My wife wants to hunt next trip to Africa. She is left handed, slight of build and has never shot before. I am not sure she will like it but I am going to get her set up.

Rather than buy a left handed gun, I was toying with a Ruger No. 1 in .223 or .243 or .25-06. Operating a No. 1 is easy and she would have a back up shooter with her at all times so no need for a quick second shot from her.

She would be hunting impala and the like, no dangerous game, no big muscled stuff like zebra or wildebeast.

Thoughts or suggestions? What do your wives shoot?

I would forget the .223 and .243. The .25-06 is probably a good minimum even with most kids. They don't kick much at all. Also 6.5x55's are great for the recoil sensetive. I have a number of female relatives who used 6.5x55's without a problem on deer sized game.

I'd suggest a 7mm08 or 7x57. Also you may want to consider a Blaser, I believe that you can swap out the lefthanded bolt for a righthanded one if you want to shoot it.

I am left handed and my wife is right handed. She is also slight of build and wants to hunt next trip to Africa. I am having a 7 by 57 built for her with a stock that fits. I hope by having a proper fitting rifle and working up from small calibers to the 7 by 57 she will not be recoil sensative. If that works out I am thinking about a 9.3 by 62 for her.

dogcat, In the past few years my wife has become quiet the huntress. She was raised in a rural area and has spent many days in the field and on the water but had never taken big game.

Several years ago she decided that she wanted to shot a buck, so I let her shoot my 30.06. Well, it's hers now. She handles the recoil just fine. I did the bench work and let her shoot off the sticks. She has taken three bucks and one hog the last three years.

The Safari grade Browning 30.06 will going with her to Africa when we make the trip. JC

The following info is baised on the fact that my wife hunts, and has been to Zimbabwe, as well as killing black bear and elk, in the US and my 11 year old nephew, I started him hunting deer when he was 10, is left handed.

Get her a left handed 308. One that fits her with a barrel around 20" so it is easy for her to handle.

Start her out on Remington Managed recoil ammo. It works great on game up to 300 lbs or so.

Have her shoot Federal factory 165gr trophy bonded Bearclaws in Africa.

A Blaser R 93 with a 308 tracker barrel would be a great choice for her.
Put a 2.5-8x Leupold on it.

Get her her own rifle, one that fits her.

The blaser r93 is a good option. My wife shoots one and she loves it. She is shooting a 22-250 barrel right now but Im going to get her a 6.5x55 for bigger stuff, and she can use my 9.3 barrel for big stuff if it ever presents itself.

Blaser also make a single shot called a K95 that is very light and comes in an array of calibers.

I shoot a 6.5x55 and just love it, it would be a great bushveld type round.

I'm in the same boat, almost. We are both right handed, but when we go to Namibia in 2010, she also wants to hunt some of the heavier stuff, ie: zebra, oryx, wildebeest. She is an experienced hunter/shooter, having taken almost everything WY has to offer w/ her .243. For africa, she wants something a little bigger. I'm leaning towards the 7x57 for her, and the 9.3x62 myself. Anybody have exp w/ the 7x57 on the heavier PG?

My wife is not so slight of build. She shoots a 20 gauge O/U for birds and a 30.06 for deer sized game. She has also used a 375 on buffalo. I think in the excitment of a buff hunt the recoil does not bother her.

BigB

Ross,

I ubderstand everything your saying but a heavier bullet will serve your wife better. The 308 is often overlooked but it really is a great round with low recoil and the capability to shoot heavier bullets.

I also get the idea of the No1 but they can be a bear to get to shoot. I'd stick with a left hand bolt rifle. A Remington model 7 might be just about right in my opinion.

Mark

I have to go with the 308Win ammo from light to heavy and easy to find. I would stick with a bolt gun myself.

Before going off the deep end on a rifle purchase, suggest you go out to your nearest gun club and let her try out a number of calibers. Doesn't even matter if they are right-handed bolts, it's the handling and the shooting that she needs to experience. Expect that 30-06 will do fine with the advantage of firing 200 grain bullets against zebra or what have you if she wants.

