What caliber for my wife's new deer rifle

**DetectiveDan** · August 22nd, 2006, 01:11 AM

The wife (55 yoa) wants a deer rifle of her own for her Birthday. She's pretty outdoorsy, but I'm concerned about the recoil for her... no 30.06. Some friends suggested a .243, but some of you guys seem to like the .308's. Will the .308 recoil make her scared to shoot it? Most shots will be less than 200 yrds. I shoot a Remington 35, which I absolutely love.
Also, any recommended dealers? I only have two weeks. Academy was recommended so far.

any help is appreciated.
Dan

**Joe Demko** · August 22nd, 2006, 08:01 AM

.243 is a good choice when loaded with the heavier bullets (100 grains) available. I used one for 18 years with uniformly good results. My father has been using one for about 40 years. If you can find one, one of the Remington 600 carbines in .243 is a superb little rifle for women or youngsters.

**DetectiveDan** · August 22nd, 2006, 09:08 AM

Thanks Joe. I was leaning toward the .243 but didn't know how much .308s kick, since I've never shot one.

Thanks again,
Dan

**IceFire** · August 22nd, 2006, 11:09 AM

OK, here's advice from a girl....and a SHORT one at that! I have 3 rifles that I can use for deer...a .270 (actually part of my Rossi "Matched Set" combo that come with a .270 barrel, a .17 barrel, and a .50 muzzleloader barrel), my Dad's old .30-.30 and my Granddad's Remington 700 in a .243 that my Dad had cut down to fit my mother after Granddad passed away.

Personally, I prefer to take out the .243, and leave the Rossi set up as a muzzleloader. The .243 is just a better fit for me, and therein lies the key...what's best is what works for HER. Take her down to the gun shop and let HER try out the fit of the different ones and then pick what fits best for her (Not knowing whether she's short, tall, or in-between DOES have its drawbacks!)

Also, if she is on the "petite" side, you might want to check out a youth model...that's what I did for my shotgun, as it is a MUCH better fit!

**Tomcat088** · August 22nd, 2006, 01:28 PM

I was just fixing to comment on the youth model stuff, so +1 to what Icefire said. Another caliber that I would recommend to you is the 25-06. Some people don't like it, but it has far less recoil than the 30-06 and the .308 and it shoots very good. It's a slightly larger bullet than the .243, and if I'm not mistaken it shoots quite a bit flatter than a standard loaded .243. One of my best friend's little brothers broke his collar bone so bad that he had to have surgery on it. He wasn't gonna get to hunt deer season because the recoil was probably gonna rebreak it again. So his dad went and bought him a 25-06 and tested it out, and they decided it was light enough that he'd be alright. Sure enough he was, he took a nice buck and caused no injury to his healing collar bone. Just something else I thought I'd throw out there as a good deer rifle with less recoil.

**DetectiveDan** · August 22nd, 2006, 02:36 PM

Thanks folks, I appreciate the help. I take it that the .308 kicks pretty good, so i'll fit her w/ a .243 or a 25-06.

thanks again.
Dan

**Tomcat088** · August 22nd, 2006, 02:41 PM

The .308 doesn't kick terribly, but it's probably more than she'd like. I like to shoot big guns like .300 winmag and 7mm mag, so the .308 isn't anything compared to either of those, but it does kick a little. I just think that a .243 or 25-06 would get the job done with far less recoil. I'd actually recommend the .270 to you before I recommended the .308. The .270 kicks less and shoots a heck of alot flatter, and it'll still drop a deer. Still, I think she'd probably like the .243 or the 25-06 over the .270. If you know anybody that has those calibers, ask to borrow them, so you and your wife can get an idea of what she might like or want. Hope that helps

.

**aubie515** · August 22nd, 2006, 10:33 PM

I wouldn't recommend a 25/06 unless you relaod...factory ammo isn't as common and cost more. You must always factor in cost before choosing a rifle. I would go 243...can hunt ground hogs to deer. 100 gr Sierra game kings will take care of any whitetail in PA. 25/06 will burn out your barrel faster too...just all depends on what your application is and how much you will shoot the rifle.

Go 243 or go home....

**Matt** · August 23rd, 2006, 12:00 AM

You might be better with a slower round with less muzzle blast. The blast adds as much to the overall recoil experience as the physical kick. My 25-06 doesn't kick hard but my wife is scared of it on account of the blast.

Has she shot your .35 rem yet? If she has and liked it that'd be as good as anything IMO. Or maybe a 30-30. Forget about 200 yards. 100 is plenty for PA and probably too far for someone starting out with centerfire rifles.

**Joe Demko** · August 23rd, 2006, 12:38 PM

Actually, Dan, I guess you have two factors to consider:
1. How well the rifle physically fits your wife.
2. How comfortable the cartridge is with respect to recoil/muzzle blast.

.243 has very little felt recoil and muzzle blast isn't too bad. You should be able to find her a rifle of appropriate size with relatively little problem in .243.

The .30-30 is more than capable of taking a Pennsylvania white tail, I know lots of folks who use it. My criticism of it for your purposes is that the lever guns where the .30-30 is most common tend to accentuate what recoil the cartridge has. That said, the Marlin 336 is a nice gun, easily takes a scope, doesn't cost as much as a condominium in Aruba, and is available in a variety of configurations. If you want to scour the used gun racks, there are also Savage 99's, Remington pumps, and a lot of Winchester lever actions in .30-30 out there. Probably some new Winchesters too, as they only recently ceased production.