Posted on 03/13/2010 6:31:17 PM PST by RepRivFarm
My last daughter is getting ready to go deer hunting this fall. Unlike her two older sister, my youngest is a wee little thing. At 5'2", I believe she will always need a youth model rifle.
My two older daughters both got their first deer using my Winchester model 94 in .44 Magnum. I was able to handload the .44 ammo so that it was very polite during practice. When hunting day came, I game them full strength loads....and in the excitement of the hunt they never felt the recoil.
While my model 94 worked great for my two young amazons, with its long barrel and stock, she just can't handle it properly. So if I purchase a rifle for her....its gotta be .44 magnum.....should I get something like the model 94 trapper and have the stock cut down? Howzabout the old Ruger deerfield? The Henry big boy? Any advice would be welcome. Thanks!
ping
model ninety-six
same size as 10-22 only larger barrel
great gun
Sorry folks, Here’s the only gun you will ever need! http://jellytoast.wordpress.com/
While you may ultimately decide on something entirely different, you might find the columns thought provoking, and lead you to consider some other variables you may not otherwise think of...
IIRC, the columns appeared in the 2006 or 2007 timeframe.
A good all purpose rifle I would recommend is a Marlin 30-30 lever action with a scope. Ammo is still reasonable and in good supply. A good brush gun with some decent knock down power for deer with the right choice of ammo.
If you must use a 44 then the Ruger is first choice because of size. Rossi makes a 16” barrel lever action M-92, which would be a close second. Marlins are excellent rifles though and would be a good one if she could handle it. Henrys have excellent workmanship but are big guns and are not scope friendly.
I would recommend a Weatherby Vanguard carbine youth model in 7mm-08 or 260 Remington. Although the 243 has killed many deer I know of two cases were the deer was dropped but got up and ran away and not enough blood trail to find.
A 20mm cannon with laser sight, tri-pod and remote control would work.
Why not a .308 on an AR 15 style frame? They are light, accurate and the stock can be adjusted to the smallest shooter.
Don’t get a Henry because they are VERY heavy. Good guns, but not something for your little girl.
I think a Marlin is a safe choice here.
I bought Clint Jr the Rem 1100 and he was duck hunting with it when he was 8, got his Shotgun Merit Badge with it at age 12 with a perfect score, 16 for 16. The recoil from an auto 20 semi-auto shotgun is very slight.
As a short guy I know the problems of short length of pull when using rifles built for “average”. You might want to look at the Thompson Center rifles. Another option is the Remington youth Model 7. I got one for my daughter in .260 Rem years ago. Great little rifle, and I love shooting it also. It fits us little folk. I am a custom rifle builder and that is an option. Find a good gunsmith and have a custom rifle built/fit for her. You might be surprised at the reasonable price that one can be customized for her. Check around and see what your local gunsmiths offer.
I know nothing about guns...but wow this was impressive! Three shots a second? THat’s amazing...and never a jam.
The Ruger Deerfield did not get a lot of love from its customers, and there aren’t that many of them around. The original version is the Ruger Carbine and it’s getting rare, and pricey. It is also a nightmare to disassemble it.
Having had both, my ‘perceived recoil’ of .44 Magnum lever guns was about the same as .30-30 lever guns. If you look at the ballistics of the .30-30 compared to a .44 Magnum fired from a rifle, they’re about the same. I had an 1894 in .44 Magnum and I thought it kicked more than a 336 in .30-30.
Your next adventure will be trying to find an 1894 in .44 Magnum. They are not available. I’ve been trying to find one for a customer. None of my distributors have it. You may be able to get it from Henry. I haven’t looked for one.
In conclusion, please don’t chop up an old Ruger Carbine. They’re getting rare. I wouldn’t buy the Ruger Deerfield. You can probably find a used 1894 fairly easily, and then have the stock cut and a Pachmayd Decelerator recoil pad fit to reduce the recoil impulse. You may also want to consider the same rifle in .45 Colt. Since you handload, you can stoke the .45 quite a bit for Marlin riflesm and make it close the .44 Magnum ballistics.
.243
.260
7mm-08
.308
As to all the above-except the .243-Remington now sells what they call a “managed recoil” load in the last 3 calibers that enables the very young and small-framed people to shoot them-and most importantly-shoot them accurately.
I’d look for a youth model in these calibers. She can always get a bigger gun if she needs it later on and a youth version is something that someday maybe her kids can use to learn to shoot.
Good luck, and don’t forget to teach ‘em to fish, too!
Cutting down the stock with only solve part of the problem. Most guns are made for men with big “man hands”. Some of us girls have tiny “girl hands”. Speaking personally, I cannot hold most guns properly and still reach the trigger. I can bend my elbow a little less to account for a longer stock, I can’t get my finger to grow 2 inches on demand. And yes, that’s how far away the trigger was on some of the guns I looked at while shopping for mine. What’s more, none of the salespeople knew what I was talking about when I tried to point that out. They kept offering me shorter and shorter stocks.
To find your girl’s “trigger reach” (for anyone who doesn’t know), measure from the center of the web of her hand, to the contact point of her trigger finger. I have only seen this measurement referred to in handguns, but it is just as important with long guns.
Good luck, and happy hunting!
Suppose she might want to butcher the deer and have some meat to eat...
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