Deer hunting rifle for 16 year old girl

I recommend a 6.5 cm with 120's.
My niece used a 6.5x55 with 120s this year. She is 10 and loves it.
Let her choose the rifle after shouldering each one. Nothing increases felt recoil like a poorly fitted rifle.

Actually an AR isn't a bad choice because of the low recoil and adjustable stock. And if you don't like the .223 you can use several other choices. BTW I have used one in .223 while recovering from surgery and killed a 14 pt. 300 pound or so Minnesota buck and a few other deer. Got to make sure it doesn't rattle.

im all about the 243. ive hunted for 40 years with various rifles. mostly 243,6.55x55 and 30-06. only whitetails tho..

after wandering off to 6.5 land and 06 country im back to the 243. I honestly think I only wandered away from the 243 because it killed deer with such boring regularity.

I built a custom 6.5x55 rifle a nd it was nice. very accurate and it killed deer just fine. then went to a 30-06 for awhile, worked well but neither seemed to throw deer on the dirt like the 243. have killed dozens of deer with all 3 cartridges.

for deer under 250lbs ill never feel undergunned with the 243 and 100 grn bullets.

My daughter shot her first deer with a .243 BLR at 90 yards. The deer went straight down. She was 16 at the time.

Why not stick with a lever action .44 for her if you and your pals are all leverin' it?


Todd.

You might have her shoulder a Weatherby Camilla then have her do the same with rifles from other manufactures (maybe try different ones with youth and adult stocks). At 16 yrs old she probably isn't going to grow to much more, so the fit of the rifle; length of pull, drop of comb, drop of heal, weight, etc will be really important and be more recoil 'comfortable' to her.

For me Remington 700 stocks fit just about perfect, yet I shoot a Tikka and it's no big deal. That said the regular Weatherby monte carlo stocks and LOP mess with my shooting mojo. But, that's just me. As I've aged, I kind of like shorter stocks then the 13 3/8" LOP that I'm use to.

sharps59 said:

I’m a short action guy myself

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Short actions sometimes limit coal. My rem mag box is 2.81 in my only real complaint. I'd prefer a long action with a short action caliber.

sharps59 said:

I really don’t know what all to tell about her. She’s average size for her age and active in sports. She is my grand niece I’m 67. We where texting about how hunting was going who seen what who got what. With the way the conversation was going I asker her if she had any thoughts on wanting to hunt. She said she would like to. But no one has time to take her for her safety course. So we got permission from my niece for me to help her out. That’s about all I can say. Oh I do not think she has ever fired a gun. And as you can tell my son and I are both competitive shooters. His first deer rifle and still is after 15 yrs was my first deer rifle 94 in 32 spcl.

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If she hasn't fired a gun yet then I suggest getting a 223 first it's low recoil cheap to shoot affords lots of perfect practice. Then go to a larger cal like 243 ...

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sharps59 said:

Can’t hunt deer in Ny w less than 24 cal.

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NY has no caliber restrictions on centerfire rifle cartridges. There is a barrel length of 16" required. Rimfire are not allowed.

Another rifle my 3 daughters used is a lever action 30-30. I think we tried a bolt action .243, SKS, 30-30 .35 Remington pump. I can't remember anymore. Good luck.

Caution. A young lady who is willing to try deer hunting is a precious prize. Please don’t endanger her interest with poor ear protection or excessive recoil.

Never fired a gun? Teach her safe handling and marksmanship with a .22 LR. Then gradually increase rifle power to a hunting caliber. Back off at the first hint of recoil sensitivity. No deer in the world is worth alienating a new shooter.

I’m jealous. No one else in my family is interested in hunting. I envy you the opportunity to help her enjoy this new experience. When she is ready, buy her what SHE wants.

If the budget is tight I'd go with a Savage Axis in .243. Cheap, simple and effective.

If the budget allows around $700 I'd opt for a 6.5 Grendel AR. Very low recoil and a lot of fun to shoot. I'll admit, I like the idea of a nice young lady using an evil AR to hunt with. I can't think of a better way to fight back at the stigma the AR has unfortunately attained these days.

Of what you mentioned, sharps59, in order: 7mm-08, .243, then 6.5 Creedmoor. Others I would add, again in order, are .223, 7x57 Mauser, and .300 Blackout.
If you choose the .223 or .243, bullet placement become more critical. Be sure she's up to it.

Sounds like you may hunt some heavier cover, and being in the North, your deer are larger and heavier than their southern counterparts. I've never been a fan of the .243 on Northern deer. With a heavy-for-caliber premium bullet it absolutely will work, but the 6.5s and 7s will work better when things aren't perfect. Depending on her familiarity with centerfire rifles, either the 6.5 or 7-08 will do nicely. I'd lean towards the 7-08 if she's pretty recoil savvy. Stoke either with a 140ish grain bullet of reasonable construction and you'll be set. If you do not handload, look to the Rem Core-lokt or Hornady interlock. If you do handload, my pick would be a NP or Speer Grand Slam in this weight. If the 7-08 is handloaded for, a slightly heavier 154 Interlock stepped down to 2500 fps will be a mild shooter and deer hammer, mimicking the classic 7x57 spitzer loading.

