I am new to firearms and have a caliber question

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2legit

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Hey from BC. I have been shooting on a half regular basis for the last 2 years and reading on the CGN for the same. I shoot a 30-06 I had passed down from my dad and put a new scope on it. Havin a blast with it, no pun intended..

I know I can kill many an animal with her, and am wanting to move into another caliber rifle as another shooter/hunter but more importantly a rifle my wife can shoot and not hurt her shoulder.

What is the smallest caliber any of you would use for deer? I am thinking a .243 would be the lowest anyone would go with? but am thinking I have heard people using .223? If I were to use it for deer I want a one shot kill, which leaves me thinking .243 is the better caliber to go with.

thank you
 
Kinda a can o worms. If she shoots both equally as well then the larger weights of the 243 would be better. If the recoil bothers her to much then a well placed shot with the .223 will be better and if using the proper bullets will suffice. A good hit with a .223 is better than a poor one with the .243 , but a good hit with a 243 is better still.
 
Ardent said:
.243 is a great choice for your purposes, .223's far too light for a real deer rifle. Good hunting to you guys. :)
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I get so tired of hearing this. Here in Ontario it, is perfectly legal to hunt deer with a 223. Believe me, it makes no difference to a deer whether the hole in it's heart and lungs is 22 cal or 30.
 
Ardent said:
.243 is a great choice for your purposes, .223's far too light for a real deer rifle. Good hunting to you guys. :)
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punkrockboy said:
I get so tired of hearing this. Here in Ontario it, is perfectly legal to hunt deer with a 223. Believe me, it makes no difference to a deer whether the hole in it's heart and lungs is 22 cal or 30.
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As i said to the OP. Can o worms.
 
Both 223 and 243 are good rifles to start the wife on in my opinion, but I would tend to go with the 243. It's a very mild recoiling caliber, make sure you find one that 'fits' her.

I love my little 243 and it's a very accurate rifle.
 
Ease her into shooting with small calibers such as .223, etc. When she gets used to those I'd say go with a 7-08 in a rifle that fits her. Fit of a rifle is more important than what recoil a round will produce. I've shot a .243 that "bit" me, it just plain didnt fit right.
 
a little harder to find but you can get factoy loads in 110g and 125g. when i droped from 180s to 150 for plinking i laughed at how little it recoiled. i would assume a 110g bullet would be very manigable.

mind you my girfirend hates the .410. so it really depends on the shooter
 
smiley1 said:
I'm a lady and started off shooting deer with a 30-06,no reason she can't shoot it unless she is real timid
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There ya go, no need to sacrifice if you don't have to. I started my wife with the .223 and gophers and now she is comfortable with my .270. I hear too much of the "light caliber for girls" suggested when really it isn't always necessary. I have 2 little sisters and a wife, all into shooting and not one of them would pick a light round such as .243 for deer. Not to say .243 isn't good enough however...
 
burnt_servo said:
the only restriction in the b.c. regs is for bison .....

otherwise it says it must be a center fire cartridge as the only restriction for all other big game animals .
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Just for clarity in terms of a discussion based on caliber, the bison reg refers to bullet weight & energy not caliber (175gr IIRC).

Been having a look at 22-250, 7mm/08, and every time end up back at .243 for flatness/speed/recoil/barrel life... would seem like a great cartridge for your purpose.
 
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