re: Deer rifle for slight 15 year old girl

I shot a 243 as a kid. Hated it. Bloodied several deer and killed a few. I had very little confidence in the round.

Last year I bought my son a Savage axis 2 7mm 08 and I love it. He lives it too. It’s just a better round for deer hunting in this area. Especially when it helps with a young hunters confidence.

The .243 uses the .308 case necked down to .243. Not underpowered, but a smaller bullet. It’ll be fine, but so would the .260, 7mm-08, 6.5 Creedmore, etc.

quote:

---

Henry 30-30

---

Doesn't really kick and has arguably killed more deer in America than any other caliber.

Whatever dude. I agreed with him. By using a larger caliber, you are compensating for the fact that kids make mistakes. In this case, it's the fact that they don't shoot accurate enough to use that rifle. Mostly because they are not taught to use that rifle. It does not mean that you cannot kill deer with that rifle.

We said the same exact thing, but people are getting pissy because I said the kid isn't taught the right way to shoot the gun, and that all you're doing is making up for the fact that the kids don't know how to shoot right. Grown men make mistakes too, so the mistake argument just doesn't hold weight with me. It's all about your familiarity with a weapon.

I own a 270 and 243. I still mainly use my 243 it’s what I grew up shooting and I love that gun so as an adult I still use a 243

The .300 AAC would make a fine round up to 200 yds or so. I know they drop hogs like a hammer

Olgoi,
You've had lots of recs so far. As expected, it didn't take long for "all the usual suspects" to show up for the "243 vs the world" debate. While there are a lot of fans of the 243 and 223 for deer hunting, I'm not in that crowd. For those of you who like the 223/243 for deer hunting, that's fine; it's just now what I feel comfortable using.

Many years ago I read an article by John Wootters, one of my all time favorite hunting authors. The title was something like, "Eight Deer Hunting Cartridges to Start and Finish With." He listed rounds that were good for the beginning hunter, but would still be useful for an advanced hunter, as well. His recommendations: 250 Savage, 257 Roberts, 6.5X55 Swede, 260 Rem, 7X30 Waters, 7-08, 30-30, 300 Savage. Personally, I think those are all still good choices, some better than others depending on certain factors. W/ the advent of reduced recoil factory loads (or for the handloader), I'd add the 308 Win, 25-06, 270 Win and possibly 30-06. The 6.5 CM would be good w/ reduced recoil loads. In the AR 15 platform full power 6.5 Grendel and 300 Blackout loads would also be good. When faced w/ a similar decision when my 9 y/o son started deer hunting, I bought him a 308 Win. Nearly bought a 7-08, but opted for 308 because I already had all the handloading components for it. This was before the days of factory reduced recoil loads so I developed my own w/ a 125 gr Nosler BT; the load actually had less recoil than a full power 100 gr 243 load. He killed a bunch of deer w/ that load before moving up to full power loads. OTOH, last fall I bought a 7-08 for a future "grand kids" deer rifle. I've killed 5 or 6 deer using a 7-08 handgun and loads that would be similar to a reduced load in a rifle.

Personally, I've never killed a deer w/ a 243, 22-250 or 223 because I have no desire to. I've skinned and helped track a number of deer that've been killed w/ them. Although there are alot of experienced hunters who like these calibers, I've not one of them as there's just not as much room for error as w/ larger guns. Bullet placement and performance both have to be topnotch, every time. If a big whitetail pops out at 200 yards but the only shot is a "Texas heart shot" would you want to be shooting a 223/243 or one of the other rounds mentioned? Why use a 243 when one can use a reduced recoil load 308 that will have similar, or less, recoil, especially since your shots will be inside 200 yards as she starts hunting? When a deer instantly succumbs to rounds like the 223/243 it's because of the bullet's high velocity. Eventually, a deer will fail to go down w/ high velocity, no matter how big the bullet or well placed the shot. When high velocity and bullet placement fail you'll be tracking the deer. if using a bigger round you're more likely to get full penetration and have a good blood trail.

Be sure you have a GOOD recoil pad installed. Also make sure the gun fits her WELL, especially length of pull. When shooting off the bench, encourage a "sissy bag" (thin sand bag between butt of gun and shoulder), ear plugs AND ear muffs. PAST makes a number of removable shooting pads LINK .

BTW, in the aforementioned John Wooters article, he thought of the 243 not as a women's and youth deer gun, but as an "expert's" deer rifle.

quote:

---

I don't think anyone has mentioned the .25-06.

---

Was going to chime in with this. I love my .25-06. Best deer caliber going, IMO.

Once again your talking about an adult who is much more Accurate than a kid. What is so hard for people to understand about that? Sure great shot placement is key we all know that. He’ll with good shot placement I can kill them all day with a .22 mag. Why even chance the .243 if the kid can handle a .25-06, .308 or 7mm-08. Makes no sense. What is the advantage of the .243 over these?

quote:

---

What is the advantage of the .243 over these?

---

This^^, especially when comparing the 243 against reduced recoil loads of bigger rounds when being used by a youth deer hunter.