Not familiar with the modern inexpensive rifle breeds you mention, but all have had good reviews from what I've read. They are sound tools for harvesting whitetail. Pick the one that feels right and spring for quality glass with a low end magnification of 1.5 or 2x and a heavy reticle. Avoid muzzle brakes, they make a centerfire unpleasant to shoot. Avoid picking a rifle that is too light and whippy, also unpleasant to shoot and adds difficulty shooting from field positions.

I would have to say that would be one that she can hit her target at the expected range. Rather girl or boy the selection depends more on the individual than anything else. When I was sixteen, my weapon of choice for dear was a fifty caliber black powder rifle. Quite frankly the rifle was bigger than I was. After Indiana changed its laws I started using a Marlin rifle chambered for 44 Magnum. Keep in mind that my BMI hovers between underweight and "normal" and popular wisdom would say the recoil of the magnets would be "too much" for me. The deer I brought home would argue the point.

The point is, let her know the options and let her choose. At sixteen she needs to learn not only how to choose but the consequences of her choices. And quite frankly, isn't that a big part of what hunting is all about?

Luckily you reload, so that adds some extra flexibility.

When I started my then 12 year old out I went with a REM MOD7 in .260 Rem (Might as well of been a 6.5C) and mounted a Leupold VX3 2-8X on it. My intent was to cry once, and instead of buying a youth rifle/caliber to be outgrown, I wanted something that would be a lifelong tool. That 1st year I loaded 100grn Nosler BTs at 2800 FPS because our longest shot out of our elevated box blind was just over 100 yds and the recoil was mild. The next year I upped the 100s to 3000+ and the 3rd year went to 120s.

All this is to say you can go with a larger caliber and "lite" load it until she grows into it.

I bought a .243 Henry youth single shot for my grandson. Everyone involved seems happy with it. I simply do not buy any of the comments about .243 being too light for deer. Penetration is all about SD and appropriate bullet construction. For deer hunting with a .243, you need look no further than 100 grain Remington PSP core lokt.

All have good comments and J-Bar hit it on the head. Teach her how to shoot using a .22LR preferably similar to the hunting rifle you intend to get her. My daughter-in-law and both grandkids shoot 7mm-08. I downloaded some rounds for my grandson when he was 7 or 8 and he killed deer with that load before he could take the recoil of factory type loads. Whatever you do make it fun for her, don't go to the range for 10 hours, and I wouldn't think you would. You have a great opportunity to teach a new shooter and make another deer hunter. All 3 of my grandkids shoot, the oldest in 4-H competition. Another gun to think about is an AR in .300BLK

Henry Single Shot in 243 with a lot of range time. Teach the value of one shot one kill.

At 16 my daughter used a Weatherby Vanguard Youth/Compact .243. Got her a 7mm-08 first but she didn’t like the recoil, .243 recoil didn’t bother her. Contrary to some opinions in this thread I believe a .243 is plenty for deer, and hogs too for that matter.

30-30 has close to the same recoil as .243, I think a little less actually with everything else being equal. Not a bad choice at all IMO. When my daughter started deer hunting I would not hear of using .223. I’ve changed my mind and an AR would be easy to get her in to.

I already knew it but the brief time I sold firearms hammered home the fact women and men are built differently. If they had been out at the time my daughter started she’d be using a Vanguard Camilla or Lady Savage, whichever felt most comfortable to her, though I like the Camilla better. There are exceptions as always, I’ve been around and sold to women needing LOP longer than most men. Anyway most women need a higher comb than men, a $25.00 comb riser did the trick for us.

I am not a fan of muzzle brakes on hunting rifles. I tend to avoid mine and use something suppressed instead.

I have most of the calibers listed so I wouldn’t say they are “bad” choices. One of my old ones that has always worked well is model seven in 7-08. I was too cheap back then to have it rebarreled to 7mm BR so I just downloaded my reloads to mimic the 7BR. Lots of success on deer and hogs over the decades, sometimes even more success than when using “better” rounds but without as good of a bullet choice.

I’d take a 7BR with a Partition over a .308 with a Core-lock, every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Any of the calibers that you listed would be fine. Many of my friends Daughters and Wives shoot deer with the smaller calibers successfully. They range from,223, 22-250, 220 Swift and 243. One girl shoots a 257 Roberts just to be different. The 6.5CM is a good cartridge but being new on the scene I wonder if it will stand the test of time and still be here down the road. The recoil on a 7-08 may be more noticeable that She wants.

My Grandson is killing deer with a 223 but there is a 308 waiting on deck as soon as he grows into it.