Daughter wants a new (smaller and lighter) rifle....

[MOTORSPORTS55]

 

[30BR]

Right now CDNN has a remington model 7 predator in .243 for under $500. It is a camo gun with a fluted barrel. The .243 will be enough gun for any deer or hog she will ever shoot. There are plenty of good bullets (95 grain ballistic tip, 85 grain sierra, 85 or 100 grain barnes, or 80 - 100 grain partition) available to suit any game she will be after and finding an accurate load is typically not all that difficult. Factory ammo is readily available as well and recoil is pretty minimal. The model 7 is a smaller rifle so it may fit her better than a "full sized" rifle as well.

They also show a Winchester 70 XPR Compact in 308 that comes in under 7lbs WITH scope, and less than $300 after rebate...

 

[Buzzsaw]

some great suggestions here, so ill add my 28 year old daughters favorite

Browning X bolt Micro Midas. 7mm 08. hornady custom lite ammo. its a one shot wonder on deer and Axis. pretty gun with a great trigger 1 moa groups. leupold 6.5-20x40 scope

 

[Specialized]

Another vote for the Tikka T3x Lite. Super lightweight, super accurate, very reasonably priced, and available in some great calibers. One of mine is .260 Rem, it's my favorite deer rifle. Shoots just under .5" groups at 100 yards. Good luck in your search for rifles & whitetails!

 

[Cold Trigger Finger]

My recommendation,
Kimber Adirondack in 6.5 Creedmoor.
With a 120 gr TTSX BT @ 2750 fps
It is mild in the recoil and not bad for muzzle blast.
Excellent killer.
So light and handy , you can't help but want to hunt it!!!
Just an absolutely delightful carbine.

 

[spinal tap]

My wife adopted my Tikka T3 Lite in .308 as her own and she likes the Hornady Custom Lite 125gr loads for whitetail. I don't think you could go wrong with 7mm-08, 6.5 CM or other similar cartridges.

 

[Cold Trigger Finger]

A few years ago I was back east for a funeral. I got bored after several days of visiting and wanted to shoot my bil's model 94 30/30.
With 150 gr Rem factory ammo,
I was surprised at how much recoil it had. I would NOT recommend it for my wife to shoot. Honestly, it hopped around as much as my wife's M77 Mk2 Compact in 308 with a 150 gr bullet @ 2700 fps.
And they weigh nearly the same.

I was going to point you towards a 6.5 creedmoor until you said that most shots are under 100yds. I know this is blasphemy on the long range hunting forum, but why not get her a Winchester 94 30-30? They are light, thin and feel good in the hand. The 30-30 is a light recoiling round and for your ranges more than adequate. If you want a newer more high-tech cartridge I think a 6.5grendel would be amazing

 

[Toolhand]

I will also second the browning x bolt micro Midas in 7mm08. My buddies 13 year old daughter has killed deer with this exact gun out to 250 yards. It's a really nice looking gun but also shoots and functions really well.

 

[sceeder]

Background. My grown daughter is an avid hunter (for someone who works, is a full time student, etc.). So I guess you can say, she goes hunting when she can. She has taken a whitetail buck a few years back with her rifle, shot under one a couple of years back with her brother's rifle. Wants to kill a hog, you get the picture.

I bought her a Savage Hog Hunter in .308 about 5 years ago or so. She is shooting full power ammo (my reloads) and recoil is not an issue but the Savage has a pretty thick barrel and some heft to it which mitigates the recoil somewhat. But she commented on this past weekend's hunt that she would like a lighter rifle. I just weighed the Savage and with scope (Bushnell 1-5x32), Ken Farrall 1" rings, Griffin can (the SS baffle and Aluminum can), sling, cheek pad and 5 rounds of .308 weighs in a shade over 10lbs. I'm guessing stripped it's an 8lb rifle.

She doesn't care for the AR platform, she likes bolt guns. Finding a lighter rifle is not a problem but finding one with enough punch without a substantial increase in recoil.

