Don't mean to offend jimyata, so here I go my wife to be wants to start hunting with me. She seems to like bolt actions. So I'm thinking of getting her a bolt 30-06 as a wedding present. I have little experince with bolts. i'm thinking a Winchester 70 simply because I like the old lever '94 winnies. but the newest win I have is a 1981 and I know a lot has changed since . So I was hoping to get y'all's opinion on what I should get her. Weight and length is an issue she is 5'3''

Get the Mod 70 Classic Featherweight in 7-08 and never look back!

I agree, the 06 is a fine cartridge, it will kill anything on this earth, but it may be a little discouraging in the recoil dept. for begining hunters. What are you hunting anyway?

Antelope and elk want to use 30-06 because i have a bunch of ammo for my 742 and 7400 I know the recoil is a bit of an issue but I think she can handle it she has shot my 742 and didn't think it was to bad. any comments on savage arms?

Muzzell...

My wife started hunting with a Remington 700 Sendero Rifle in 308 Win. We stand hunt here in Texas and the rifle had no recoil. As she got used to shooting she took up a M99 in 300 Savage and loves the rifle and cartridge.

Michael

Just a suggestion, if you want to go the 30-06 route would you consider a MagnaPort to reduce recoil.

I can't get my wife interested in hunting, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I bought her a Weatherby Orion over and under 20 ga thinking we might do some upland bird hunting over dogs. I even had the gun registered in her name to get her excited about the fact it's her gun. The only time she tried to shoot the gun she missed a 4' X 8' sheet of plywood from 20 yards - 3 times. She is a light framed woman and she didn't complain about recoil but she did complain about the noise. Now I am trying to convincer her she needs a 257 Roberts. She knows she can't shoot any of my rifles. If your wife is interested I wouldn't want to discourage her with too much gun.

I don't own a Savage but the guys I know who do think it's good value, especially the AccuTrigger models.

I was looking at those accutriggers and liked them she tends to like loud noises and recoil from my 30-06 doesn't bother I'm thinking the savage might be the way to go but haven't heard alot of good about savage, so any comments would be more then welcome. Thanks Matt

Put a good recoil pad on it, and cut the stock to the correct length.

I think that the '06 is a bit much for a beginner, personally.

I agree with most, the 06 is a bit much for a beginner. And Mag-na-porting will give you a SLIGHT reduction in recoil, it is more for the reduction of muzzel flip. A good brake will do more. I can understand you wanting to use up the ammo, but the 7-08 sugestion is the best way to go. Most beginners are close range hunter and the 7-08 with 160 or 175 will do the job on elk and the 140 are awsome goat loads. :)

like I said recoil doesn't seem to bother her much, where we elk hunt were shooting 30-50yrs however the goats are about 200 so I need to get her a versital gun. my bigger question is what is who makes the better bolt action. Thanks for your responces. Matt

muzzell, myself and another friend have Savage rifles and I don't think you can go wrong with them. Even though their price is generally lower than the other manufacturers, I think their quality is right up there. Mine is about 12 years old and my friends is about 30 years old and both of them are very accurate and have had no problems. Mine is a .308 and will put my handloads into less than 1/2 minute. I haven't ever talked to any Savage shooter at the range that didn't like their rifles. Good luck in whatever you choose.

My advice is to get her something along the line of a proper length 243, 2503000 etc. of med weight. 06 is a great ctg, but more than a small woman will want to handle straight out of the chute. Better to start light and work up. If you must go with an 06 or 308, etc. do yourself a favor and find a good hand loader if you are not one yourself to work up some light loads to start with for her familarization with the weapon. Have started a couple of females this way who became good shots and who promote shooting and hunting.

Good luck! Paul

I would have to go with the 7mm-08 or 308 as a choice. The 308 will work for elk and both can be had in rifles suited for a smaller frame without giving up anything.

If you go the 30-06 route, make sure the stock lenght-of-pull (LOP) is adequate for a person 5'3" with short arms. About 12.5" or 13" should be OK, but measure her. Since you'll probably have to cut the stock, cut some more and install the biggest, softest recoil pad you can find. I believe something called Sorbothane is about state-of-the-art in recoil pads now. Also go with the shorter barrel, 20"-22" if heavy, maybe up to 24" if slender. (The barrel, not your wife. :D ) All that weight waaay out there is difficult to handle for short people.

I'm short and fairly stout, and fitting the gun to me made a huge difference in my ability to shoot well.

Good luck! :cool:

sounds like the 06 is fine with her,go with that,if it gets to be to much,put a thicker pad on it and have a brake installed,if she likes the 742 than most everything else will seem not as harsh to her,as long as the weight is the same or more it on the new gun,it should work out fine.i have been using savage actions for custom builds for years,most in left hand,remmington stoped making theres for a bit when i started,so i used what i could get and that was the savage.i haven't found a bad one yet and as far as there barrels go,they gauge better that the rest of the factory ones.the barrel nut on them make it easy to tighten up head space when you need to as long as you don't have sights on the gun and just use a scope.the price for a 111 or 112 is better than most and as a gunsmith point of view it is easy to work on.the acu-trigger is great and i just put a after market trigger with the same works on my old bench savage 110 custom,2 1/2 crisp out of the box,i need to see what i can do with this thing.

Antelope and elk want to use 30-06 because i have a bunch of ammo for my 742 and 7400 I know the recoil is a bit of an issue but I think she can handle it she has shot my 742 and didn't think it was to bad. any comments on savage arms?
I've shot the 742 and 760 and the 700 BDL in .30/.06 . It may be just me but the semi auto doesn't seem kick near as hard as the pump and the bolt action. But if it is just me disregard what I just said. As far as Savage goes I own 2 and havent had a bit of trouble.Just my .02$

I've shot the 742 and 760 and the 700 BDL in .30/.06 . It may be just me but the semi auto doesn't seem kick near as hard as the pump and the bolt action. But if it is just me disregard what I just said. As far as Savage goes I own 2 and havent had a bit of trouble.Just my .02$

The semi-autos do tend to kick a bit less, hence the popularity of the Remington 1100 / 1187 shotguns.

By the way.... might ask her what she wants.... if she has a strong opinion, worth considering. Upon further reflection, I'd say the .257 Roberts at the low end through the 7mm-08 at the top end, with the .260 & 6.5x55 in between. A .270 has a surprising amount of bark in a short, light gun, IMHO, not a great improvement on the '06 recoil-wise. Buddy had a Win 70 featherweight in .270 and it just kicked the crap out of you, until I put a Decellerator pad on it, anyway.

Don't agree with the porting/muzzle brake route at all. Lighter, effective cartridges can be had - and muzzle blast causes flinching in new shooters (the rest of us get 'tougher' ears over time, hearing loss in other words).

hey guys thanks again I think I will go with the bolt savage but first i'll take her out with a buddy bolt and see how she likes it
matt