Wife is getting into hunting and was debating on which gun to buy her I have the option to buy a Remington 700 6.5 Creedmoor or a Remington model 7 in a 7-08 both are price the same I reload and have a lot of 7mm Bullets but I also have 160- 147gr eld match factory rounds for the 6.5
Which one would you all recommend and why
Is your wife a typical stature women or a Amazonian? If she is like my wife she is under 5 foot 5 inches and grew up hunting with a shotgun. So I would go with a Remington Model 7 because they can be had in insanely light configurations over the years in wood or in synthetic. The Model 7 currently comes in 7-08 I think. Prior to Ultra Light Arms and Colt Buying the rights to it the Model 7 was problem the first mainstream mass produced "Mountain Rifle". Sure you can put a pencil thin barrel on a Mauser and a light weight stock but it is hard to intelligently take metal out of an action it is better just to start lighter!
On the light weight side of things the Rugger American is light weight and can be had in 6.5 Creedmore and 7-08. My oldest son traded me his M48 for my Ruger AMerican in 243 along with a Wilson 7mm #4 barrel. So it will soon be wearing a 7mm-08 barrel.
The Ruger American Compact "girl friendly" is also available in 7-08 and in "Muddy Girl Camouflage".
6 of one and half a dozen of the other! LOl The 7-08 has more potential for a reloader and you can choose cheaper brass for 7-08 but Creedmoor you are pretty much locked into fairly expensive brass or really expensive brass. If I was going to get into a 6.5 for hunting it would be Remington 260 not the 6.5x47 or 6.5-284 especialy if I am looking at a small stature young boy or your average women. The 7x57 Mauser which is what the 7-08 was meant to replicate here in America is a prolific hunting cartridge. I have not played around witht he Creedmoor but to be honest is does not do anything for me on paper too many cartridges that are more readily available at a Walmart or KMart near you that have cheaper brass and more flexible from reduced power loads up to far higher than SAAMI in CPI approved formats etc....
Looking at what the 6.5 Creedmoor was designed to do it makes sense as does the 6.5x47 but when you take those cartridges outside of their intended uses they quickly seem rather stupid to be Frank. If you are going to get a Remington why get it in 6.5 Creedmore you might as well make use of the added weight.
If it for deer and antelope sized game a 243 is ideal and has been used by children and women especially! If you stalk in close the 243 can be used on Elk although not my first choice by far. If you move up to 7-08 You can take some fairly long shots on Elk, Caribou, Mouse,Deer, Black Bear etc.... think of it as better than 308 Win down range but not as good as a 30-06 with less recoil than the 308 Win. For a light weight Mountain Rifle for a man it is not an impressive cartridge to cartridge snobs but it is an all around fantastic compromise doing a lot of things really well!
Now if we were considering the cheap brass Remington 260 for hunting I would give it a slight edge over the 7-08 only because so many companies make really good bullets in 6.5mm due to the popularity with target shooters! I think bullet variety for what is essentially the same parent case slightly favors the 6.5mm. We have to keep in mind that prob. half of all bullets will be lighter than you want to use or heavier than the parent case has powder capacity to throw with enough speed with them being meant for various maganum class 6.5mm or 7mm cases.
Ultimately it really wont matter outside of weight and recoil. In the hands of a reloader either will do fine I am sure!
