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harewoodwalker

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my niece just got her hunting license and im looking to get a rifle for her , shes about 5 ft 6 and 120 lbs, 17 yrs old . she wants to go moose and deer , i was thinking 270? or any other suggestions that wont put her on her ass lol
 
.270, 6.5x55 both good choices, but I would suggest stock fit is much more important then caliber. A good fitting stock with a rifle in the 6 - 8# range will do more for recoil management and accuracy then any caliber/cartridge combination ever will.
 
7mm-08 or 6.5x55 would be my first picks, with the 7mm-08 getting the nod if moose is more of a consideration or the 6.5x55/6.5creedmore if it's mostly deer with maybe a moose hunt.

A lot of the depends on her though, is she used to shooting and can handle a .270's recoil or is she pretty new and wants to try it out? That's a whole different story.
 
Probably not what you want to hear, but stock fit probably matters more than cartridge choice (as long as you stick to non-magnums). The women's and youth-specific rifles really do make a big difference.

A good recoil pad REALLY helps, particularly for beginners.

And relatively light-for-caliber bullets: All-copper is great for doing this while maintaining penetration (I like Barnes TTSX).

Since you're in BC, as for chambering, 270 or even 30-06 (with light bullets) would be best if you reload. And the -06 is just sooooo versatile.... If you don't reload, then 6.5x55 would be my top pick for this application. The 308 Win cased options can be made to work, but they're clearly a compromise (the short action benefit is arguable, but I think most manufacturers are using the same action for long and short cartridges now).
 
6.5x55 Sw. Hands down . The BC of a 140gr. Pill compared to the mild recoil and inherent accuracy is beyond belief but the math doesn’t lie.Zero worries on Moose to coyotes
 
I'm a 6.5x55 and .260Rem guy and I hate to say it but you'll have way more options in rifles and ammo with a 6.5 Creed so that would be my recommendation.
 
I would get a Tikka 3x Lite in 6.5x55. NP 140 grains if you want to choose one bullet. I did not take moose with it but many on this forum and elsewhere have done it. If you handload you can do 129 grains for deer and 160 grains bullets for moose (Hornady or Woodleigh). This rifle shoots around 1 moa with most factory loads, and 0.3-0.5 with handloads. Reloder 22 is your friend. It does not get any better.
 
6.5 Creedmoor in the rifle of her choice. Get her to handle a bunch and see which one will fit her best. It might be good to look at compact models as well for a person her size.
 
Swede, Creed, 260...7x57 or 7mm-08...308. All good choices. She's a little smaller than my 12 year old daughter and my girl could handle my little custom Mauser in 7x57 with ease. Try a few rifles and choose based on stock fit. Don't overscope her either...2.5-8x Leupold is a great choice for a smallish rifle like that on the top end. I'm also a fan of the 1.5-5x Leupold which is really nice on a trim little rifle and doesn't give up much even in open country.
 
I would (and did) go 6.5 Creedmoor. Mild kicking and report, great ballistics downrange, good bullet choices. Lots of other good cartridge selections out there, I agree 7mm-08 would also be a great choice for a gentle kicker that doesn't give up much of anything.

In the T3X platform, a .270 might kick a bit much but you can always throw on Limbsaver #10826 (direct-fit) which is a huge improvement. I have two that migrate from rifle to rifle as I cycle them through my inventory.

The Browning AB3 and Winchester XPR rifles are budget-friendly, accurate, and the Inflex pads and also very nice.
 
Depends on if you reload or not. If you reload practically anything and reduce the powder charge. If your buying ammo my thoughts are:

-7mm-08 or 6.5 CR Good choices tend not to have to much recoil.
-270 win I'd do 7mm-08 or 6.5 cr first as they have a little less kick
-308 - Reduced Recoil Load. Nice as it is common and has plenty of different bullet weights.
-243 win. Nothing wrong with it either

Some other things for thoughts:
- Make sure the stock fits, may require aftermarket stock or modifications. (*probably equally important*)
- Limb Saver recoil pads are nice at reducing felt recoil.
- Install a muzzle break, I'm not a massive fan of this, but it does work.

Best wishes, how she enjoys it.
 
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mikeyb said:
In the T3X platform, a .270 might kick a bit much but you can always throw on Limbsaver #10826 (direct-fit) which is a huge improvement. I have two that migrate from rifle to rifle as I cycle them through my inventory.
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I agree that the T3X may kick to hard. Having previously owned a T3X in 270, I ditched it in favor of my 7mm-08. The 7mm-08 was more pleasant to shoot and is a short action. Negative is ammo selection isn't as big.
 
Tred said:
Depends on if you reload or not. If you reload practically anything and reduce the powder charge. If your buying ammo my thoughts are:

-7mm-08 or 6.5 CR Good choices tend not to have to much recoil.
-270 win I'd do 7mm-08 or 6.5 cr first as they have a little less kick
-308 - Reduced Recoil Load. Nice as it is common and has plenty of different bullet weights.
-243 win. Nothing wrong with it either

Some other things for thoughts:
- Make sure the stock fits, may require aftermarket stock or modifications. (*probably equally important*)
- Limb Saver recoil pads are nice at reducing felt recoil.
- Install a muzzle break, I'm not a massive fan of this, but it does work.

Best wishes, how she enjoys it.
Click to expand...

Is nice to see that one mentioned! Is an older local guy who takes EVERYTHING - wolves, coyotes, deer, moose - with his 16.5" Ruger Compact - I was so impressed is also the last rifle that I bought for myself to use. I do know in 1970's I built up a Rem 788 in 243 Win for my wife to use on her very first deer hunt - barrel was cut back to 19" - stock was radically slimmed and shortened to fit her - she got her mule deer buck with a single off-hand shot. Some years later, our then 12 or 13 year old son got his first white tail with the same rifle and cartridge - again, a single shot fired. And some years later, our daughter used same rifle - but by then had a 22" 308 Win barrel - to get her first deer - also with a single shot fired.

Teach her to shoot well - make sure she knows where to place the bullet on the animal to kill it - and about "slam dunk" with anything 243 Win and up, that she can handle well. Is very hard for a beginner - but about as important to know when the kill shot is NOT there - wait for it, rather than a "Hail Mary" and hope, or think multiple shots will make up for poor choices in the first place.

Scopes - is probably NOT what Internet experts will want to hear - that rifle for my wife and son, when they got their first deers - had a Weaver K3 scope - so 3x magnification. When our daughter used it, it had a Leupold 2-7 - but I have no clue what power she had it set at, for the shot.
 
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Tred said:
I agree that the T3X may kick to hard. Having previously owned a T3X in 270, I ditched it in favor of my 7mm-08. The 7mm-08 was more pleasant to shoot and is a short action. Negative is ammo selection isn't as big.
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My current T3X is a 7mm Rem Mag and it's quite "kicky", as new it needed a sissy pad to get sighted in well. Not sure what it is with the stock geometry that results in these things kicking as hard as they do. Limbsaver transforms them completely!

dand883 said:
Those Inflex pads are awesome, i wish they had them for everything like limbsaver does.
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They are, I don't know why we're not hearing more of the AB3 and XPR rifles here on CGN as they are far better than Savage Axis and Ruger American rifles as a budget option and the Inflex pad is just *chef's kiss*.
 
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