Whats a good ladies caliber?

walther

walther

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Thinkin about picking up a rifle for the wife as a combo anniversary/birthday/christmas thing, but need to decide on a caliber. I know the .243 is a standard for ladies, but she has shot a 6mm and had no problem with the recoil so I'd like to get something a little bigger. I'll have her try one of dads 270's and maybe a 30-06 to get a better idea what she can handle.

My question is this: I am seriously looking at a 25-06 or a 7mm-08, and a .260 just popped into my mind as I type this. I have no experience with any of these calibers, so how does everyone find them with recoil, and especially with accuracy? (Won't make a difference to her, but will to me when I take it out to "test it"... repeatedly ;)) I'm not terribly worried about ammo being found everywhere, as I have access to someones reloading setup.

It will of course be used for hunting. Just for deer, coyotes if I get an opportunity, and maybe black bear next spring (on a bait, 30 yard shot tops) until she gets the strength with her bow to come out with me early in the season.

Whats everyone think? Unbiased answers only please, no "I shoot this and it is the only one to shoot because I shoot it" types, unless backed with a good sound argument of course.

Thanks in advance!
 
Thinkin about picking up a rifle for the wife as a combo anniversary/birthday/christmas thing, but need to decide on a caliber.
...
(Won't make a difference to her, but will to me when I take it out to "test it"... repeatedly )
...
It will of course be used for hunting. Just for deer, coyotes if I get an opportunity, and maybe black bear next spring (on a bait, 30 yard shot tops) until she gets the strength with her bow to come out with me early in the season.
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if you are getting it for her as a gift, then have it set up for her - get the gun she specifically chooses from several she actually handles at the gun store, have the stock fitted to her (shorter LOP?), recoil pad, get her the scope she wants, etc.

no offense meant, but the way you are going about it seems pretty selfish - seems like an excuse to get yourself another gun.
 
I may also get some ladies hunting this season and my choice is the 7mm08.
I find it the best compromise between various factors: performance, availability, recoil ...

I'm using it myself in my sheep/mountain rifle (short action Finnlight).

The 6.5x55 may be worth a consideration too.

It does depend a bit on the Lady in question. They do come in different sizes, strength, recoil tolerance and other things ... :D
 
Limbsaver recoil pad really works at softening the impact on the shoulder, if that's an issue. I've heard good things about 7mm-08, but no personal experience.
 
I did get my wife a 7.62x39 ruger m77 but she has been shooting the 303 jungle carbine and now has shot my 338win ruger m77 so I think I should find her a good 308win like a ruger compact.
 
You have access to loading equipment, almost any caliber can become low recoil. It is surprising how much difference a few grains of powder can make in the recoil dept.
 
Started my women with 6mmRem, started my daughters on .204Ruger. They love the 6mm. Move up to .257Roberts. Have tried them on .25-06 and .270 with mixed results. It has to be their choice. They will not go near a .300, or a .458, go figure.
 
I would stick to any of the 308 based cases. Either the necked down ones you mention, or just standard 308 with 150s.

Like manbearpig says, fit it to her though. Get her all geared up in the coats that she will be wearing when she hunts and make sure it fits her. Proper form, and most anyone can handle most anything that can come out of a 308 case IMO. I have had sub 120lb chicks out in tshirts that have never shot before put more rounds through an m14 then many guys would be able to do. Proper fit helps proper form.

HeadDamage said:
I did get my wife a 7.62x39 ruger m77
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C'mon. You wouldn't recommend x39 for bear for a rookie hunter would you?
 
walther said:
Thinkin about picking up a rifle for the wife as a combo anniversary/birthday/christmas thing, but need to decide on a caliber. I know the .243 is a standard for ladies, but she has shot a 6mm and had no problem with the recoil so I'd like to get something a little bigger. I'll have her try one of dads 270's and maybe a 30-06 to get a better idea what she can handle.

My question is this: I am seriously looking at a 25-06 or a 7mm-08, and a .260 just popped into my mind as I type this. I have no experience with any of these calibers, so how does everyone find them with recoil, and especially with accuracy? (Won't make a difference to her, but will to me when I take it out to "test it"... repeatedly ;)) I'm not terribly worried about ammo being found everywhere, as I have access to someones reloading setup.

It will of course be used for hunting. Just for deer, coyotes if I get an opportunity, and maybe black bear next spring (on a bait, 30 yard shot tops) until she gets the strength with her bow to come out with me early in the season.

Whats everyone think? Unbiased answers only please, no "I shoot this and it is the only one to shoot because I shoot it" types, unless backed with a good sound argument of course.

