Thread: Firearms for women

Good point... i would love a good quality but not ridiculous a ope... i popped in to gun city a while back to just because I had time to kill ... the guy was trying to get me to go with 2k scopes! No thanks buddy. I have heard of girls from the deerstalkers im a part of get totally taken by some of these salesmen

Originally Posted by AlwaysLearning

Good point... i would love a good quality but not ridiculous a ope... i popped in to gun city a while back to just because I had time to kill ... the guy was trying to get me to go with 2k scopes! No thanks buddy. I have heard of girls from the deerstalkers im a part of get totally taken by some of these salesmen

Quality does make a lot of difference, but you don't need to spend 2k. For somewhere between $500-1000 new, you will be able to get something that works as well as it needs to. Second hand is a good option too, good scopes don't really wear out as such apart from scratched lenses, they either get superseded by better tech or stop working.

I personnaly gravitate toward Leupold and Burris, because I have used these and they are proven to me, I am sure there are other good brands out there, but I don't need to muck around to find out for certain.

.243 is always on my mind. And old mate uses only that... im just concerned if I need to drop a deer with that my shot placement i would assume needs to be spot on... as a beginner, what if I'm not that good. K don't want to injure and not kill anything. That's why I thought a .308 would do the job even if I'm slightly off... I know my big stag I shot was a bit off, but he dropped within 20 to 30meters. If I had a .243 would that have happened? He was so good 70m away. Im just concerned I won't have the skills.

Originally Posted by AlwaysLearning

.243 is always on my mind. And old mate uses only that... im just concerned if I need to drop a deer with that my shot placement i would assume needs to be spot on... as a beginner, what if I'm not that good. K don't want to injure and not kill anything. That's why I thought a .308 would do the job even if I'm slightly off... I know my big stag I shot was a bit off, but he dropped within 20 to 30meters. If I had a .243 would that have happened? He was so good 70m away. Im just concerned I won't have the skills.

First a bit of background context, it’s a bit dry but it’s helpful to understand. In modern hunting firearms there are four main families of cartridges in the following order with examples.

Belted magnums - .300win Mag, 7mm Rem Mag etc

Long action - .270, 30-06 6.5x55 etc

Short action - .308, 7mm08, .243, 6.5 Creedmore

Micro action - .223, 7.62x39, 6.5 Grendel, .300 Blackout

Belted magnums and Long action share the same action length. Some long action firearms (eg Tikka) chamber all cartridges in the same action length. Short action rifles are slightly shorter (all other things being equal) and micro length actions (such as Howa mini and CZ527) are shorter again.
Some cartridges work better with shorter barrels than others.

The smallest factory rifles with the largest chamberings would be the Remington Model Seven (.308) and the Howa Superlight (.308).

A small rifle in a large caliber will have more kick than a larger rifle in the same caliber. Flinch inducing recoil is one of the greatest enemies of accuracy for new shooters.
An accurately placed .243 projectile will drop a deer better than a poorly placed .308, but flinch is not the only thing that compromises accuracy.

If you were comfortable shooting the .308 you used, by all means, stick with it, I use one myself and it’s great, but in smaller lighter rifles they can kick so just consider whether that is a factor for you.

The fact is though, most of the time, increased power won’t make up for the difference in lack of skill, the proper way to fix that issue is practice at the range using field positions and when you are lined up on an animal, use restraint if your skills aren’t up to the shot.

Originally Posted by longshot

First a bit of background context, it’s a bit dry but it’s helpful to understand. In modern hunting firearms there are four main families of cartridges in the following order with examples.

Belted magnums - .300win Mag, 7mm Rem Mag etc

Long action - .270, 30-06 6.5x55 etc

Short action - .308, 7mm08, .243, 6.5 Creedmore

Micro action - .223, 7.62x39, 6.5 Grendel, .300 Blackout

Belted magnums and Long action share the same action length. Some long action firearms (eg Tikka) chamber all cartridges in the same action length. Short action rifles are slightly shorter (all other things being equal) and micro length actions (such as Howa mini and CZ527) are shorter again.
Some cartridges work better with shorter barrels than others.

The smallest factory rifles with the largest chamberings would be the Remington Model Seven (.308) and the Howa Superlight (.308).

A small rifle in a large caliber will have more kick than a larger rifle in the same caliber. Flinch inducing recoil is one of the greatest enemies of accuracy for new shooters.
An accurately placed .243 projectile will drop a deer better than a poorly placed .308, but flinch is not the only thing that compromises accuracy.

If you were comfortable shooting the .308 you used, by all means, stick with it, I use one myself and it’s great, but in smaller lighter rifles they can kick so just consider whether that is a factor for you.

