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combatcurt
Well-Known Member
The OP reloads
combatcurt
Well-Known Member
You should pull the trigger for her also and tell her what to shoot and where to aim
I am an old man. I've purchased more than my share of nice rifles and shotguns for the wife and my 4 kids and 7 grandkids. In the process I have screwed up but learned from it. Here is my advice:
Buy her the 243 that she wants and spend more for it than you would spend for yourself (if you can afford it, think Cooper with Fancy Walnut). I think a wife who wants to try hunting with you is worth her weight in solid gold. You need to give her every chance to love it that you can. A 243 is plenty for whitetail on down and she can shoot a 243 all day long and love every second of it. If she likes that and wants to try elk or moose, you can always celebrate that outcome and get her another rifle then.
If she ends up not enjoying hunting with you, it won't be because of the cartridge that she wanted. If you get her something bigger, it might be. But much worse than that, it could also end up being your fault (as almost always happens when you know more than her and decide such things for her.....) Best of all, if she doesn't like it, you will probably inherit the rifle that you bought her and you won't regret having bought her a beauty.....
Choose wisely.
Cheers!
Buy her the 243 that she wants and spend more for it than you would spend for yourself (if you can afford it, think Cooper with Fancy Walnut). I think a wife who wants to try hunting with you is worth her weight in solid gold. You need to give her every chance to love it that you can. A 243 is plenty for whitetail on down and she can shoot a 243 all day long and love every second of it. If she likes that and wants to try elk or moose, you can always celebrate that outcome and get her another rifle then.
If she ends up not enjoying hunting with you, it won't be because of the cartridge that she wanted. If you get her something bigger, it might be. But much worse than that, it could also end up being your fault (as almost always happens when you know more than her and decide such things for her.....) Best of all, if she doesn't like it, you will probably inherit the rifle that you bought her and you won't regret having bought her a beauty.....
Choose wisely.
Cheers!
I don't have any experience with a 7-08, but I just picked up a Creedmoor. I bought the cheapest Tikka at Cabelas when it was on sale for about $560. I picked up some Hornady prescision hunter for about $30 a box with the 143 grain ELDX bullets. I was able to shoot consists t .5-.75 minute groups at about 2650 FPS with that ammo. I just shot a muley at 200 yards on Saturday with the rifle. Went in right behind the right shoulder, into the left shoulder, breaking the bone and found the bullet under the skin. The bullet looked perfect and seemed to retain the majority of its weight. I plan on putting a brake on the rifle so my wife will want to practice with it.
Good luck.
Good luck.
Feugo Jeuvo
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2014
- Messages
- 71
Learned a lesson on this awhile back. My only advice is to make the whole process "fun"! Buy her what she wants but be practical. If the 243 doesn't work you can always grab another gun! Btw... Can't go wrong with either.
Orange Dust
Well-Known Member
Years ago, my wife started deer hunting with me. Since I have raised two daughters who both became fine hunters. Expect some less than perfect hits from any new hunter. Like it or not the disappointment level from them losing an animal will make you work harder to recover it than you will want to endure. I've been on enough .243 blood trails that I can assure you, you will hate the gun no matter how much she loves it. I soon found the error of my ways. One daughter started shooting a .308 with a break and the other with a 7-08, also with a break. Wife shoots a 7 Mag now. We have not needed a posse to recover an animal since. I would humbly suggest the 7-08. Add a break and she will easily put the bullets where they need to go. The animals will go down quickly, and life will be good, and you will be even happier than her. Tried everything, and if Deer are the target, 139gr SST's are the bomb. Literally.
I would go for the 6.5, i bought both of my boys 9 & 12 Kimber Hunters this summer for there birthdays and they love shooting them. You can load them down to have less recoil than the .243 and still be capable of killing game. My 12yr old is shooting Berger OTM 130's and my 9yr old is shooting 123gr Barnes bullets. I have them both shooting reduced recoil loads and they will shoot as much as i let them. I will also have them hunt with the reduced recoil loads for them for deer this year for both boys and elk for my 12yr old.
I personally have killed more elk with a .243 growing up than any other rifle i owned, I pretty much only archery hunt elk now but have killed a few late season cows with my 280AI. I think shooting lots and learning good habits or at minimum not developing a flinch is way more important than shooting the larger caliper. I have shot the 143gr Hornady ammo from there kimbers and it kicks like a mule being a 6lb 2oz rifle all setup. I will slowly work the boys up to stronger loads as they get older but until then i am 100% confident that their rifles will perform well enough to kill whatever we are hunting as long as we keep range in mind.
