Junior sized Rifle for my girlfriend

[nybirdman]

The Remington pump(in 30/06) is the official "woods rifle"of choice in the North-East.Walking hunters gun,very light,handy and points well.On the other hand it kicks like a mule in 30/06 and not the choice for younger inexperienced hunters.It's just the design of the gun,I don't think lesser calibers would help much(if you could find one).I don't enjoy shooting it a all and I am not recoil sensitive.I own a 30/06 bolt action and a.444 Marlin lever and much prefer them to the Rem.pump.

 

[Gator6x4]

My vote is for the Savage. The Remington scares me with the trigger problem, sometimes when you close the bolt the weapon will fire. Some have reported taking the safety off will also cause the weapon to fire.

Remington Model 700 trigger/misfire issues | Outdoor Life

 

[EddieWalker]

Right now I'm leaning towards the .308. We haven't decided on a brand yet, but I'm leaning towards a regular sized rifle and getting a smaller stock for her. I like Hogue, so that's what I'm hoping to find for whatever rifle we end up with. I also want a good trigger. Savage has the Accutrigger that I've been reading about that seems pretty good. The trigger on my Browning A bolt is also very nice, so I'm hoping the X bolt is as nice if we go with Browning. My Remington 700 BDL came with a crappy trigger, but I replaced it with a Timney trigger that I like a lot!!!! What I'm hoping for is to find a rifle with everything already in it and not needing any changes.

One of the things that I'm really hesitant on with the youth model rifles is the smaller barrel length. I'm a big believer that longer is better, so for the rifle that she will have to hunt with the rest of her life, I want it to be up to the task for here, but also able to take a Mule deer in the mountains or a pronghorn out in the plains.

I've never heard of or tried Managed Recoil ammunition, but from what I've been told and read, it might be the way to go. With less recoil, she should be able to get used to the rifle and then work her way up to more powerful ammo if we go out of state to hunt in the future.

Eddie

 

[Deerherd]

As far as barrel length goes in the .308, 20" is all you need for most factory type ammo. Here's a good test:

SWAT Article BARREL LENGTH

As far as the most accurate by length, those boys at the Warehouse in Houston swore 21.75" was the magic number, but who needs that kind of accuracy? :thumbsup:

Secrets of the Houston Warehouse

 

[bcp]

For some actual number on a "308 equivalent" rifle.

Effect of Barrel Length on the Muzzle Velocity and Report from a Mosin - Nagant 7.62x54R Rifle
http://honors.usf.edu/documents/Thesis/U82488180.pdf

Bruce

 

[dusty3030]

Right now I'm leaning towards the .308. We haven't decided on a brand yet, but I'm leaning towards a regular sized rifle and getting a smaller stock for her. I like Hogue, so that's what I'm hoping to find for whatever rifle we end up with. I also want a good trigger. Savage has the Accutrigger that I've been reading about that seems pretty good. The trigger on my Browning A bolt is also very nice, so I'm hoping the X bolt is as nice if we go with Browning. My Remington 700 BDL came with a crappy trigger, but I replaced it with a Timney trigger that I like a lot!!!! What I'm hoping for is to find a rifle with everything already in it and not needing any changes.

One of the things that I'm really hesitant on with the youth model rifles is the smaller barrel length. I'm a big believer that longer is better, so for the rifle that she will have to hunt with the rest of her life, I want it to be up to the task for here, but also able to take a Mule deer in the mountains or a pronghorn out in the plains.

I've never heard of or tried Managed Recoil ammunition, but from what I've been told and read, it might be the way to go. With less recoil, she should be able to get used to the rifle and then work her way up to more powerful ammo if we go out of state to hunt in the future.

Eddie

20 or longer is fine. It won't make a hill of beans difference on velocity or muzzle energy between a 20 and a 24. Besides, for a hunting rifle for the 99.9% of us that hunt all that matters is what it does 300yds or less anyway.
Shorter than 20 I would avoid just because the shorter the louder and more flash and awe which can be pretty unpleasant for the shooter, especially in a ground blind or shooting house.

 

[charlz]

Longer barrel can make it a little more unwieldy for a small frame shooter. Shorter barrel is easier to hold up as they don't tend to have their hand as far forward. That is one of the downsides to putting a shorter stock on a 'full-size' rifle.

 

[Gunny]

You might check into the Savage Model 11 Trophy Hunter, Youth version. It has the accu-trigger and comes with a Nikon 3x9 scope. I really, really like the accu-trigger!

 

[EddieWalker]

Gunny, that is the exact model I was looking at online. Price seems really good for what you get, and one that we will look at for sure.

As for the barrel length, I read the links Deerherd posted and think that 20 inches is pretty good. I was surprised that an 18 inch barrel would only reduce muzzle velocity by a such a small amount, so now I'm feeling a lot better about a youth model rifle with a shorter barrel.

Eddie

 

[RobertN]

Interesting, this topic came up when I visited a local gun shop yesterday looking at AR parts. The shop manufactures thier own, complete machine shop etc.

The owner, talking with another customer, said one of the most overlooked cartirdges for youth/junior rifles is 7mm-08. Very accurate, has excellent downrange energy because of great BC's for the bullets it uses. Mild recoil, short action. Just not marketed well.

He also pointed out, in a discussion of AR's and 6.5 or 6.8 calibre, that the velocity drop was not huge between 16 and 18" barrels, especially staying inside 300 yards. Same would apply to 308, 7-08