Junior sized Rifle for my girlfriend

[k0ua]

I never moved up to a Progressive press but I came really close to pulling the trigger on a Dillon. But using the Rockshucker was zenlike. I ran out of time to shoot matches so I have not made any ammo in awhile and I miss the process.

Later,
Dan

Dan, I have had a Dillon RL550B for many years, and it has done nothing but churn out great ammo by the tens of thousands.

 

[MossRoad]

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Thank you to everyone for your advice. It's always amazing how I can always learn something new from TBN and start out thinking one thing, and in the end, buying something totally different.

It's a two hour drive to the Cabela's in Allen TX, but after a dozen or so phone calls, they where the only ones that I could find that sold the Remington 700 SPS Compact rifle in 7mm-08. They also had quite a few other calibers and brands to look at. I don't think there is any real world, shooting, hunting difference between the 7mm-08 and the .308, but there are very few .308's in youth model rifles. I would have gone either way, but when calling the stores, it became obvious that the .308 wasn't very likely.

Cabela's was different then any of the other gun stores that I've ever been to. They had hundreds of guns out on racks where you could just pick up and handle anything you wanted. They had trigger locks on them and the bolts where tied down so you couldn't work the actions without assistance, but otherwise, we where on our own to look through and handle all of them. Once we found the Remington, she fell in love with it and nothing compared. It was almost the most expensive at $599 one there, but for something that she will have and use the rest of her life, not a deal breaker. We got to thinking that the cheaper models in youth rifle are mostly for kids, so it makes sense to make them as cheap as possible and in .243 or .223. Those are the most common calibers there. The kid uses it for a few years and then they move up to a full sized rifle. For Karen, she isn't ever going to need or want a larger sized rifle, so getting her the best quality was worth spending a little more for.

Not to bash the other brands, but there was a significant difference comparing them. The Remington made her very happy!!!!

The paperwork took half an hour, and we walked out the door with the rifle less then two hours after we walked in the door. While waiting on the paperwork, we went shopping. There was a good selection of ammo with prices ranging from $19 a box to $39. I bought a box of the Winchester Super X and a box of the cheap stuff to get me on paper. We found Leopold bases for half off in the bargain cave for her rifle, but then had to get the rings for full price off the shelf. My favorite sling is the Gator Sling, and she liked it the best compared to the others that they had there. It just sticks to your shoulder when walking through the woods better then anything else I've ever come across.

I already have a decent Redfield five star scope that I used for decades on my rifle that she will use for now. We'll probably upgrade it in the future to something she likes better, but that's not a priority right now.

I'll update on how it shoots once we've run some ammo through it.

Thank you,
Eddie

Another satisfied customer! :laughing: Congratulations. :thumbsup:

 

[RobertBrown]

I happen to have a model 700 mountain rifle in 7-08 .....stainless steel, laminated stock. It likes the 139 grain Hornady xtp. Not really a tack driver with factory ammo but you can't expect that with a rifle that is 6lbs out of the box. I suggest you let the barrell cool down in between rounds. The light barrell will distort somewhat as it gets hot. If not, you will be chasing the bulls eye all day. You won't be doing any killing with a hot barrell anyway.

 

[Bigfoot62]

Cranking them out with a good progressive press is like therapy. Just clunk, clunk, clunk as they fall in the collection box.. yeah!

I know what you mean.

I have a MEC progressive shotshell press for my Skeet loads. I also have a Dillon for the pistol ammo. But, when I'm reloading the hunting rifle rounds, I use the RockChucker. I'm a bit OCD when I'm loading stuff like .300 Win Mag. But, I think it pays off. I still have both eyes and all my fingers!

 

[westcliffe01]

Too Late, but I was going to suggest 6.5x55. Excellent bullets available in that caliber and probably less recoil than even the 7mm08.

Eddie, with the right mentor, you may change your mind about reloading. Its not about having an ammo factory, as much as being able to fine tune all the details of a load until it suits your rifle perfectly. If I didn't reload, my group sizes would probably be 3-8x larger.

This was the confirmation group I shot after load development, then reloading a batch of this ammo and finally taking some of the batch out and verifying that I had not "messed up".

100 yards.

 

[EddieWalker]

Very nice group.

Eddie

 

[CurlyDave]

Here's a good table that shows the different recoil by caliber.

Aquila Recoil Table

I would not put much faith in that table. Without even cracking a book, I can see enormous errors in it.

For instance compare .22-250 REM vs. .220 SWIFT, the line just below it. Even if I accept higher muzzle velocity for the .22-250, which is very dubious, at 200 yards the Swift is 700 fps faster then the .22-250 for the very same bullet weight, after starting out slower according to the table.

Then look at the energy at 200 yards. The .22-250 is the same bullet weight as the Swift, 50 grains, but is listed at almost twice the energy despite being slower at this range. This is clearly wrong.

Possibly some numbers are right, but until I see a lot of backup for the numbers in the table, it looks like fiction to me.

 

[Deerherd]

Here's another table you may like better. Most people aren't concerned with recoil from 22 centerfire rifles anyway.

Rifle Recoil Table

 

[EddieWalker]

Success!!! Karen broke in her rifle this morning with it's first kill. She has shot one hog already, but that was with my .22-250 back before deer season. Today she made a 150 yard shot at a nice wild boar that is well over 200 pounds with two inch tusks. The 7mm-08 is an excellent caliber and it did a great job on a clean kill. She also said that the rifle was a perfect fit that felt very natural to her.

Again, thank you to everyone who helped us in our process of finding her the right rifle and caliber.



Eddie

 

[k0ua]

Success!!! Karen broke in her rifle this morning with it's first kill. She has shot one hog already, but that was with my .22-250 back before deer season. Today she made a 150 yard shot at a nice wild boar that is well over 200 pounds with two inch tusks. The 7mm-08 is an excellent caliber and it did a great job on a clean kill. She also said that the rifle was a perfect fit that felt very natural to her.

Again, thank you to everyone who helped us in our process of finding her the right rifle and caliber.

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Eddie

Congratulations :thumbsup: