What cartridge for daughter

[Pathfinder76]

Originally Posted by Dick284

You can buy good used 6.5x55’s off of Tradex for $300.
Hack the stock back and your pretty much set.

Please don’t saddle an 11 year old with a rifle that heavy. Give me a sub seven pound rifle with a 13.5” LOP over a 9lb rifle with a 12.5” LOP for a kid any day.

[Redrider]

All good suggestions, but dont rule out the 25-06 and a 270win..

[CanadianEh]

Another vote for 7mm-08. It is just the best option. You may even find that you steal her gun and use it for your main shooter.

7mm bullets are pretty well the Goldilocks zone for the best of all worlds.

Reasons why :
More than enough ammo selection
Low recoil
Ability to harvest any Alberta game animal
Good selection of rifles offerings
Lifetime rifle no need to upgrade... Ever.

[Tronneroi]

My wife is pretty petite. She shoots a Weatherby Camilla in 6.5 CM. Really great gun for the ladies. Shorter LOP, higher cheek rise, nice palm swell. Quite light as well.

[YYC338]

Originally Posted by NCC

I suggest you buy that 243 Husky, cut the stock down, and install a good recoil pad.

I bought a mountain contour 700 in 7-08 and had the stock shortened for my wife to shoot. Between the muzzle blast and sharp recoil, that rifle was more uncomfortable to shoot than some 300 mags I’ve shot. It was nice to carry, but we sold it and went back to her Rem 600 .243.

Do you think those issues, such as sharp recoil and muzzle blast were more a function of the cartridge chosen or perhaps the rifle weight, stock design and barrel length?

[Double Dropper]

I did purchase one of the Savage Axis rifles in both 243 and 25-06 and have zero complaints. Both shot well (under an inch) and the stocks are pretty hokey agreed they are cheap, do the job and get them shooting. The 20 inch barrel on the youth 243 did not kick at all, light weight rifle and minimal investment for a starter. Spend the money on a decent scope.

[Hogie135]

Well my almost 11 year old daughter is about 65 pounds soak and wet so i'm staying away from the 270's, 308's and the like even with reduced loads. maybe in a few more years when she grows a bit more. For now i'm going to be picking her up a bolt action 22 WMR to practice with and develop good shooting techniques. She does shoot my 22lr now in semi auto but I want her to learn the bolt action and the 22 WMR is just a cool cartridge.

Aside from that I'm leaning more towards the youth model Savage axis in .243 later next summer for her. Mainly because I don't see 7mm08 listed on Cabelas website as chambering in that gun.

thanks for all the input!

[Pixel Shooter]

my daughter is 90lbs wet. we started with .243 and she prefers shooting the 7mm-08 and feels less recoil better balance for her. She's shot everything from elk, moose and antelope but has yet to shoot a deer, go figure lol

[amosfella]

6.5 Creedmore is a great little round. Don't think I'd take that buffalo or grizzly hunting.

Another option might be getting a 45-70 and using the trapdoor velocity rounds (or whatever the lowest velocity ones are). You can buy those off the shelf. I'd take that buffalo or grizzly hunting.

Boyds makes stocks for most guns with custom length of pull. Just swap the stock every few years as she grows, and it keeps it exciting for her, as she gets to keep choosing different color options.

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by chuck

Please don’t saddle an 11 year old with a rifle that heavy. Give me a sub seven pound rifle with a 13.5” LOP over a 9lb rifle with a 12.5” LOP for a kid any day.

Please go see what’s there before you throw crap Chuck.

The last one bought had the barrel cut back to 23.5”, and wasn’t anything over 8.5lbs scoped. Oh ya it had a $200 price tag.

[Pathfinder76]

Dick, an 8.5lb rifle is FAR to heavy for a 12 year old girl.

[NCC]

Originally Posted by YYC338

Do you think those issues, such as sharp recoil and muzzle blast were more a function of the cartridge chosen or perhaps the rifle weight, stock design and barrel length?

All of the above. The rifle plays a big part, but pushing a 140 grain slug will generate more recoil than pushing a 90 grain slug. Both rifles are about the same same weight, have shortened stocks, aftermarket recoil pads and short barrels, yet the 7-08 generated significantly more felt recoil. The OP can do as he likes, but I think all of the talk of a the magical low recoiling, hard hitting 7-08 is misleading. For the record, my go to rifle for 15 years was a 7-08 model 700 KS, so I don’t dislike the cartridge.

[jednastka]

The key above all, is a proper fit. That pretty much rules out a synthetic stock. "Just hack a chunk off and you'll be good" also will not do it. A good recoil pad is a must; they are not cheap! Rifle weight is a factor, but do not forget, the lighter the rifle, the heavier the felt recoil. I bought a Savage Axis in 270 WIN for my daughter, ditched the synthetic stock (it is awful anyway), and purchased a Boyds laminated stock in her preferred colour, along with a Kickease recoil pad. I properly fitted the stock, recoil pad, and scope to her frame, and she loves it. It is much more pleasant to shoot than my Browning X-Bolt synthetic stock, also in 270 WIN.


