# so many guns...so little time



## hill_billy_07 (Jan 17, 2007)

my fiancee shot a GREAT buck this past season, with a .223. However the shot did very little damage to the deer, even though it were a neck shot at 22 yards. the deer did not fall for she did not spine it. we did not find the deer until later the next day, in the mean time she had other opprotunities to take deer but would not b/c she said that she did not want to just wound one. so i have now got her talked into getting a bigger caliber but im not sure which one i want to buy her. i take em down with a 30-06 but she is not very big and would like a .30cal with little recoil but plenty of knock down pwr. which one of these would you all choose for yours? 7.62x39 or the .308 (managed recoil shells) :-?


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## biggamehunter69 (Feb 6, 2006)

I have a friend that is about 100 pounds and she has a 270 and loves it because it has lots of power and not alot of recoil. Sh has it in a browning a-bolt


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## Remington 7400 (Dec 14, 2005)

IF your shots are under 100 yards consider a lever carbine in .44 mag, of the 2 rounds you mentioned .308 is the better deer load.


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## southdakbearfan (Oct 11, 2004)

243 loaded with the right bullets, i.e. 100 gr. 257 with 100's, 25-06 backed off a hair with 100's would all be good with minmal recoil. Same could be said for 270 with 130's backed off a bit.


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## goatboy (Dec 29, 2003)

25-06 or a 7mm-08 would work nice for her.


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## Bore.224 (Mar 23, 2005)

Well just to be different I will say keep the .223. What kind of rifle is it? Most likley it has a 1'12 twist in the rifleing. Just look for a bullet in the 55-60 grain weight made with a thicker jacket.

But if you really whant a 30 cal how about the good old 30-30 Winchester! a 336 with a nice 4x scope!!!


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## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

CZ 527 in 7.62x39. I have an Interarms Mini Mark-X in that caliber (it's the same as the new Remington 799, or the Charles Daly Mini-Mausers that were being imported for a while), and mine shoots American Eagle ammo well under an inch. Recoil is non-existant. 7.62x39 is very similar to a 30-30 performance wise.


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## Hardsell (Jan 29, 2007)

In MN it isn't legal to shoot a deer with a .223, so that's pretty cool. I think a .270 would be really good way to go. My mom shoots a .250 Savage in a Ruger lightweight. A .270 in a Winchester ultra light would be a nice little package. You're lucky to have such an intelligent hunting party. Good luck.


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## Danimal (Sep 9, 2005)

If, I were to choose between the two that you mentioned, I'd go for the .308.

If I were to look at other calibers, I would look at the following: .243 .260, 6.5x55, 7mm-08, 30-30, .308, and 45-70 (ok just kidding on the 45-70).

Good luck


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## Goosehisperer (Mar 15, 2006)

Browning A-bolt or remington mountain rifle chambered in 7mm-08 is the absolute deadliest and lightest kicking load you can shoot. Me my father and five of my buddies shoot mixes between brownings and remingtons in this caliber.. Many say this is to light a load for deer but we have whacked some bruiser bucks with this load in the shoulder blades and it just keeps plowing through both shoulders.. No stopping her.. 8)


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## Sin man (Jul 25, 2006)

ive seen alot of people take deer with a 22-250 and 220 swift. those would be a little bit of an upgrade over a 223. 243 works great and very easy to come by. or a 270 or 7mm-08 both are great guns. even at 22 yrds she could be using a pistol or a lever in a 30-30. anyone can shoot a 30-30 and for under 100 yards its a great gun itll drop any size deer out there.


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## Turner (Oct 7, 2005)

Sorry to change the subject, but it sounds like you better teach her to wait for the double lung shot. Or get her to the range and teach her to shoot the rifle she has a little better before anything. 22 yards with a .223 through the lungs would have taken care of that deer with no problem at all. It might have been a great buck, but you owe that buck the respect of waiting to make that good clean kill shot. If it doesn't present it, don't take a chance.
As far as the rifle, .243 or .25-06 would do just fine for her.


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## pheasantfanatic (Jan 20, 2007)

.270 :sniper:


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## tgoldade (Jul 28, 2004)

I would go with the .308 with out a doubt. I honestly dont think you would need to shoot managed recoil rounds though, its a pretty light recoiling round the way it is. Some guns just by stock design are a little harder recoiling than others. For instance Browning for some reason seems to recoil noticable harder in the same cartridge than most other guns, which is due mostly tp stock design. With that said before someone tries to bash me for making that comment, guns that are similar in weight to Brownings. Obviously a heavier gun is going to recoil less. Plus there is always recoil pads.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Your choices are 7.62X39 or 308, so I will stick to the subject. Like Horsager said there is nothing wrong with the 7.62 and recoil is light. Also like Horsager said it is very comparable to the old 30-30. Not at the muzzle, but at 100 yards. It uses bullets with better ballistic coefficient so actually performs better than the 30-30 at longer ranges.
With that said I would still go with the 308 and managed recoil rounds. Simply for the reason that if the recoil doesn't bother her and she wants more energy she can simply upgrade ammo, and not need another rifle. Put a Sims Limbsaverrecoil pad on it and that will reduce felt recoil even better than a Pachmayr Decelerator.


