Ray, people have done that for their wives.

A friend's wife drew a desert bighorn tag here in New Mexico. She had never hunted, and was afraid of the rifle.

Wounded and lost a 165 ram.

Created a rift in their marriage as the guy was so upset at her for it.

Buy her a 6.5 PRC and load it like a Creedmore at first and then as she grows and progresses later load it like a PRC. It will take anything she wants to point it at. Good Shooting.

A .270 with an 85 grain Barnes TSX is not going to kick as much as a .243 shooting a Barnes 85 grain TSX when loaded similarly. You could easily load the 270 w/85 TSX down to just under 3000 FPS and still have a hell of a deer rifle that had even less recoil. When it comes time to kill an elk, full power 130s will work just fine. I have run an 85 grain TSX in .243 through almost 4 feet of deer an it still exited so, no worries about enough penetration. 85 TSXs and 80 grain TTSXs kill deer quite nicely out of a .243 so they will do the same thing out of a .270.

Personally, I have killed a bunch of deer with 110 TTSXs out of a .270 at 3170 and they have very mild recoil and kill very well. The 110s penetrate a LOT of bone with ease. I would go with the 270 and never look back.

I was thinking of something like that. Get a gun and reduce the load. if we have to we can use my brothers 7mm08 but she needs her own. What would be a good cartridge for South East Oregon? Deer elk and antelope what we hunt for big game. She's a tough girl, her younger brother can take full power loads of 30/06 loads started with reduce loads. 06, 7mag. I don't know. 300 yards is a long shot here.

quote:

Originally posted by kennedy:
I was thinking of something like that. Get a gun and reduce the load. if we have to we can use my brothers 7mm08 but she needs her own. What would be a good cartridge for South East Oregon? Deer elk and antelope what we hunt for big game. She's a tough girl, her younger brother can take full power loads of 30/06 loads started with reduce loads. 06, 7mag. I don't know. 300 yards is a long shot here.

Then how about getting her own 7mm08? It's a great cartridge that would work well. Plus lots of bullet choices. My first rifle was a 7x57 that did fine on deer, elk and blackbear in western Washington. The 7mm08 will do the same.

Have fun with that kid of yours, they grow up way too quick!

Far far more concerned with the size and fit of the rifle than the caliber. No way in hell your average 12 year old can properly hold much less accurately shoot an adult size rifle. Too heavy, too long LOP... A poorly fitted gun will also mean they experience recoil more...

6.5CM, 7-08, 308, 257 Roberts are all fine within their limitations providing the gun fits and they can snug it up to their shoulder, get a good cheek weld and keep their eye within the focal range of the scope. If they can't do that nothing else matters...you are setting them up for failure at that point. Personlly, stick a 140 grain 7-08 and a 150 gr .308 in the same size and weight rifle and I don't think there's much of a difference in recoil at all... Of course there's more than a few off the shelf 120 gr 7-08 loads and that's a different story.

Look for a compact rifle with a reduced LOP and consider cutting it some more if necessary. Low rings and not more than 9-10X on the scope. They don't need it for the limited range those calibers provide on elk. Lots of practice shooting in field positions...sitting, prone, standing with a support like a tripod or tree.

If you set them up properly and let them enjoy some success early you have a much greater chance of enjoying their companionship afield into old age. You won't get many chances at this. Don't screw it up.

My daughter has been hunting with me since she was 9. She's 17 now and this year successfully used a WInchester 70 Compact in .308 on a Whitetail at about 50 yards and shoots my Benelli 12 gauge SBE with 3" shells in the duckblind. I had her out to the farm last weekend helping me work up some loads for some rifles and she was banging the 8" 100 yard gong from the prone unsupported with my 30-06 bolt gun like a pro... Though she admitted she enjoyed my 70 grain .243 Coyote loads more... She even ran a magazine through my .300 Win Mag...which she grinned and said that it had a punch but not much more than the 30-06. But that's not where you start out with a kid. SHe has hundreds of rounds of centerfire rifle time and thousands of rounds in 20 gauge shotguns behind her. She even enjoyed my Cap and Ball revolvers last weekend....her comment was hilarious--"poor civil war soldiers!" LOL

My grandson killed a bunch of deer and 2 big bobcats with a CZ 527 in 7.62x39 from the age of 10 to 14.