Let her decide whether she wants a single shot or a bolt action (double is maybe a dollar or so too far ). You might not be able to get her a left handed bolt to try, but then you live in Oklahoma and Champlins can't be far away so she can go handle some, work the bolt and check out her ideal length of pull.

Regards

How about the Blaser fitted with their own tungsten bead recoil arrestor in the stock in your choice of calibre. The recoil arrestor works like a dream and I'd bet with that fitted, she could even handle a .375 H&H without any problems.

Call me contrary, but what does her being left-handed have to do with shooting a rifle if she's never shot one before? If you ask me, find out which eye is her dominant...it might not be her right eye. Teach her to hold the gun accordingly. She'll get used to it right quick.

I also agree on the Blaser R93. Not only a switch-barrel, but a takedown to boot. Its guncase is not so obvious to shout, "There's a gun inside here!"

I'm in the same boat. My wife and I went to Namibia last may and shot plains game with a Brno 21h in 8x57. This year at the DSC show we walked around and she handled a bunch of rifles, but the one that fit her small stature the best and was the simplest for her to use ended up being the TC Encore. I thought it would be the No. 1 but she preferred the Encore's size. I am having Bullberry make her a 9.3x74. Of course you could pick any number of acceptable PG calibers on this platform.

I think a 308 in a BLR would be an awesome gun to take.I had one of the early ones and it was very light and shot pretty good.Its good for left handed or right handed shooters.Its a bit quicker than a bolt gun too with the trigger in the lever.Mine was a blast to shoot.I regret selling it.

quote:

My wife wants to hunt next trip to Africa.

dogcat,

You may have some serious thinking to do! I’m not going to read any other of your postings to find out more about you – but just respond on the facts given in the thread starter.

"My wife wants to hunt next trip to Africa". IMHO a wife that shares a husband’s love of hunting is a real joy to have! I know, I now have one.

I assume that you are of similar opinion, as you asked advice about which rifle to get her?

But why does she want to “… hunt next trip to Africa”? There can be a whole bunch of reasons why she expressed the desire, such include, but are not limited to desires like:
• To have something to talk/boast about at her bridge/tea parties? To shock some friend who is an anti-hunter?
• To show you, someone else or the whole world that she too can hunt! If this is the case – she needs to hunt only once , and then she has no more need to hunt.
• To have something to share with you? You will know what your other hobbies/interests are and which of them she can or cannot share with you. IIWY, I’d hope that she really wants to share my hunting hobby/way-of-life with me. Then I would really go out of may way to make the introduction to hunting as easy as possible and as enjoyed as possible for her.
• To not be bored stiff “..next trip to Africa”? Has she been to Africa as an observer? You will know what the situation is, and what to do about it.
• To have her very own very expensive custom rifle to boast with? You should hope this is not the reason why she expressed a desire to hunt. But if you can afford it, and it pleases her, why not?
• To get closer to nature? You should also hope that this is at least part of the reason for her wanting to hunt.
• To feel what it feels like to have actually killed something? Many sensible people realize that in order to eat any human must have things killed for him/her or kill it him-/herself. If she is not properly prepared for the fact that hunting may actually involve killing something, she may do it once, or on one trip, and then never again! In such a case you may have a very expensive left-hand or unneeded rifle to trade.
• There are many more possible contributing and underlying reasons why she may have indicated that she wants to hunt.

Women [and men too] are complex creatures who do things for funny reasons. The real underlying reason why she has expressed a desire to “hunt next trip to Africa” may have a very important impact on which rifle/caliber is the optimum for her. You know your own wife and can probably already give a very good reply to the basic question of why? If you want a wife who shares the joy of hunting with you, you should also help her to share the joy, the decision, the doubts, and all the nice and not so nice things involved in choosing a rifle/caliber with her!

