Thread: Firearms for women

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.

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hand is a good option too, good scopes don't really wear out as such apart from scratched lenses, they either get superseded by better tech or stop working.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.

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.

Yep no wheels ,no go.

if you go 243 you might as well get a 308 ( a 243 is a necked down 308)
by going 308, ammo is available everywhere and you can get different loads straight off the shelf.

Originally Posted by gonetropo

if you go 243 you might as well get a 308 ( a 243 is a necked down 308)
by going 308, ammo is available everywhere and you can get different loads straight off the shelf.

I've never used a .308 or .243 but I'd tend to agree with this statement as I've got a 7mm-08 and whenever there was an ammo shortage I had a hard time finding much of a selection.

Originally Posted by No good names left

I've never used a .308 or .243 but I'd tend to agree with this statement as I've got a 7mm-08 and whenever there was an ammo shortage I had a hard time finding much of a selection.

as with 243, a 7-08 is still a necked down 308 case. just like 270 is a necked down 30-06

Bear in mind that other things being equal women tend to be better shots than men.

@AlwaysLearning

To give some more context to the last handful of posts, again it's a bit dry but stick with it.

Throughout the history of firearms, there has been endless iterative attempts to find perfect calibers, this has resulted for better or worse in a selection exponentially bigger than what would be needed to cover all situations at all times. Partly driven by advances in technology but mostly driven by the need to tinker and somewhat driven by marketing. There are many calibers that are very similar to each other and many that start with a hiss and roar but become redundant due to having a ballistic twin with better marketing, (think Betamax vs VHS).

An ammunition manufacturers production lines can produce various different calibers but there is down time switching from one caliber to another, as such they tend to perform more runs of the more popular calibers, while the less popular calibers or orphan calibers get less of a look in. The upshot of this is that some calibers are as easy to find as parts for a Toyota corolla, while other calibers will have unreliable supply.

Without going too deeply into politics, depending on the presidency of the US, the citizens in the land of the free can have greater propensity to stockpile ammunition. This results in periodic cycles of less reliable availability of ammunition in countries far from there.



Some calibers that I know of that have more reliable supply are .308, .223, 6.5Creedmore, .270

.243 and 7mm08 & 6.5 Grendel are in the camp of less reliable during shortages. 6.5Cr was also hard to feed at the last great shortage, but it is much more established now.



If you are on the fence in the 308 vs .243 debate, 6.5Cr is a good middle ground and should be as easy to obtain as anything else for the predictable forseeable.

And shes a lady so owning a 6.5 manbun is ok

Got to disagree.
way more 243's in the country than 6.5 cm and way more 243 ammo for sale than 6.5CM
easy way is to look at guncity's range of ammo in each caliber,
243 is number 4 and 6.5 cm is number 11.
308 is number 1 with 39 choices, then 223, then suprise to me 270 then 243 with 15 differance choices, 6.5 cm has 9 flavors of ammo.

and I think we have mosly all agreed 308 is a bit much and 270 would be simalar, 223 nice but some questions, then 243.
Z

yes interesting stats - 270 does not surprise me always has been a damn good caliber -- 243 will be just fine for a lady and no one ?? has said 6.5 x 55 will do the job - nice Tikka LA55 in that caliber nice

6.5 manbuns probably ideal for a lady shooter, mild recoil, good down range performance and there's a lot of it around.
It's kind of the new 243

We ( as a bunch of 8 or 10 guys) helped a lady last night to buy her first centerfire rifle. It was funny on everyone had plenty of different opinions. It was very confusing for the poor lassie.
Anyway, she settled on browning x bolt, in 7-08, with a basic Burris and a dpt suppressor with the barrel cut at 20inches.

As a side note, there is a little remington 7 in 243 on the shelf at guncity Hamilton if someone is looking for one.

Originally Posted by ZQLewis

Got to disagree.
way more 243's in the country than 6.5 cm and way more 243 ammo for sale than 6.5CM
easy way is to look at guncity's range of ammo in each caliber,
243 is number 4 and 6.5 cm is number 11.
308 is number 1 with 39 choices, then 223, then suprise to me 270 then 243 with 15 differance choices, 6.5 cm has 9 flavors of ammo.

and I think we have mosly all agreed 308 is a bit much and 270 would be simalar, 223 nice but some questions, then 243.
Z

It's not just about selection of flavours, it's also about volume of each flavour. Compare selection of .243 vs 6.5CM at ammo direct.

Having said that, I wouldn't walk past a Model Seven just because it was in .243