Best low recoil full-powered cartridge for Wife's first hunting rifle?

[blargon]

I bought my daughter a 6.5CM and loaded some 100gr partitions in a reduced recoil load. Even with the lightweight rifle its pretty tame and she has dropped a couple bucks so far. If we were going for moose I would add some more powder to the load and not tell her.

 

[Copenhagencowboy]

I bought my wife an xbolt hunter in .243, she loves it. But we don’t hunt moose

 

[Clay00019]

7mm -08
139 gr Hornady
Ruger American youth/compact- perfect starter rifle, low recoil & economical.

 

[Northern Shooter]

I would go with 6.5x55 if she likes shooting it. I have had the list and performance is the same on all in the end. But if need excuse to buy another go for it and buy two as can’t have each one shooting different calibers on same trip

There is something to be said about cross compatibility with sharing the same ammo. 6.5X55 is the only cartridge of the 4 that I personally own so that would be ideal, however the selection of affordable rifles (<$1000) in 6.5x55 Swede is limited.

 

[Northern Shooter]

The 7x57 is low recoil and has good punch for the value.

How common is 7x57 in new production rifles? We're shopping the the likes of Ruger, Tikka, Weatherby etc.

 

[Northern Shooter]

Buy a .243.

If you weren't fussed about shooting a moose, I'd buy a 7.62x39 bolt-action. At the rate things are going, there is about to be a glut of ammo on the Canadian market for the 7.62.

Do many people, especially new shooters use .243 for moose? I always thought that would be underpowered for game bigger than deer.

 

[Northern Shooter]

Not many recommendations for 6.5 Creedmoor as a big game cartridge so far. Is this cartridge not ideal for moose sized game? I know the 6.5X55 is considered to be on the "light" end but has proven to get the job done across Scandinavia.

 

[Jimbobob08]

You’ve already got the Swede. Get a spare stock and cut it down to her LOP and add a good pad. Better off spending money on ammo or reloading vs buying another rifle.

Practice, practice, practice.

Couple years and head of game later, if she wants to upgrade, she’ll likely also have a better idea what she wants/likes.

 

[TheCoachZed]

Do many people, especially new shooters use .243 for moose? I always thought that would be underpowered for game bigger than deer.

I don't think you'd find it common, but if you look at what people use up north, yeah.

I used to work with Jason Morneau Tremblay, and hunted the same moose ground one year (put his name into Youtube if you dont know who he is - a real pro caller from Quebec). That year, he'd just guided a guy who shot a moose with a .243, and one of my buddies in my camp said he'd guided a kid the year before who shot one with a .243. Both those guys thought it killed the moose no problem.

Obviously, you need to shop very carefully for the right ammunition, and you need to place the shot well, and probably keep shots within a pre-determined range. I would personally have no worries about it, and my friends hunt big moose country.

At 200 yards, a 95Gr Ballistic Silvertip in .243 has 1459 ft/lb of energy. That should do the job. People get all hung up on long-distance hitting power for moose, but I bet most moose are shot 200 yards or less, just like most deer are shot 100 yards or less.

 

[Grizzlypeg]

I would definately take into consideration the current availability of factory ammunition, unless you intend to buy brass and reload. Even some brass is hard to buy new currently.

 

[rdavidson]

.243

 

[Suther]

Not many recommendations for 6.5 Creedmoor as a big game cartridge so far. Is this cartridge not ideal for moose sized game? I know the 6.5X55 is considered to be on the "light" end but has proven to get the job done across Scandinavia.

All 3 of the 6.5s you list are so similar that if any of them will do the job, they all will. Lots of guys reach for 300mags when moose hunting, so by that standard your entire list is under powered, but that doesn't mean they won't work.

 

[Suka]

Tried wife on a bunch of diff cal's, 7-08 in a youth model was the ticket.

 

[keith mokry]

6.5x55 with a 100g bullet is same as 243 and gives the advantage of going heavier if required best all round is probably the 140. Factory load ppu is very mild recoil

 

[rifleman762]

Because your wife would be possibly using this rifle for moose, I was going to choose the 7mm-08 based on heavier bullets. However, I looked up ammo and seems like most of it is 139/140 grain! Norma makes a 156gr Oryx 7mm-08. If you will be shooting 140-class bullets, I think you may as well use a 6.5mm with high BC bullets; it will actually have the same or more energy at the animal. Based on wide selection of factory ammo, the 6.5 Creedmoor is the friendliest option. If you plan to reload, I would use the 6.5x55 since you can stoke it a bit hotter (6.5x55 factory ammo is low pressure due to SAAMI specs). If only deer-sized game were on the menu, I would actually drop down to a 6mm of some kind. The 6.5 and 7mm are a compromise; more than you need for deer and on the small side for moose and elk. But they'll all work, no doubt!

 

[The Kurgan]

7mm-08 or 243.

 

[hawk-i]

7-08 or 6.5 Creednmoor from your list, 6 of one, half a dozen of the other.

I got a 308 Vanguard Youth model for my wife, she has no problem with recoil with this gun and killed a bull moose with it this year shooting a 178 ELD-X...1 shot, 1 Moose

 

[Species8472]

7-08

 

[Suther]

6.5x55 with a 100g bullet is same as 243 and gives the advantage of going heavier if required best all round is probably the 140. Factory load ppu is very mild recoil

Sectional density on a 100gr 6.5 bullet kinda sucks. Even a 100gr 243cal isn't great for SD. On the other end of the scale the 150-160gr 6.5s have very high SDs though.

Because your wife would be possibly using this rifle for moose, I was going to choose the 7mm-08 based on heavier bullets. However, I looked up ammo and seems like most of it is 139/140 grain! Norma makes a 156gr Oryx 7mm-08. If you will be shooting 140-class bullets, I think you may as well use a 6.5mm with high BC bullets; it will actually have the same or more energy at the animal. Based on wide selection of factory ammo, the 6.5 Creedmoor is the friendliest option. If you plan to reload, I would use the 6.5x55 since you can stoke it a bit hotter (6.5x55 factory ammo is low pressure due to SAAMI specs). If only deer-sized game were on the menu, I would actually drop down to a 6mm of some kind. The 6.5 and 7mm are a compromise; more than you need for deer and on the small side for moose and elk. But they'll all work, no doubt!

140gr 7mm bullets can have decent BCs, the 140 accubond is listed at .485 by Nosler, vs .509 for the 6.5mm 140gr accubond. And you can get that 140 started a lot faster in the 7mm - Im shooting 140gr bullets at 2950 in mine with a 20" barrel. I don't load for 6.5cm but IIRC a reasonable velocity from a 20-22" barrel is more like 2750-2800 with a 140?

 

[jpappy]

7mm-08 is the answer from me, that or a 270 win. Skip the 6.5 manbun. My 9 and 12 year old boys use a 7-08 with great success, good enough for moose, elk and deer at all reasonable ranges as long as they practice. I got them using 140 accubonds for now as its a well built bullet, I have tipped over a few elk with 140 accubonds in my 270 win. The 120 ttsx is a great choice as well as 150 eldx.