My boy shot his first buck at 10 with a Syrian Mauser in 8x57 185 Remington CL at 2100 FPS or so using IMR 4759 powder. The short military stock fit him like a glove and the front wood was gone to my horse rasp and the barrel is bobbed to 20"
His Ruger 260 was in a full size stock and he just did not like it at the time because of the fit. So a vote for gun fit and reduced loads for kids. That IMR 4759 load is soft and quiet. Noise is a real barrier for most kids.

I would get her a 6.5 Creedmoor and start off with 120s and move up to 130s or 140s when she’s ready and if it’s needed.

Later, if she feels like she’s outgrown a Creedmoor down the road (unlikely), you could always have a new barrel in .308 and work up a load with 150s. She could do pretty much anything anywhere with that setup, provided she can shoot it well.

So I’d focus on the action, something that will be worth hanging on to. After all, her Dad gave it to her and that’s a big deal. Then get a nice stock made that really fits. Barrels are just consumables and can be changed, along with the chambering.

Something in .25-06 to get her started. Lots of those rifles down here. It's got a lotta reach and will drop elk, moose, and deer.

Maybe not as much reach as the .257 WBY, but you'll avoid the expense of buying or reloading for the Weatherby cartridge.

You've received good advice so far, and there are a couple of additional factors to consider.

A lighter rifle is a must, both for carrying and holding. Fortunately, many mid-entry level rifles are now on the light side. For example, the Winchester XPR is coming out this year with a 6.8 Western. It is basically a 270 WSM with an 8" twist. It would be excellent even for elk or deer out at 300-400 yards. Disclaimer: I went through the same process a few years ago for our grandkids. I choose a Kimber Hunter in 308 that is UNDER 7lbs with scope attached. After tinkering, we have a good load with 162gn Absolute Hammers, 46.3 gn H4895, R95M primer, Starline cases, 2895 fps. See pic.




However, the Kimber in 308 might be a tad jumpy in recoil for a beginner. It she has already taken deer, then even a 308 would work. However, keeping with your wishes I would recommend the 6.8Western, 270Win, 7-08, in that order.

Another old-time favorite with lady hunters is the 257 Roberts. Delightful recoil and now available in the Kimber Hunter series. But the 6.5 Creed and 6.5 PRC would both better the ballistics of "the Bob." Which brings me back to 6.8Western, 270Win, 7-08, in that order, because of elk.

Any of those calibers will be fine if they are introduced correctly. It doesn’t matter if you are a young girl or a grown man, you get hurt shooting (especially on the range from the bench) you will start flinching and that is hard for many to recover from.

My wife is a small woman that had never hunted or shot a firearm. She told me she wanted to hunt with me out of the blue one day. I started her with a .243 Mossberg that had removable spacers in the stock. When practicing, I made sure she was always in a good shooting position as to not get kicked hard, pinched or become a member of the “Half Moon Club”. Even then, I had her practice with a .22/.22WMR most of the time. One day she didn’t have her rifle so I let shoot a deer with a 30-06 I was carrying. I asked did it kick afterwards. Her response was the typical “I didn’t feel anything”. Now she shoots anything I hand her up to 375 H&H. However, she mostly practices with 22/22WMR and Remington Low Recoil 30-06 ammo.

In my experience, Leupold scopes give a rifle a more “universal fit” and a bit safer for women due to their longer than normal eye relief. I have rifles with scopes from Trijicon, Swarovski, Zeiss, Kahles and Leupold. She can take up a proper sight picture with any of my rifles that have a Leupold scope.

Why the Mossberg rifle initially? I didn’t have any small calibers at the time and did not want to spend money on something that might have been a one time experience that she didn’t want to repeat. She now has a Merkel K1 in 7x57R and a Rigby in 275; both rifles she asked for and loves. They both have Swarovski scopes but the rifles are fitted to her. She swears neither rifle kicks.

This is my experience and in summary, don’t let a new shooter/hunter get hurt shooting and when its time to buy, buy them what they like.

Safe shooting......Larry

SFRanger,

excellent advice.

A little PS: My wife's 270Win and 375Ruger both have Nikon scopes on them with 5"-eye-relief at all powers. She took her first deer at 70.