Wife wants her own deer rifle. She's a little thing so I'm going with a youth model Savage Tropy Hunter 11. She shoots my 30-30 just fine and can handle a 12ga pretty good. I was originally thinking of a 243, but now i'm leaning towards a 7mm-08. How much difference in recoil is the 7mm-08? Thanks

They are both very mild. She should have no trouble given she shoots the .30-30 and .12 gauge with no issues.

In between the two is the .260 Remington (also based on the .308 WCF). Just a thought.

That rifle weighs 8.25 lbs, and with a 1 lb scope that's a total of 9.25 lbs.

243 Win with 87 grain bullet @ 3200 fps
Velocity= 7.08
ft/lbs= 7.20

7mm-08 with 140 grain @ 2800 fps
Velocity= 8.83
ft/lbs= 11.21

Going up from a 243 to a 7mm-08 in this example is a 55% increase in recoil.

I'm using this website for calculations: http://www.handloads.com/calc/recoil.asp

Just looking at the recoil tables, both the .260 Remington and 7-08 are going to have more recoil than the .30-30, so I'd think twice about moving up to them.

And my experience is that rifle weight makes a huge difference in felt recoil -- as does a good thick recoil pad. People who give small shooters a light rifle are making a mistake IMO.

Both are great deer cals. My daughter started with a .243, She moved up to a 7mm-08 this year with no problems and she's a small gal.

Get the Hornady "LITE" factory loads. They have the Hornady SST bullets and kill deer and blackbuck DEAD.

there are simply a huge amount of .243's out there. Try and have her shoot some.

A 30-30 will kill deer. A .243 will kill deer. A 7mm-08 will kill deer.

There aren't bad choices, just your wife's preferences.

I would have her shoot a .243, and if she liked it, I'd get one of them. I'm the minority on this forum, and I don't see the real benefit of the 7mm-08 over other common calibers. Nothing wrong with it, its nice to have whatever you want and all that. They pretty much all will kill deer.

I'd worry more about finding a rifle that fit your wife.

IF I was you, I'd get the .243 ; fine deer rifle for her, and YOU can run 58 grain rounds in it for varmints & target shooting - fun!

suppressor ftw

you can do the same w 100gr 7mm projectiles and have better top end bullets as well

I vote 7-08

I recommend either the 243 with good deer (read not varmint) bullets, or a 7-08 with reduced recoil loads

I have both. My thoughts when reading your original post, was that there is a noticeable difference. My 243s are very mild while the 7mm-08 has a pronounced (but manageable) kick with both 120s and 140s. Chad's data seem to jive with what I feel on the "felt difference."

I would be cautious and go .243, it will do the job well and will be more enjoyable for her to shoot; 7MM-08 has plenty of punch, especially for a gal.

7mm-08.

If it's too much recoil, look at installing a muzzle brake. I'm prepping to do that with my .30-06.

True. But it's all kind of relative. Given that the vast majority of 12 year olds have no issues shooting a 7mm-08 (unless their recoil-shy parents have scared the chit out of them), I'm thinking she will be fine whatever she chooses.

Put my 8 yr old boy on my XBolt 7mm-08 this year. He loves it. Killed two this year with it. Says to him it has no kick at all.

FWIW my son is very tall and lanky. Not a shred of fat on him just to let ya know his body frame.

Got my daughter a .308 with factory muzzle brake from Weatherby (Vanguard 2 youth model). It is very similar to her .243 on recoil (without muzzle brake). I like the .308 caliber over the 7MM08 only because ammo is easier to find (same with .260). Out to 100 yards, the .308 has enough power to hunt Elk with great confidence and many would say out to 200 yards. Also, it is easy to find very cheap fmj ammo to practice with.

Did you start your college age daughter off with a 30-06? Just saying... I'd care more about where they can put the bullet rather then caliber..but most kids it's the sound more then recoil

If the OP's wife can handle (effectively) a 12ga

7-08, 260 or 6.5 creedmoor is a great choice, but nothing wrong with 243 either.


My wife uses creedmoor, 25-06, 257wby but she is also 5'10

Rifle fit will make a huge difference in felt recoil for her rifle, if she can handle a 12 ga a 7-08 that fits her well should make a great deer rifle for her.

Not a thing wrong with a good accurate 243!

Also women tend to have longer trigger pulls then one would think. They tend to be longer necked

That weight didn't sound right so I went over to the Savage site and it says 7.25 pounds for the .243 and 7 pounds for the same rifle in 7mm-08. But that just makes things worse.

The .243 is fine.

But arguing the punishing recoil of the 7mm-08, talking about muzzle brakes, etc. just makes me chuckle.