards. Not sure of the optic you want but a nice BDC reticle would be easy for her to use and won’t have to worry about turrets not tracking ... nothing more frustrating that will push someone away from shooting. Not sure of your budget for a scope but I have a couple ziess conquests with the Rapid Z reticles I really love them for hunting, I know they have a varmint reticle that would be good with a 243 with light bullets. There are lots of scope manufactures that have bdc reticles, Leupold also makes a varmint one as well just depends on the price range I guess.
 
Camoman1 said:
With that price range I would go for a Savage Axis. They shoot very accurate for the price, although they are not the most durable (lots of plastic), but you cant get everything for 500$. In my opinion they would be great for medium range target shooting. 243 would be great, flat shooting and since you hand load you can use some light bullets and loads still get great performance at 500 yards. Not sure of the optic you want but a nice BDC reticle would be easy for her to use and won’t have to worry about turrets not tracking ... nothing more frustrating that will push someone away from shooting. Not sure of your budget for a scope but I have a couple ziess conquests with the Rapid Z reticles I really love them for hunting, I know they have a varmint reticle that would be good with a 243 with light bullets. There are lots of scope manufactures that have bdc reticles, Leupold also makes a varmint one as well just depends on the price range I guess.
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All good points, i had someone recommend a savage 10 in 243 or 6 creedmore. Told they go on sale for around $600 but only seen the 10 in 308 go that low.

I would be willing to spend 100-200 more if it makes that much of a change.
 
Mystic Precision said:
6.5 Creedmoor with a big brake. Load some 123 to 130gr bullets with a moderate load.

Recoil is similar to an unbraked 223 and once she is comfy, no issues reaching to 1000yds and beyond.

Love the 223's and have done wonderful shooting with them but if you want no brainer LR shooting without big fuss, the 6.5 CM is just SOOOOO much easier.

View attachment 147543

For a rifle, consider something with an adjustable stock. I set this up as a demo for customers and I can get a very short LOP but also extend to suit me. There are now several off the shelf chassis type rifles with adjustable everything.. or you can grab a chassis like this and add an AR carbine stock.

Jerry
Click to expand...
Nice rig Jerry
 
Double the money you want to spend and buy her a heavy barrel Tikka T3 in .223. Next to no recoil and with the 1:8" twist barrel you can load 75-80 gr bullets that can get her out to 1000 yards with ease. If the stock does not fit her, cut it to make it fit or change it to a chassis system.
 
1- get into long range shooting. if you start with the most performant cartridge, you dont see much of your mistakes abour reading weather conditions. plus the more performant the more barrel burner it is.
2-400-500$ rifle. very limited budget so stay away from high performance barrel burner rifles and get a cartridge cheap to load and easy to tune up.

the best answer to your question is 223 rem. you need a minimum twist of 1-9 to stabilise 69gr bullets to 600 yards and little more easy

ruger, savage, remy, tika, all depend on the fit of the stock and how she like the action. a youth model may be the way to go.

once the barrel is shot out, if she really like the action and want little more ballistic, you can rebarrel to 6X45 and get similar ballistic to 308 win.
 
My wife has a few rifles that I thought would be best for her and get her into long range. Her favourite is still the 17hmr, just likes to plink and it gets her out with me.
 
kodiakjack said:
I think you may have missed that comment Jerry...
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LOL.... the rifle was simply to illustrate the chassis with an adjustable buttstock (use a stock if preferred but you get the idea). One of the biggest costs in LR shooting is the optic. If the LOP of a rifle is the main issue, putting a scoped barreled action into a stock/chassis that allows all to use, might save a bunch of coin.

Another inexpensive rifle may not offer the performance desired at LR... then another scope adds more cost.

It is merely a suggestion but I feel putting more money to set up a"better" rifle will improve LR performance and enjoyment vs a bunch of rifles that aren't well set up.

YMMV

Jerry
 
Talonstylz said:
All good points, i had someone recommend a savage 10 in 243 or 6 creedmore. Told they go on sale for around $600 but only seen the 10 in 308 go that low.

I would be willing to spend 100-200 more if it makes that much of a change.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think a few more hundred would go a long way. Savage 10 would be great.
 
At that price point, and for 300-500m, If it were me, I would go with a savage axis 2 in 223 shooting 69gn smk's. The stock isn't the best, but as long as you have a repeatable rest, it shouldn't be a problem.
 
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