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Rifle Suggestion for Wife

If she said the .270 was fine in the tikka, go with that. If you are concerned have her try it again. If she likes it again it sounds to me like the decision has been made. I do like the 7-08 also, I have 120 gr noslers for my son that are a tad lighter kicking than 140 gr stuff. With something like an accubond it should be fine for elk, just check out the post from buzz about his wife's elk.
 
I bought my wife a Ruger American in .308 and she loves it. It has very light recoil, and she is a tiny little chick and recoil sensitive...a sissy. It comes with a good recoil pad on it. I have her shooting 150 grain Federal Fusions and she can kill pretty much anything she will ever hunt. It's not overkill for antelope, or under gunned for elk. Plus, you can't beat the price point on them for a good, accurate, rifle. I liked it so much I sold my Savage 30-06 and bought one of these in 30-06 in the package deal with the Redfield scope.
 
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My wife hunted deer last year with a .308 in a Ruger M77. I bought her the lighter recoil Hornady factory loads so she could shoot at the bench comfortably and not have her get recoil shy. The morning we went deer hunting I swapped the bullets from a 120 grain Low Recoil to a 150 grain normal round. She thumped the deer and had no idea I swapped the rounds. Better to ask forgiveness that permission.

On a separate note, I built a Tikka T3 Lite in a .300 win mag platform as a lightweight mountain rifle that had long range capabilities. Before i even shot it I had a brake (break??) put on it for comfortable shooting. My wife likes shooting this gun more than the Ruger. Point..... maybe consider adding a brake (break??) to your current .308 and see if she enjoys shooting it more. Might save a few hundred bucks from buying a whole new set up. Good Luck!!
 
If you are considering the 260 Remington or the 6.5 Creedmoor. Take a look online at the availability and variety of factory loads, It is pretty clear that the 260 is the better option if you don't intend to handload. That said the 7mm-08 seems like it would be pretty ideal, and is even more widely produced.

Remington just started chambering their 700 SPS in 260. It is a pretty economical rifle, isn't super light (so it will tame recoil even more), and should be plenty accurate.

My opinion on rifle recoil that hasn't been addressed much here is the design of the stock and the weight of the rifle. Some stocks just manage recoil better, and a little heavier rifle 8-9 lbs with the scope will also help tame the recoil.
 
NoWiser said:
Don't even consider a 270 WSM if she is recoil sensitive!! I'd be looking at a 7mm-08 if I was in your shoes. I'd also be looking for a used gun so that I could put the best scope on that I possibly could. You won't regret putting extra money into the scope, even if you have to save up for an extra year.
Click to expand...

:D. My wife shoots her 270 WSM featherweight great. During practice i give her an extra pad for shoulder so she never feels a bite. When hunting she has no sense of recoil given all the stress and excitement of what is happening at that time. Usually she has had extra clothes on during hunting weather so the extra pad during practice seems to not be an issue with fitting the rifle the same during hunting as when practicing.

She has killed a few elk and an antelope with it. Pretty good for a non hunter :hump:
 
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A female perspective, for what it's worth...

My husband started me out with his old Ruger .243. I shot fine with it, and it wasn't "heavy" by his standards, but I got really tired carrying it all day and found that the weight made it really slow handling for me. We went to every store we could and handled everything we could find, and I really ended up liking the Ruger Ultra Light. We got that in .270 and I've been extremely happy with it. Having something that is comfortable to carry all day and handle quickly when I need to makes all the difference. Plus it's a little bit shorter, so better balanced and much easier for me to shoot from different positions. And like others said, the recoil at the range is worst case scenario - I never feel a thing in the field.
 
I just want to say this community is awesome. I appreciate everyone's replies and has given me a lot to look at. I would try to get her to shoot my 308 with reduced loads but she cringes just hearing the word "308" now. I will try looking at pawn shops as one suggested and see if perhaps there are some nice used rifles there and get a decent scope.

I know someone mentioned stock design could be why the felt recoil was much more. Perhaps the Tikka fit her better or perhaps it was shinier and it pretty things make it hurt less lol. I will look into 7mm08 a bit more just due to availability of ammo. The 120 loads look ideal and still seem to give punch for the occasional elk. Especially since it could come in a lighter rifle for her to carry.

If I can find a setup with 270 she can handle with rifle/scope under 600 that would also be an option.

So many options out there. Thank you again!
 
Hunting Wife said:
A female perspective, for what it's worth...

