Yes, she did. And after I made this post and we discussed it she is doing the typical "woman's prerogative" and is already starting to change her mind.Your wife told you what she needs/ wants...
I am starting to think this is the direction we're going to end up going in.I'm a small guy with Brittle bone disease and I shoot 308. Here is some of my free advice.
Since she already has a 308 look to lowering that rifles recoil first. Load 155 bergers with a moderate charge of powder.
Add weight to her rifle. 2 pounds makes a world of difference in felt recoil. Lead fish sinkers in the butt or in the forearm. Lead sandbag behind the grip when she shoots.
Harris bi pod on the front swivel stud. Adds a easy quick pound to my rifle.
Get a softer recoil pad and don't sand it to fit. Leave it wider than the butt, may not look pretty but it makes a huge difference in the felt recoil.
Make sure she has excellent ear protection. Sometimes we let that slip and the blast makes the rifle seems like it kicks harder.
Teach her good recoil tech as in making sure the butt is snug against her shoulder and not free recoiling into her shoulder off a rest.
She says she loves her .308 so we're going to adjust some stuff and see if we can make it more comfortable for her.
She said her biggest problem is when we go to the public range... The table portion of the benches are too high and the rifle beats the piss out of her because it sits too high... So I guess a "booster seat" of some kind is in order. Might look at a pad for her shoulder too.
Additionally some of the suggestions you made might be in order... Add weight to the gun... I have enough lead shot to fill the void in the butt stock.
Lighter bullets: She's been shooting 175 SMK's forever. I have some 155 Palma's we can try and run a fairly light charge in them to boot.
Anything to make the bride happy I suppose.
Mike