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

257 roberts if all she hunts is deer thats what I've used almost exclusively for 25 years and at least 150 deer. 117 grain bullets almost no recoil, very deadly easily to 300 yards on deer.

308win can kick pretty hard for a smaller person. I have one in a model 77 and my daughters won't use it, and they are adult size women not little kids.


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## farmerj (Jun 19, 2004)

I'd stick with the 6mm groups.

.243, 25.06, 6.5X55, 260 Rem. Any of those would be great.

shot placement would be a good thing to teach and work on also. Anything to the vitals is better than a neck shot I would think.

Imagine the target size difference between the heart lungs vs a spine.


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## seabiscuit (Mar 30, 2007)

Get her a 30-30, low recoil great for deer 100 yards and in. I used my dads 30-30 as a kid, I wasn't but 10-14 years old and about 95-115 lbs. cheap ammo to, my dad has been using his 30-30 since the early 70's and has never had one run more then 30 yards with a good shot (using Winchester super X 150 grain power points) and for only $12 for a box of ammo and about $250 for the marlin 336c for wal-mart it's hard to beat.

V/R
Seabiscuit


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## bwnelson (Oct 29, 2002)

OK ... usual warning applies: A DEER RIFLE IS MORE THAN A CARTRIDGE!

I've cut and pasted my post from the "Deer Rifle for a Lady" thread on 24hourcampfire. This is slightly different as the project has changed a little over the past week or two (as rifle projects are want to do).

We recently dealt with this issue ... here's a short story (no pun intended).

Our 280 addict deer camp is know as The "7mm Express Death Cult", a member of the 7mmEDC Auxillary a/k/a "Doe Campers" started hunting last fall and borrowed the Model 70 Featherweight 6.5x55 that I picked up and set aside for one of my kids (currently very small). Naturally the "Doe Camper" can't be allowed to get too fond of a gun set aside for a kid so we took her gun comparing.

We were able to figure out that she is partial to a 12 7/8 - 13 in LOP and prefers a 20 in barrel on a short action bolt. Discussed her idea of the package and she expressed likes for various features like the slimmer grip of a Mod 7 or Mountain rifle, a good recoil pad (tho the M70 Fwt didn't bother her a bit with 140 gr loads), and wanting to keep the end price in the $600 range inclusive of scope. Ambitious, I know.

Lo and behold I see a Mod 7 Ute 7mm-08 with a 2-7 Vari-X II Leupy in the AR classifieds. Some things are meant to be - heck we only needed to add brass and dies. Only issue is the "Doe Camper" has the good taste to prefer the warmth of wood to tupperware on her rifle handles. So we figured we'll need to find lumber for it and fit it just right.

We found our solution and I stumbled into a brand new CDL stock for a M7 at GPC. Looks like we'll be right at our desired LOP by knocking off the R3 pad and replacing it with a half inch decelerator (IMHO a better looking pad anyway).

[Note - alleged CDL stock was in actuality a satin finished almost coppery toned walnut with checkering, black grip cap schnable forend and a brown pad - the wood grows on you but the gloss scope and rings was out of place on the matte finished rifle. Rifle started looking "just right" when we took off the iron sights and swapped the scope and rights for the matte sightron and rings on the Model 70. Stock is at the 'smith as I type for stock cut to 12 3/8 LOP to the wood plus a 1/2 inch matte black ultra light decelerator. I'll edit to post a picture when done.]

So here we are ... only c note over budget but have a M7 Ute stock to post on classifieds. Have a LA 700 Mountain Rifle stock that I can peddle to cover the difference and what the heck ... tis worth it. [Feel free to discuss via PM]

OK ... anecdote over ... here's what we know.

1. FIT is critical. Good news is most new rifles come "over equipped" with recoil pads. This makes changing LOP relatively easy by picking a shorter recoil pad. Especially when the chambering is mild to begin with.

2. Cartridge doesn't matter all that much, BUT Short actions seem more appropriate with shorter stocks that fit small frames better and work very well with barrels in the 20" range. Makes 243's to 308's logical choices based upon the rifles they fit in ... not recoil or other ballistic reasons.

3. "Life is too short to hunt with an ugly gun" ... x10 this for a woman. Or a woman's gun for that matter ...

4. In picking cartridge we went with something we at least had components for (large supply of 7mm boolits). If you cant interchange cartridges ... may as well keep loading supplies to a manageable variety.

Bottom line: A hunting rifle is more than a cartridge selection. The whole package must fit the user and intended use. This is especially true for new shooters. With women in particular everything must be "right" if everything isn't "right" it is probably "wrong". At deer camp (and life) "if mama ain't happy, nobody gonna be happy".


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