“She is left handed,….” Have you established if she is also left-eye dominant? She should hold the rifle to the same shoulder as the dominant eye, irrespective of which is her dominant hand.

“….slight of build,…..” [You lucky man you!] I’ve seen a very slight of built girl shoot a few tin cans at 100 yards with full-load 460 Weatherby Magnum. Sure, she gets pushed around quite a bit, but the recoil does not bother her at all. You will, or should, know if she is likely to be badly affected by recoil. IMHO, if you start any person’s shooting training properly no-one other than the most naturally timid, will not be affected by even quite moderate recoil. Only if your wife is a very timid person and much affected by pain should recoil be a serious consideration of which caliber to buy for plains game.

“….and has never shot before.” This places a big responsibility on you. As said, I do not know you, but I do hope you know enough about proper shooting instruction and particularly on how to introduce a newcomer to shooting to do what needs to be done. You will know your wife, but a good start, after basic safety instructions, may be with an air gun and blown up balloons at close range. Encouragement and praise is very important in dog training, and equally so, or even more so, in training a beginner shooter. From big balloons at close range where the bang of the exploding baloon is part of the praise and sense of satisfaction of 'getting it right' you may progress to empty beer/soft drink cans at close range. [But teach her the truth about alcohol and shooting don’t mix well – so don’t empty the cans while training! ] Not all the very good shots that I know has started with an air gun, but I do not know a single really bad shot that had shot and hunted with an air gun as a kid. IMHO you should be VERY careful of teaching anyone to shoot with a “capable of hunting African plains game with” caliber! Start air gun, then .22LR [preferably with sound moderator] then one or two shots – just to keep her excited and so she knows where she is going to, with a very mild caliber center fire rifle. Continue shooting training with air gun and .22 LR. Only much later will some serious training and getting accustomed to shooting a caliber capable of hunting plains game with follow. You know your wife best, and will know when she is ready to fire those all-important first few “big rifle” shots. Remember that "flinch" develops aas much from the noise as from the recoil! Always have her wearing proper hearing protection when required.

"I am not sure she will like it but I am going to get her set up." You do of course realize that to a large extent you are going to be in control of her deciding that she likes it, or not like it? You start her shooting with a reasonable recoiling calibre without her knowing about recoil and how to hold the rifle properly and so get her to join the "half moon" or even "full moon" club, and she is not likelely to want to even try hunting. OTOH, train her to love shooting, and to shoot well, and progress to mild recoiling calibres, she will be very anxious to test her acquired shooting skills on a live target!

How much time do you have to prepare her for hunting on your next trip to Africa? Why not get her started right away? Formal firearm safety training? Hunter training course? Teach her to love shooting. Teach her the truth about killing animals. Make sure that she looks forward in some awe to actually killing and eating something. Make sure that the first animal she shoots is eaten – or if it needs to be something like a coyote, that she knows that it is a pest and killed just to get it dead! There must be something that one can hunt over there at this or any time of the year?

You were on the right track in your own thinking, and were well advised by many other posters about caliber and rifles. I'm not going to add anything to what was already said by others.

There is much to learn, and know about hunting. The question is really how much is the minimum that one should know before actually hunting for a first time? Basic firearm safety is definitely desired, but, given a good PH, hardly required: He just needs to be warned that she is a beginner! Also basic aiming and shooting very much required beforehand. I know that I’ve trained wives of clients to shoot a first animal in no time. But it is not the wise thing to do. A definite, and IMHO non-negotiable absolute requirement, before letting anyone hunt for the first time is that the novice hunter should already have and accepted the knowledge that killing something is irreversible and [for some] sort of a really big thing. If you do not get this right, you are not likely to enjoy her hunting companionship for long! The requirement to prepare the novice hunter for the act of actually ‘killing’ an animal is part of the training about shot placement – you want to kill the animal, and not just wound it – so aim where you will actually kill it. That should be about the minimum knowledge she requires if she gets a good and experienced PH to guide her on a first hunt in Africa. IMHO though, I do hope [not knowing anything about you and your abilities] that she can do her first hunt under your own guidance. But you will know what is possible! If her first real hunt has to be in Africa - please ensure that she gets a suitably experienced PH to guide her if you want her to enjoy hunting and to join you in future.