The fact is though, most of the time, increased power won’t make up for the difference in lack of skill, the proper way to fix that issue is practice at the range using field positions and when you are lined up on an animal, use restraint if your skills aren’t up to the shot.

That is a really great summary! Thankyou!
I plan to hit the range for sure before I ever head out with my new rifle. Now I have so many more options to look at which is so helpful! Im definitely someone who doesn't take shots. I've held back from many I wasn't comfortable with. Cause I was always told, you can't take that bullet back!

Originally Posted by AlwaysLearning

.243 is always on my mind. And old mate uses only that... im just concerned if I need to drop a deer with that my shot placement i would assume needs to be spot on... as a beginner, what if I'm not that good. K don't want to injure and not kill anything. That's why I thought a .308 would do the job even if I'm slightly off... I know my big stag I shot was a bit off, but he dropped within 20 to 30meters. If I had a .243 would that have happened? He was so good 70m away. Im just concerned I won't have the skills.

Smack them shoulder bones for best effect.you can't drive anywhere with fooked front wheels.

Also as others have said I would also recommend a suppressor, DPT ones are good

Takes a lot of the kick out of it

OK so to note most women are significantly smaller on average I see 308 suggested quite a few times. Women on average are around 20% lighter equivalent recoil to a 308 is about a 6.5 creedmoor. It's vastly more important to consider optimizing efficiency of the bullet to maximize the downgraded performance for the least cost (ie recoil). I would only suggest a 6.5 or less Ideally a 22 or 6mm chambering. There are almost no bad options but the larger the calibre the more case it needs. Ie a 6.5 Grendel will almost universally work worse than a 6 arc due to the fact bullets need velocity to expand and the Grendel is lacking in downrange velocity due to a less optimum bullet choice.

Also I see kimber mentioned and I am a fan personally. They are not a great women's rifle even in 6.5 Creed as a 6 pound creedmoor recoils more than an 8 pound 308. I found the 308 and 7mm08 in the kimbers to have a negative effect on in the field accuracy. I could shoot them but it took way more time and energy and simply didn't work as well in the field. I put a brake on my 6.5 creed kimber and that made the rifle very shootable again (but brakes suck). I have one being rebarreled in 22 creedmoor purely to minimize the recoil and maximize performance achievable out of the light kimber action whilst remaining as shootable as possible. My missus hated shooting the kimbers even the braked one as even though recoil was manageable the concussion sucked.

Kimber hunter or montana, stocks feel short to most people

If budget is a constraint, the Howa's offer good value for money, and can be found a pretty reasonable prices 2nd hand. Fore-end can be stabilised with some epoxy or similar if that is a concern.

Are you left or right handed. My wife has the following, t3 223, savage 7 08, ph 243 and a krico 22h and wingmaster 12g plus a couple of 22lr

Lucky lady! I'm right handed

Originally Posted by AlwaysLearning

Lucky lady! I'm right handed

If you are lucky there might be a youth's option in the lines you are looking at - this gives a shorter butt length which could fit better. But for my observation, there's a couple of things for slighter built ladies in shooting - first is the trigger pull length (used to be with your arm bent 90 deg at the elbow, and the butt against your forearm the trigger finger should sit nicely on the trigger). For ladies, they often feel the cold and end up wearing bulkier/warmer clothing so could go to a shorter butt over the old measure trick to allow for this. The other is often (but not always) ladies will have a longer neck relative to a male shooter, meaning they can find a stock that has more drop more comfortable as they aren't trying to crane their head down and over. I think a lot of the youth stocks tend to be straighter in the comb.

I don't think it's a male/female thing, more related to height and weight. If you're very small, then obviously you will need a shorter stock and may be a bit more recoil intolerant. I don't have a specific suggestion for a rifle, but something adjustable would be an option. As for calibre, .308 is the standard answer, but .243 is capable as are the 6.5mm cartridges with much less recoil. A suppressor makes a big difference, so budget for that and no, you don't need to spend $2K on a scope*.



*depending on what distances you are planning to shoot.

Unless you are particularly short or have short arms, you might not need a "ladies" rifle.
My wife is about 165-170cm tall and she can shoot my rifles just fine.

If budget constrained Howa is a good option, lots of used ones on TradeMe for cheap and there is a youth stock available if the LOP (length of pull) is too long.
I'd spend less money on the rifle and more money on the scope, and I'd be looking to by used.

As for cartridge, 243 or 6mm Creedmoor is a good option, or even 6 ARC if you get a Howa Mini.
With good shot placement a 6mm bullet is more than enough, and a big cartridge in a lightweight rifle will be more likely to give you a flinch which will not be good for shot placement.