Junior sized Rifle for my girlfriend

EddieWalker · Oct 9, 2013

Karen has been learning to shoot and wants her own rifle. Right now she is shooting my 22-250 with a bull barrel. It's a heavy rifle and too big for her. It's also too light of a caliber to hunt with, but she has killed one hog with it so far at 150 yards.

We went to a Cabela's together and looked at different rifles. The youth models fit her the best. We looked at Browning and Savage. I have a Browning A bolt that I like a lot, but they only had the new X bolt, which didn't impress me too much. The sales guy recommended Savage and she really liked it the best. I was impressed with the smoothness of the bolt, but I don't know anything about Savage. What other rifle manufacturers do you suggest?

We are considering are the 7mm-08 because of it's 140 grain bullet size, short action and availability of ammo. What other calibers would you suggest for a girl to shoot that will kill hogs effectively out to 200 yards or more?

Thank you,
Eddie

k0ua · Oct 9, 2013

In my opinion you have already found her rifle in the Savage. Savage has been around for over 100 years, They are noted for making accurate rifles with good triggers, at a good price point. There is a model targeted to female and small stature shooters with reduced length of pull. I think the 7mm-08 would serve her well.

James K0UA

MossRoad · Oct 9, 2013

Remington® Model 700™ CDL .30-06 SPG Rifle | Bass Pro Shops

dmccarty · Oct 9, 2013

Savage has gotten a good reputation for accuracy and the Remington 700 has been around for many moons.

Buy one that shoots 308 Winchester.

Later,
Dan

kf4uda · Oct 9, 2013

I am a Savage fan as well. I have the Savage Predator in .22-250 and really like it. It like your rifle would be too heavy and big for her. Savage does have a youth model rifle which probably be more to her size and weight. It is also available in several calibers including 7mm-08.

Savage Arms

Next, I would suggest a Ruger M77 compact: Ruger® M77® Hawkeye® Compact Bolt-Action Rifle Models

nybirdman · Oct 9, 2013

You answered your own question;Savage youth in 7mm/08.We have two used by our daughter,daughter in law and grandkids.Deadly round.I load premium bullets(Accu-bond 140gr.) and would not be afraid to shoot anything(exclude grizzleys) in North America.Low recoil in a small package.

toddbailey · Oct 9, 2013

Savage makes a fine rifle the acutrigger is IMO the best factory trigger availble and 7mm-08 is great i have killed a dump truck load of deer with it using 140 partitions, 160 accubonds, 140 ballistic tips. My currant load is 140 bt over enough H-4350 to get to 2800 fps it shoots a 1/2" group at 100 yds out of my gun if I do my part. By the way my goto gun is a T/C encore single shot!

RobertN · Oct 9, 2013

Im a Savage fan too. Savage 99... Awesome lever gun. Mdl-99 in 300 Savage would be nice. Or the later ones were available in 243 and 308. They don't make them any more, so it would have to be a used one.

Otherwise, Remington mdl-7 in 7mm-08 or 243 would be nice "junior" size.

Or... buy/build an AR in 30AR or 6.8SPC. I have fired one in 6.8SPC; that was really nice to shoot, and accurate...

Any of those with a compact 1.5-5 Leupold or Nikon would be a nice combo.

nikdfish · Oct 9, 2013

What about an AR platform? With an adjustable stock, length of pull should be a non-issue & they can host most any sight/optic you can find. There are a variety of calibers available that have a good track record with hogs (6.8mm, 300BLK, 6.5mm, etc.) if .223 seems too anemic. The other plus is that your can pretty much configure the overall weight to meet most any requirment.

Nick

ETA: RobertN got it in while I was composing...

bcp · Oct 9, 2013

The 7-08 and the 308 are so close you could never tell the difference in the field by examining what it hit. Their recoils are so close that stock fit and recoil pad style would make more difference than the chambering. I would go with a 308 just because it is so much more common and easy to find.

Remington and Hornady make low recoil loads for common calibers. That would be a good transition load.

http://www.hornady.com/store/308-Win-125-gr-SST-customlite/

http://www.remington.com/en/product-families/ammunition/centerfire-families/managed-recoil.aspx

Bruce