Also not sure what you are looking for for a rifle but the kimber hunters topped with talleys and a VXII 3-9 make a pretty sweet lightweight package that is almost a joy to pack around.
I personally have killed more elk with a .243 growing up than any other rifle i owned, I pretty much only archery hunt elk now but have killed a few late season cows with my 280AI. I think shooting lots and learning good habits or at minimum not developing a flinch is way more important than shooting the larger caliper. I have shot the 143gr Hornady ammo from there kimbers and it kicks like a mule being a 6lb 2oz rifle all setup. I will slowly work the boys up to stronger loads as they get older but until then i am 100% confident that their rifles will perform well enough to kill whatever we are hunting as long as we keep range in mind.
Also not sure what you are looking for for a rifle but the kimber hunters topped with talleys and a VXII 3-9 make a pretty sweet lightweight package that is almost a joy to pack around.
bbraden
Well-Known Member
I've never been impressed with 6.5 or 7mm "hunting bullet" selection for young or beginner shooters. Both calibers got caught up in the long range game which means heavy and lots of drop in the smaller cartridge families like creedmoor and -08. Considering the lightest medium game bullet you can really get in 6.5 or 7mm is 120 gr, I would opt for a .308 with 110 gr Barnes and take the extra velocity (flatter shooting) within 300 yards. That's the way I'm going this deer season. People talk about bullet selection a lot but I still feel like for hunting calibers, 27 & 30 cal take the cake for hunting selection.
zb338
Well-Known Member
I bought my two Grandchildren a 7mm/08 in a Remington youth rifle they both went
to Wyoming (invited to a ranch) and each shot an antelope with the first shot. The 6.5 Creedmoor is an awful nice rifle as well. Sure hard to pic with those two. If your wife is
recoil sensitive then get a .243 it will do everything you need to do.
Zeke
to Wyoming (invited to a ranch) and each shot an antelope with the first shot. The 6.5 Creedmoor is an awful nice rifle as well. Sure hard to pic with those two. If your wife is
recoil sensitive then get a .243 it will do everything you need to do.
Zeke
clownbuster
Well-Known Member
Buy both in identical packages, target/varmint/deer with Creedmoor, elk hunt with the '08. That's exactly what I did with both my little ones and my wife with mine. All nearly identical builds for feel and repeatability in regards to stock, length of pull, weight, trigger and pull weight, scope, rings, eye relief etc. They train with a light load 130gr 6.5 SAUM and unwittingly elk hunt with a 180gr 7mm-300WSM.
Practice with lighter bullets (130gr and under) over lighter loads in the Creedmoor, and hunt with the '08 with 168gr VLD's at max load. You never notice heavy recoil in the heat of the moment when taking a shot on game, neither will she, and daddy gets a couple rifles to play with.
Practice with lighter bullets (130gr and under) over lighter loads in the Creedmoor, and hunt with the '08 with 168gr VLD's at max load. You never notice heavy recoil in the heat of the moment when taking a shot on game, neither will she, and daddy gets a couple rifles to play with.
Orange Dust
Well-Known Member
BTW, One more thing, you didn't ask, but keep the Magnification low and the animals close at first. Success will grant you a life long hunting partner, Failure could make life difficult when you want to hunt. Just saying.
Bang4theBuck
Well-Known Member
I have both calibers, but my 7mm-08 is in a Tikka, and I love it. I feel that either would be a great choice. Fit would be one consideration. The other thing that I think is worth noting is that Hornady makes a great light load for the 7mm-08. I am a diehard reloader, and honestly, I think it would be somewhat challenging to improve on accuracy that I have achieved with the light ammo (.30-.40" ). Ballistically, you don't need extreme velocity at short ranges to get clean kills on deer size animals. When it is time to move out to longer ranges (300+), you simply buy full velocity ammo, or develop a nice hand load. Heavier game, at sorter ranges, develop a 162 class load, and you are good on most medium size game, including elk to 300 or so yards.
I love my 6.5 CM, but my choice for hunting would be the 7mm-08, for reasons stated above. Good luck.
I love my 6.5 CM, but my choice for hunting would be the 7mm-08, for reasons stated above. Good luck.
bbraden
Well-Known Member
It's a **** shame the .27-08 never took off. That'd be right in-between!