Thanks in advance!
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No offense intended, I know what you mean but.."Ladies caliber?" I've seen some ladies have no issue shooting .375's, .338s and 12 guages with slugs. :p

But yeah, a 7-08 is about the perfect "low recoil lots of performance" cartridge. Better than the 25-06, IMHO

If the biggest thing on the list is deer, a .260 is better via lower recoil, but you would have to handload or get lots of factory ammo when available.

I intend to use a .260 for much of my deer hunting this year,a nd I'm not recoil sensitive, but it makes sense:)
 
3006? 308? 270? Normal calibres? Woman, despite what you may think, can handle recoil if taught how, and eased into like any new shooter. Im almost to the point where im starting to get offended for them by all these guys who think woman can't handle anything bigger then a .22 without being afraid.

My wife is 5'5" and 120. She shoots a 3006 youth model Rem 700. She started with reduced recoil loads, and now hunts with full strength loads.
 
If you teach her to be scared of recoil, she will be.

Pretty much any standard cartridge will do, 6.5x55, 7x57, 6mm, 260, 708, 308, 25-06, 257 roberts, 270.

.30-06, but its really not needed for deer.
 
Definitely have her try your dad's 270. In fact I'd suggest take her shooting with it if she's comfortable. If that's dandy and she's game, I'd let her try your dad's '06 with a 150gr projectile as well.
You never know. When my wife started I was sort of lollycoddling her with calibre's and recoil pads as I didn't want her to become scared of the recoil.

While I think it was probably good to introduce her slowly a year later she shoots a 375win, a 30-06, and I just bought her a maverick 12ga for trap so we wouldn't have to buy both 12 and 20ga shells.

Hey, wait. Come to think about it, get her a 270 and tell her she doesn't want to try anything else, it'll be cheaper. :p
 
walther said:
Whats everyone think? Unbiased answers only please, no "I shoot this and it is the only one to shoot because I shoot it" types
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My very biased opinion is everyone, ladies or men, children or the elderly will shoot a lighter recoiling, lighter barking rifle better. If you stop reading magazines, talking to he-men and watching hunting shows and start paying attention to those who really do know, you'll see they have been killing the biggest game for years with inadequite rifles. Just the stories from some older members of my family alone taught me that. I laughed a couple years ago when Canada in the Rough stated the .30-06 was ok for deer but not much else. And I think it was at that point I realized it was time to stop listening to these clowns altogether. You don't need a .300 Magnum anything to kill a deer, moose or elk. And so long as you can shoot your rifle good enough, dime sized groups don't matter much either. My all time favorite cartridges are the .30-30 Winchester and the .243 Winchester. Both will kill most anything you will want to hunt and neither will pound the snot out of you. And usually both are available in a rifle that are accurate enough for most honest people shooting at responsible ranges. How many guys have you heard tell you they were taking pot shots at a deer 700 yards away? (Stay away from them anyways) Another couple good choices that I've long admired are the .257 Roberts, the .250 and .300 Savages and the 6.5x55 Swedish. Good luck with whatever you decide on and congrats for finding a good lady.
 
It is a surprise gift, so I do not want to bring her in looking at rifles because I'm sure she would figure it out. In any case I know she likes Tikka's, but I'm thinking a Marlin XL7 (we're both students, so I can't afford a Tikka). All I really need to decide is what caliber. Thats interesting everyone says 7mm-08, all the prior research I had done showed that a 25-06 was a little more accurate.
 
walther said:
It is a surprise gift, so I do not want to bring her in looking at rifles because I'm sure she would figure it out. In any case I know she likes Tikka's, but I'm thinking a Marlin XL7 (we're both students, so I can't afford a Tikka). All I really need to decide is what caliber. Thats interesting everyone says 7mm-08, all the prior research I had done showed that a 25-06 was a little more accurate.
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I'd not worry too much about accuracy for hunting. As long as the rifle can reliably group around 1 to 1.5 at 100 ,you're good to go.
 
walther said:
It is a surprise gift, so I do not want to bring her in looking at rifles because I'm sure she would figure it out. In any case I know she likes Tikka's, but I'm thinking a Marlin XL7 (we're both students, so I can't afford a Tikka). All I really need to decide is what caliber. Thats interesting everyone says 7mm-08, all the prior research I had done showed that a 25-06 was a little more accurate.
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Accuracy has far, far, more to do with shooting experience and shooting skill then the guns capabilities (certainly differences between various calibres). It shouldnt be a worry in most cases.

Remember, you're shooting big game, not flies off the side of a barn at 500 paces.
 
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