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren.

I have taught many kids and ladies to shoot. Start her on stuff with NO RECOIL, such as a varmint caliber (.223, 22-250, even a .22 LR). A right handed bolt gun is fine for starters. I am a lefty and I've taugt many rightys to shoot using my left handed bolt .223 and .22 LRs. Work up in caliber to determine what she is comfortable with. If she is fine with something as big as the 30-06, that's great. But IMO, she should NOT start out with something that kicks, since it could intimidate her and turn her off for good to the sport. If, as you say, she will be sticking with the light plains game like impala and staying away from stuff like wildebeast, then the .243 is plenty. I have watched South Africans take larger game with one shot using the .243 (kudu, gemsbok), so it's fine for the smaller guys like impala. The .243 is not the best if she wants to use the rifle for larger game later and I would not recommend the caliber for kudu and like-sized game. On the bright side, if she wants to go after bigger stuff later, then she gets to own a second rifle!

I have ceterfires from the .223 up to .338 WM. I love my .243 and for the right game, it's a great load. I use it for stuff like coyotes, javelina, culling whitetail doe, etc. Even when I am hunting whitetail bucks, however, I go larger than the .243. The .243 can clearly take a whitetail buck, but because I am comfortable going larger, my personal preference is to use more gun. I still love the .243. It's a joy to shoot, it's accurate, and is great for the right game.

Always glad to see people introducing new participants to hunting - nice job.

Is she left eye dominant? Being left handed will not always mean you need a LH rifle. I am right handed but left eye dominant...I shoot LH guns.

quote:

Originally posted by 450/400:
I'm in the same boat. My wife and I went to Namibia last may and shot plains game with a Brno 21h in 8x57. This year at the DSC show we walked around and she handled a bunch of rifles, but the one that fit her small stature the best and was the simplest for her to use ended up being the TC Encore. I thought it would be the No. 1 but she preferred the Encore's size. I am having Bullberry make her a 9.3x74. Of course you could pick any number of acceptable PG calibers on this platform.

I second the Encore. My oldest daughter shoots one and I am looking to add to the stable. The Number 1, at least the one I have, is heavier and you lose the ability to change calibers easily.

Bullberry built the one Encore we have.

If she shoots enough to be a dedicated left-hand shooter you could also look at Ruger's new left-hand bolt offerings.

As far as calibers go, the 7x57 has been taking PG forever and if you don't reload, Superior does - or the 30-06 has plenty of good factory offerings with premium bullets. I don't think I would want anything smaller than a 270. You'll be in Africa and if a monster Kudu presents itself you'll want a medium bore. I'm not knocking the 25-06, I'm just saying for a one gun Africa rifle, there are better choices.

Thanks for all of the great help and suggestions.

Andrew,
To answer a few of your questions - my wife has no ego. She wants to hunt and shoot because myself and her three kids all hunt and shoot. She has no passion (yet) for shooting or hunting. She just wants to go along and shoot if the opportunity presents itself.

I plan to put her in a gun safety course and set her up with private shooting instruction rather than from me. We have a world class shooting facility here that I shoot at.

She, nor any of us, are "inch" hunters. She just wants to go and have fun with us.

I have no idea how recoil sensitive she will be. My daughter who is 5' 9" and 150 lbs shoots a .300 win mag without a problem. My wife is 5; 4" and 130 lbs, so I do not want her banged around. A .243, .270 or reduced loads in .300WG or .30-06 or the 7x57 are great ideas. I also like the lever gun idea - I had not thought of that. She has fired a lever action .22 in the past.

Any more ideas, please send them. thanks

I'd get a left hand Ruger 77 in 7-08 or .308.