Hunting question

[Woof]

I think .308 or 30-06 are about the most versatile calibers, and they're cheaper and more easily found than many other caliber cartridges.

[wyoman]

Originally Posted by shadowwalker

I used a 7mm for 15 years. I used/reloaded the 175 grain for elk,moose yes it took a moose well. I used the 140 grain for deer,antelope. I used the gun until the day I took my wife to the rifle range to shoot guns. I figured she'd like to shoot the 22. She did. She also liked the 7mm, just alittle better. Now it's hers with the buttstock 4 inches shorter. She can hit anything gamewise, out to 400 yards with it. Some do get a few yards, but all go down. I have seen her put down 500 yard silloets consistantly with it on the bench with sand bags. Kinda scarey.
The rifle is a ruger M77. 31 years old with a 3x9 Gambles sporting goods scope bought the next payday. It's well worn and she wouldn't trade it for any "pretty" gun.
When she puts it in the bench vise we have. I have seen her shoot a quarter out of the bullseye of a target at 200 yards. It takes her a couple of shots, but the look on her face when that quarter whines out across the dirt at impact, is priceless.

ALWAYS HEARD LADIES ARE GREAT SHOTS NEVER BELIEVED IT UNTILL I MADE THE MISTAKE OF TAKING ONE TO A RIFLE RANGE" WO" YA I TAUGHT HER THAT BACK TO THE POST- I WOULD AGREE WITH ALL CALIBERS EXCEPT THE 243- SHOT PLACEMENT IS EVERYTHING-A MEDIOCER HIT FROM A 243 WILL BE A LOST ANIMAL

[NVDave]

I used to be a NRA instructor. My experience is that girls will listen to the lesson and then proceed to do the six or so things you need to do to make consistent shots.

Boys will do about 1,000 things wrong, until they discover by Brownian motion on their own, the six things the instructor was telling them to do. I always used to wonder why movies portray drill instructors as screaming all the time -- until I tried to instruct boys on shooting well. After about a week, I, a complete civilian, started to sound like a drill instructor. It works. Now I know why.

First time I handed my wife my 1911 at a range, she shot out the "X" on the bull 10 yards away with the first shot, then put the pistol down. She said she didn't like how it felt, went back to using my .22 target pistol to eat out the centers of targets with boring repetition.

The biggest issue, in my opinion (which is borne of experience in teaching a few dozen girls and women) is that many firearms simply don't fit women properly, which compromises their ability to get into proper position. This is especially true of shotguns and rifles, which are often too long in the stock. I think that most women can handle the recoil of a 7mm Mag or .300 Mag, if the rifle fits them properly.

The point at which most women (of average size or smaller) cannot handle rifle recoil, (IMO) starts in the .338, with 250gr bullets. Now the issue becomes one of their lacking the upper body mass to absorb the energy of recoil, so they would need several more pounds in the rifle itself (like a 13 to 14lb rifle instead of a 8 to 9lb rifle).

I like using heavy bullets for game. Kinetic energy is 0.5*m*v^2. Since velocity bleeds off with distance, you're losing downrange energy at a rate squared.

Bullets don't often lose mass on the way downrange. So nice, heavy bullets retain more performance downrange. Small calibers limit your bullet mass - like the .243 has a maximum of, what, 105 to 115gr bullets? That's a pretty light bullet for elk... when we get up to 7mm, we see bullets of up to 160 to 175gr, which works pretty well. I think something like a 7mm08 would be a great rifle round for a lot of women who don't like heavy-recoiling rifles. Same idea as the .243 (necked down .308 case), but in a better hunting bullet selection caliber.

[ruggedindividual]

Well I know it wasn't one of my original choices, but I opted for the Remington 700 CDL in .270 win. Flat shooting, cheap ammo, big enough for elk, perfect for deer and antelope. Can't wait to get it to the range!

Any handloaders here?

[NVDave]

Yes, I handload. Don't have my bench set up yet -- too many other projects to complete after moving before winter.

Last loads I loaded were for a .270 Win. I used the new Nosler "Custom Brass" or whatever Nosler calls it. It is completely prepped - I mean everything is done. All you have to do is shove in a primer, your powder charge, stuff a pill on top and you're done. No neck turning, no primer flash hole deburring, no sizing, no nothin'. Just cap/dribble/stuff and shoot.

Really nice brass. I'd put it up there with products like Norma brass.

Mostly, I handload for the .270, my .338 (what an expensive beast that's getting to be to feed) and pistol calibers. I'm going to start reloading .223 and .308 stuff tho. The cheap surplus ammo is gone...

The only beef I have with a .270 is the lack of target bullet selection. That's where the .280 or .30 has it all over a .270 - target pills. But Berger has just come out with a VLD for the .270, so things are looking up there too.