Gun For My Baby Girl

sandy hicks

sandy hicks

New member
It's time for Baby Girl to have her own rifle. She started killing deer at 8 with NEF youth handi rifle in 223. At ten she took over the use of my TC encore in 243. She is big for 13 now at 5-7 130lbs. I plan to do it up girly with a pink stock and rings. I can'tbdecide on the caliber. She has shot my buddys 270 wsm and thought that it was fun somrecoil doesn't seem to be a problem. I currently load for 223,243,277,284,308 caliber rifles. I originally wanted to do a 260 or 6.5 creedmore for her but not sure if there is a justifiable reason to do gather a variety of 6.5 bullets. I already have various bullet weights on hand for the others. I am leaning to 708rem or 308win.
 
Originally Posted By: vahunter7mm-08 would be a good choice.

Sure would. Having owned both the .308 Win as well as the 7/08 I will give the nod to the smaller round. Unless I was after bigger bears I think the seven-oh-eight just about the perfect round.

And so close to that is the .260 Remington. So close that a coin toss likely could decide that one for me.
 
I've been searching as well for my 9yr old daughter. She is on the smaller side however. I was torn between a Ruger American Compact in .243 or 7mm-08. If mine was able to handle the recoil I'd get her a 7mm-08 but going with the .243. I have read nothing but good things about the 7mm-08's however.
 
I put together a model seven in 223 and added a pink and black laminated stock for my 10 year old. she is deadly accurate with it, almost like a surgeon...! Has taken two deer now and over ten coyote... I have her shooting 55 grain SoftPoints and 62 grain bonded for deer. Shes been very successful

 
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I went through the same thing with mine. For us it came down to the 7/08 and the 25/06. Went with the 25 just because but now I might get the 7/08 ALSO...
 
The 25/06 is a great caliber. The only reason that it is not up for consideration is that Her mom shoots a 270 and I have a 280. I work alot so they end up hunting without me. I just dont want them to end up with the wrong ammo because it all looks the same. I try to color coordinate and get their stuff together for them.but if they ever got to a stand with the wrong stuff I would never hear the end of it.
 
I have to get my 10-year old son a rifle for this fall too and have been going through these same discussions with myself. I'd like to get him a nice wood/blue rifle, but he's still to short for a full-size stock, so I'd have to cut it down then hopefully find a longer replacement in the future. He's a boy, so he's gonna be rough on stuff at this age too, so I started thinking ugly synthetic. There are a few options, notably the Ruger American Compact. 12.5" LOP with 18" barrel. At first I was planning on a .308, but in that little 6 pound rifle, it's bound to pack a pretty good wallop. Since it'll be an elk rifle, I can't drop down to .243, so I too am starting to lean more towards the 7-08. I could handload some light bullets to get him used to it and to hunt coyotes with, then stoke up some of those afore-mentioned 120 grain Barnes for his November elk hunt.

All that, I still don't know exactly where I'm headed.
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If I could talk my buddy out of his model 70 coyote in 270wsm I would be set. She like it but the stock wouldnhave to be changed to a bluenor pink laminate. My problem is that she is 5-7. The stocks that she likes in muddy girl camo are kid size and she says that they are too short.
 
Savage Specialty Series Model 11/111 Lady Hunter Hand Oil rubbed American Walnut Bolt-Action available in 7 different Calibers!
.223
.243
.270
.30-06
.308
.6.5 Creedmore
7mm-08

Beautiful well made Rifle that would make any Male Hunter envious of the Female Hunter/Owner making them want to go Bruce Jenner just to have one theirself!
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Another vote for the Savage Lady Hunter. I bought my wife one in 6.5 Creedmoor and she loves it!. It's extremely accurate, even with factory loads. It shoots factory 120 A-max under .75 inch and the ammo is fairly cheap by today's standards. If she did out grow the stock you could just buy another stock and keep on shooting.
 
I have been struggling with this one for a year or so as well.

I have a 8, and 9 yr old daughters. I started them on 10/22s and replaced the stocks to look like the AR stocks and put some 22lr scopes with bullet drop.

Now that they are getting bigger i have decided that since they are going to keep growing and i need something to elk hunt, deer hunt, maybe havalina, and predators.

That is a lot of options and a lot different situation especially since they are going to grow and get bigger.

As i see it, i am only left with one really viable option.

The AR-15 is the logical choice.
I say this because, i can run a 223, use the same bullets i use for my 22-250, I can put an adjustable stock on it, so that it grows with them, and soaks up the recoil that will help with flinch and confidence.
I can get different uppers and use the larger calibers like 6.5 Grendal to handle the bigger game, and the 223 for the rest, while using the same type of set up and same trigger. Seems to me that it's a little more expensive, but then it's one rifle and two uppers and scopes, but that seems to be less than 3 or 4 rifles and not to mention the buying bigger rifles as they grow.

Just my 2 cents on how i am going to handle a pair of daughters, that love shooting and hunting.
 
For the OP, go 7-08. You can load up or down.

If she was younger or smaller, I'd say 243 and the same comment above.

I've been playing with 243 reduced loads. It's a ton of fun. May have my wife try my 7-08 with reduced loads next!

H4895 is what I'm using.
 
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