Background. My grown daughter is an avid hunter (for someone who works, is a full time student, etc.). So I guess you can say, she goes hunting when she can. She has taken a whitetail buck a few years back with her rifle, shot under one a couple of years back with her brother's rifle. Wants to kill a hog, you get the picture.
I bought her a Savage Hog Hunter in .308 about 5 years ago or so. She is shooting full power ammo (my reloads) and recoil is not an issue but the Savage has a pretty thick barrel and some heft to it which mitigates the recoil somewhat. But she commented on this past weekend's hunt that she would like a lighter rifle. I just weighed the Savage and with scope (Bushnell 1-5x32), Ken Farrall 1" rings, Griffin can (the SS baffle and Aluminum can), sling, cheek pad and 5 rounds of .308 weighs in a shade over 10lbs. I'm guessing stripped it's an 8lb rifle.
She doesn't care for the AR platform, she likes bolt guns. Finding a lighter rifle is not a problem but finding one with enough punch without a substantial increase in recoil.
I've shot some kid sized, lightweight .243 rifles that had a pretty good kick. And the single shot rifles are out. Even though I've taken a pretty good sized buck with an AR in 5.56, I think she needs more than that.
So, I'm thinking about one of the rifles chambered in 7.62x39. Most of our shots are limited to 70-80 yards at most. But a 150-200 yard shot could come up occasionally. Her first dear was a 120 yards.
I've looked at the Ruger Ranch, the Howa, the Zastava and the CZ. Only the Ruger and Howa are threaded.
But then I saw that they all are also chambered in a 6.5 Grendel.
And there's the option to rebarrel the Savage but I'm not leaning in that direction because when I buy her a new rifle, Pops gets the Savage.
So what do you guys think? Thanks.
I bought her a Savage Hog Hunter in .308 about 5 years ago or so. She is shooting full power ammo (my reloads) and recoil is not an issue but the Savage has a pretty thick barrel and some heft to it which mitigates the recoil somewhat. But she commented on this past weekend's hunt that she would like a lighter rifle. I just weighed the Savage and with scope (Bushnell 1-5x32), Ken Farrall 1" rings, Griffin can (the SS baffle and Aluminum can), sling, cheek pad and 5 rounds of .308 weighs in a shade over 10lbs. I'm guessing stripped it's an 8lb rifle.
She doesn't care for the AR platform, she likes bolt guns. Finding a lighter rifle is not a problem but finding one with enough punch without a substantial increase in recoil.
I've shot some kid sized, lightweight .243 rifles that had a pretty good kick. And the single shot rifles are out. Even though I've taken a pretty good sized buck with an AR in 5.56, I think she needs more than that.
So, I'm thinking about one of the rifles chambered in 7.62x39. Most of our shots are limited to 70-80 yards at most. But a 150-200 yard shot could come up occasionally. Her first dear was a 120 yards.
I've looked at the Ruger Ranch, the Howa, the Zastava and the CZ. Only the Ruger and Howa are threaded.
But then I saw that they all are also chambered in a 6.5 Grendel.
And there's the option to rebarrel the Savage but I'm not leaning in that direction because when I buy her a new rifle, Pops gets the Savage.
So what do you guys think? Thanks.
