Rifle for the Wife

jnagel32

jnagel32

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Joined
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I'm looking to get a rifle for the wife to start shooting with me and ultimately go on a hunt someday. I'd also use the rifle in the future for my son(s). Have a 3 year old and another on the way. I'm pretty set on getting a 6.5 Creedmoor. My buddy has a Christensen Arms Mesa in 7mm Rem Mag and it is a very nice rifle. I have been considering getting one of those, but I'm not sure I want to spend $1200 on a rifle that is for my wife who may end up not using it very much. It's also a really nice rifle for a young hunter in the future, but is it too nice?

What rifles would you consider, more inexpensive rifles like the Ruger American Predator, Howa 1500, etc.?

I'm not worried about buying a cheaper rifle and spending money on glass. I already have a nice Leupold VX-3 to put on whatever I end up purchasing.
 
Howa 1500(vanguard series 2), savage 1xx series and tikka t3x are the best balance of cost/quality in my experience. Can get RugerAP and savage axis really cheap (and they are accurate out of the box), but the others I referenced are a worthwhile step up at half the price you are referencing. Better to have $600 gun with $600 of decent mid-level glass than to have $1200 gun with $199 glass. Especially for beginners.

Also, fwiw I would go .243 with true beginners. Can always trade up to 7mm08/3-8/6.5cm later if you need to go up to elk.
 
Browning XBolt Micro Midas. Bought my wife one and it is now my go to gun when shes not hunting. Short barrel, lightweight, little recoil, and shoots great!

We have a couple other Xbolts in the family but I am liking micro midas the most since its so easy to carry around and shoot
 
Elite7 said:
Browning XBolt Micro Midas. Bought my wife one and it is now my go to gun when shes not hunting. Short barrel, lightweight, little recoil, and shoots great!

We have a couple other Xbolts in the family but I am liking micro midas the most since its so easy to carry around and shoot
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+2 on this. My wife bought a Micro Midas last year and she loves it. 7mm-08. She uses the Hornady lite recoil ammo for whitetail, but can shoot the full power stuff when she needs to. She tried several other youth/women specific rifles and liked this the best. Her only wish was that it came with a synthetic stock. It really is a nice little rifle, i'm jealous of how nice it is actually.

It's not a Christensen, but it's no budget rifle either. When we got it last year, Browning was offering a rebate where you could get a second full size stock for 1/2 off(or something similar) anytime within the next 5 years. I've not done that yet, but I plan to after this season. Just in case I want to use it some day.
 
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I picked up a Tikka Super lite in 7mm-08 when they were on sale at sportsman's this summer. It wears a 3-10 swaro and talley lightweights. Great rig so far. It's a good shooter and a joy to carry. My wife like's it, too.
 
For a womans build( they are different) i'd agree with the Micro Midas.
But add the Weatherby Lady Camilla.

Savage used to have the Lady Hunter but has been replaced by the model 10 with the adjustable stock.
 
My wife claimed my Tikka T3 Lite in .308 as her own and likes the Hornady Custom Lite 125gr load.
 
spinal...good call.Dad has .308s 100yds.Hunting/1000yds.Competition.Great all around caliber.:cool:
 
Tikka. Can you hunt big game with a .22 centerfire in PA? If so, a Tikka T3x in .223 shooting 77gr TMKs and she’ll love to shoot and it’ll be deadly. .243 would be the next choice. Bought my wife a Barrett Fieldcraft in 6.5 cm and she hated it as it had too much recoil in a compact and field friendly carrying package. Took some sound advice from a very experienced gentleman and went .223 and .243 and it’s a different world of fun and proficiency. She’s now a competitive and competent LRS/PRS shooter shooting a Tikka TAC A1 in 6.5cm in a platform that handles the recoil.
 
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Tikka, or Ruger American are hard to beat. My RA .308 is a fantastic shooter. You cannot go wrong with the Creed. My .260s and Creed are now my go-to rifles.
 
Thanks for the replies. Never really looked at Tikkas, so I'll have to check them out and I'm liking the X-Bolt Micro Composite.
 
yesac104 said:
Mossberg Patriot is a good option as well.
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I've got two Patriot's and Love them. Mine are both wood stock. I'd have to claim to being a 700 fan I guess but love my Patriot's! In truth though, I don't think you can go wrong with whatever inexpensive rifle you buy. Sounds to me that they all shoot well and each has it admirer's! Take her out and let her decide. Just make sure you get nothing bigger than a 243 to start out. Could be she could handle a 338 Mag but you won't know till she fire's the first shot!
 
The Tikkas are absolutely great rifles. I have one as my only rifle. I have no need or desire to buy anything else. That said, I absolutely will not be buying one for my kids when they are old enough to hunt. The safety is way too easy to bump off. I very rarely carry a shell in the chamber out west, but I do while still-hunting the thick woods of MN. More than a few times I've emerged from a thicket with the safety flipped off from catching a branch. Couple that with the fact that you need to take it off safe to load and unload, and I'd never recommend putting one in the hands of a new hunter. My two cents.
 
NoWiser said:
The Tikkas are absolutely great rifles. I have one as my only rifle. I have no need or desire to buy anything else. That said, I absolutely will not be buying one for my kids when they are old enough to hunt. The safety is way too easy to bump off. I very rarely carry a shell in the chamber out west, but I do while still-hunting the thick woods of MN. More than a few times I've emerged from a thicket with the safety flipped off from catching a branch. Couple that with the fact that you need to take it off safe to load and unload, and I'd never recommend putting one in the hands of a new hunter. My two cents.
Click to expand...

Good points no doubt. When introducing my kids (and late onset adults) to guns I did not worry too much about various safety types as my focus was to drill into them that a gun is NEVER safe and treat it accordingly. It’s not safe when on safety, its not safe when it is unloaded, it is only safe when visibly and unambiguously out of battery (and even then it’s not safe because you may be mistaken). But all things being equal, no reason not to have belt and suspenders.
 
jnagel32 said:
Thanks for the replies. Never really looked at Tikkas, so I'll have to check them out and I'm liking the X-Bolt Micro Composite.
Click to expand...

I just told my wife about that micro composite and she is mad she didn't get one. She really wanted a synthetic stock when we bought her xbolt last year, but the only ones they made at the time were either Pink(which she definitely didn't want) or the wood stock midas. I bet that's a sweet little rifle, glad to see they are offering a synthetic stock now.
 
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