My husband started me out with his old Ruger .243. I shot fine with it, and it wasn't "heavy" by his standards, but I got really tired carrying it all day and found that the weight made it really slow handling for me. We went to every store we could and handled everything we could find, and I really ended up liking the Ruger Ultra Light. We got that in .270 and I've been extremely happy with it. Having something that is comfortable to carry all day and handle quickly when I need to makes all the difference. Plus it's a little bit shorter, so better balanced and much easier for me to shoot from different positions. And like others said, the recoil at the range is worst case scenario - I never feel a thing in the field.
Click to expand...

My wife has only hunted a little but has shot most of my rifles and a few we bought for her. 243 winchester 70 lightweight she didnt' really like but it has an old hard recoil pad(it was my first rifle) Got her a remington model 7 260 she didn't like I tryed 2 different stocks. Winchester featherweight 70 7mm-08 didn't really like, just got a new stock for it so want her to try it again. Then she got a ruger 77 in 308 and she liked it, decieded to put it in a laminate stock and now it feels like it kicks more and its heavier. The hornady reduced recoil loads help alot though and are very close at 200yds with her normal load she shoots. She has also shot my 257wby with no problems. She will probably hunt with both my 257 and her 308 this year depending on the area were hunting.
 
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My wife just texted me a picture of a mule deer she bagged with our .270**. I think having a shoulder pad like Ben posted or a pad that slips on the butt of the rifle helps the practice.

** bonus - she didn't ask me to drag it out for me ;)
 
My wife is 5'-3" 120 and not to fond of shoot slugs out of the shotgun but loves to shoot the 25-06 tikka t3 I bought this last year. I bought it for the purpose of hunting with her and took it along on our first antelope hunt this year. It's awesome gun, shoot straight, not too much recoil and punched quite a exit hole with hornady 117 gr rounds.
 
I can handle a lot of kick, but I hate it when a gun bounces.
Bounce can be managed in a lot of different ways.
If a stock doesn't fit right, it can bounce. Even though my wife and I are the same height, her arms are several inches shorter. I have a .30-30 that I think kicks about like her .308, but the stock is longer and she insists that it kicks like a mule. No matter what gun you get her, make sure it fits HER.
A heavier gun can also counter the bounce, but I hate the idea of packing a heavy gun around for days on end. If you're going with either a magnum load or a light weight gun, a compensating muzzle break makes the gun shoot like something a whole lot heavier.
Other options that come to mind to control bounce are semi-auto (probably too expensive) or a gun with more weight forward (i.e. heavy barrel).

On the matter of caliber. If your wife associates .308 with a bad experience, but you like the way it fits your hunting opportunities I would go with the 7mm-08. Sure there are some technical differences, but in a hunting situation you won't notice it and you won't need to adjust how you hunt.
I would only go to a smaller caliber if recoil continues to bother her. As mentioned, smaller calibers work great as long as you stick to their limitations. I take kids hunting with a .223 all the time, but we pass up a lot of shots that would be no brainers with something a little bigger.
 
I got my wife and daughter both 7mm-08's. I love this gun and it will kill everything we hunt. My next vote would be 270. Just an awesome round and easy to find ammo.
 
I'm going to go against the grain here, but you could consider a .30-'06. I started my little cousin off with a .30-'06 as his first rifle when he was a small 12 year old, and it worked well for him. I bought a couple boxes of Remington Managed Recoil ammunition for him, and he shot it with no issues at all. Hornady offers a similar product, and if you're a handloader you can duplicate these loads with IMR 5744 powder. A 125-gr bullet at about 2700 fps will have less recoil than a factory 150-gr .308 round, and about the same as a .243/.260/7mm-08.

I'm planning on doing the same thing with my sons when they're old enough to start shooting centerfire. I'll buy them an adult-sized .30-'06, take off the stock, and put on a youth stock. Start them with reduced recoil loads, and when they have the stature and experience to handle full loads I can switch them to those. The same plan might match your wife's current comfort level, but keep some upside for her to use someday if she needs more for a hunt.
 
Instead of buying a new gun, buy a handloading setup. It'll be cheaper and much more versatile. You could then load 308s for her that would be under her recoil threshold. Something like a 125gr Accubond or 130gr TTSX could be loaded to cover a lot of ground and not 'bounce' too much.
 
Has any one tried a 25 wssm I think it is called that. one of my old hunting partners used one for. His wife and kids worked really well just a tought
 
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