Vic

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by chuck

Dick, an 8.5lb rifle is FAR to heavy for a 12 year old girl.

Last M96 sporter that I got from there had a 20" barrel and weighed around 7.5lb scoped. A refinishing job on the stock and an aftermarket trigger turned it into a very nice hunting rifle. Still regret trading that one off.

IMO Dick is right, you really should have a look at the inventory before you start talkin' trash.

[Gamblor]

+1 for 7-08. It’ll handle almost any game animal in Alberta. (Ya I know, probably not bison.... but it’s killed all the rest)

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by chuck

Dick, an 8.5lb rifle is FAR to heavy for a 12 year old girl.

I dunno Chuck, the rifle my daughter started with and which my son began hunting with was almost 9 pounds.
Neither kid complained, and both took more than a few deer with it.
You take your kids on back pack hunts, which quite frankly isn’t the norm for most Alberta hunts, equating your somewhat differing point of view, to that which others do isn’t a good metric to compare.

Then again my kids were also heavily involved in sports, by aged 12, maybe that, allowed them to develop differently than your kids.

[KegRiver]

I don't think there is any one cartridge that is best But know of several that might be a good choice.
Any of the smaller bore lighter load offerings should be fine.

I think 11 may be a bit young also. But some kids can handle more then others.
I gave my oldest daughter a 6.5x55 swede when she turned 15. The next year she took a Moose with that little rifle. One shot kill at that.

Now she has a daughter of her own that is old enough to hunt. But the dad isn't into hunting so I doubt my grand daughter will ever be intersted either.
Her mother still has the 6.5, but these days only uses it for dealing with Bears in the yard. That gal can shoot a tick off a Moose's nose at 100 paces.
Pitty the Bear that dines on her dog's food.

[kritz]

[QUOTE=jednastka;4058805]The key above all, is a proper fit. That pretty much rules out a synthetic stock. "Just hack a chunk off and you'll be good" also will not do it. A good recoil pad is a must; they are not cheap! Rifle weight is a factor, but do not forget, the lighter the rifle, the heavier the felt recoil. I bought a Savage Axis in 270 WIN for my daughter, ditched the synthetic stock (it is awful anyway), and purchased a Boyds laminated stock in her preferred colour, along with a Kickease recoil pad. I properly fitted the stock, recoil pad, and scope to her frame, and she loves it. It is much more pleasant to shoot than my Browning X-Bolt synthetic stock, also in 270 WIN.

I agree, The gun build is important.
A cheaper 7-08 youth model recoil kick feels pretty hard, more jump, and could say it feels more than a magnum like mentioned already in this post, I would not really recommend, and the same rifle in a different gun is my daughters preferred gun, yes a bit bigger heavier gun, not overly though, nicer shooting, happier kid. .

[brewster29]

Originally Posted by Pixel Shooter

my daughter is 90lbs wet. we started with .243 and she prefers shooting the 7mm-08 and feels less recoil better balance for her. She's shot everything from elk, moose and antelope but has yet to shoot a deer, go figure lol

I put a lot of thought and some trial and error into this exact topic...ended up buying a Ruger American compact in 7-08 (cuz I have one in a T3 lefty, and had Dies, brass and bullets already or would have got 6.5 CM) for my daughter. Nice light rig, great recoil pad, good trigger. I fitted a 2.5-8 scope. She loves it. I load 139-140's to about 2600 fps for her. Rifles weighs just under 7 lbs ready to hunt.

A good buddy bought the axis youth for his petite wife, but much preferred the ruger once he checked it out.

I have long arms but really like compact rifles. I find that little rifle fits me OK too, is very mild to shoot, and is super handy.

[LLZ]

I am suprised no one has mentioned the 6.5 grendel yet. While it was mainly developed for our friends south of the border using the AR-15 platform there are a couple of bolt action options out there (CZ and Howa come to mind). Recoil is reportedly very mild (not quite 223, but close) and the bullet selection is vast.

By all accounts its a great option for deer sized game.

[Battle Rat]

Originally Posted by 6.5 shooter

YA make a MAN out of her.....

I too like the 6.5.
It gives me the option of using either public washroom.

[58thecat]

7-08....rifle gotta fit....don't cheap out cuz this could be a forever rifle or a great back up to another in the future....those little model sevens with a 2-7 power scope ohhhh yeah......

I don't think one pound is going to be the game hanger weight wise cuz they grow so quick......

[kritz]

Originally Posted by Battle Rat

I too like the 6.5.
It gives me the option of using either public washroom.

[AB2506]

My daughters both started with a Savage Youth Package Model 10 in 243. With the Federal Premium 85gr Barnes TSX, I cannot believe how effective it is on deer. Just plain WOW!

That being said, I have moved them on to the same rifle in 7mm-08. I load a 120gr Barnes TTSX for them. Also work great.

If your daughter is small, I would start her with a 243. Those Barnes bullets, Hornady GMX or Nosler Etips turn the 243 into a surefire deer killer and will likely work on elk pretty well.