I've shot some kid sized, lightweight .243 rifles that had a pretty good kick. And the single shot rifles are out. Even though I've taken a pretty good sized buck with an AR in 5.56, I think she needs more than that.

So, I'm thinking about one of the rifles chambered in 7.62x39. Most of our shots are limited to 70-80 yards at most. But a 150-200 yard shot could come up occasionally. Her first dear was a 120 yards. We live in the southeast and there's not many opportunities for long range shots.

I've looked at the Ruger Ranch, the Howa, the Zastava and the CZ. Only the Ruger and Howa are threaded.

But then I saw that they all are also chambered in a 6.5 Grendel.

And there's the option to rebarrel the Savage but I'm not leaning in that direction because when I buy her a new rifle, Pops gets the Savage.

So what do you guys think? Thanks.

Look at the Weatherby
MARK V® SUBALPINE
It weighs in at 5 1/2 lbs for short action and 6lbs for large action. It comes in several calibers and is a pretty good looking rifle.

 

[Crockett12]

The first thing to decide is what caliber to buy. She may not have any issue with recoil shooting a .308 in a 10 pound rifle but may have serious issues shooting the .308 in a 7 pound rifle! With today's choices, you can find sub 6 pound rifles, which she'd probably really like but once you put a scope on it and load the magazine it'll probably end up at 7 pounds or nearly so depending on caliber and the weight of the scope and rings.
The second thing to consider -- if she doesn't hand load, I be looking at calibers she can readily find on the store shelves wherever she might hunt. A .308 is common but going to a lighter rifle, I'd be inclined to encourage her to go for a lighter recoiling caliber.
Considering availability of ammo on store shelves and lighter recoil, I'd be looking at the wildly popular 6.5 Creedmoor but she also couldn't go wrong with the 7mm-08. Both are better choices than the 243 Winchester if she's ever to hunt larger game than deer. Finding 6.5 Grendel ammo on store shelves might be a problem in many areas of the country!
Then looking at rifles that also come with a threaded barrel will narrow the choice down quite a bit.
Considering all the above – that points to the Kimber Mountain Ascent which is listed at 4lb 13 oz. It comes with a muzzle brake and thread protector which means the barrel is threaded. Muzzle brakes are loud and after having a rifle with a muzzle brake myself – I wouldn't hunt with one! A brake is good for shooting off the bench (with ear protection) but few people wear ear protection in the field. Shooting a rifle with a muzzle break without ear protection can be painful and dangerous to future hearing – so if you go with the Kimber and don't put a 'can' on it -- make sure she hunts with the thread protector on it instead.
Then look at the weight of the scope and scope rings. Kimber offers a Talley 1" base/ring combination which are lightweight and make a good combo.
Then look at the scope! Leupold 1 inch scopes tend to be lighter in weight than most other scope brands and have the best warranty in the business. The Leupold 2.5x8 Vari-X3 is an ideal scope to put on a lightweight rifle and the Tally/Leupold would make a lightweight scope/mount conbo!
If she were my daughter -- I'd buy her the Kimber Mountain Ascent in 6.5 Creedmoor with Tally mounts and the Leupold 2.5x8 Vari-X3 scope. It would be a very sweet, lightweight, quality hunting rifle set-up!
If you did that, you might change your mind about wanting the Savage .308 for yourself and want her rifle instead!

 

[rugers]

Perhaps the 6.5 x 55 would fit the bill

 

[TJAY]

All good choices but the best is to take her to a gunstore to handle a bunch and pick what she likes. As for what round to pick anything from a 243 to 308 will take anything she is likely to hunt.
After all it is her gun.

 

[Sirrated]

Look at the Weatherby
MARK V® SUBALPINE
It weighs in at 5 1/2 lbs for short action and 6lbs for large action. It comes in several calibers and is a pretty good looking rifle.

 

[Sirrated]

Now you're talking.My two daughters always go for a Weatherby Light-wieght that sits in our cabinet.Its just a standard 243, but its taken hundreds of goats,pigs, and some quite large Red deer.If you wanted to go even lighter,you could always put a carbon wrapped barrel on it.