Rifle calibre for the little lady which is recoil friendly

[Pom]

I'm shopping for a new rifle for myself at the moment which has spurred the misses into taking up some shooting with me.

Wanting some advice on a recoil friendly rifle for her which is still pretty versatile.

In the past I've been shooting .270+ stuff which is what I'm shopping for now for myself, but it's too much recoil for her.

Don't really want to get her a .22 cause she'll be limited in what she can shoot. I don't want to be doing 500m shooting while she's stuck at 50m etc.

It will be mostly for range days, and perhaps a little hunting at some point.

I don't really have any experience with the gap between .22 and .270 so not sure where we might start her off.

Thoughts?

Cheers.

[Kater]

.223 then? Doesn't get much softer than that for recoil.

.243 if you/she want something bigger for hunting more?

[Aster]

Hunting will be your decider if she's serious about getting our there.

If you're just busting bunnies anything will do...

.22 mag, .17 hmr, .223, 22-250 swift etc. will all do the job with minimal recoil.

Above that you'd need to figure out what you're hunting for any suggestions to be worthwhile. Foxes, goats, pigs, deer etc. are all steps up from each other in terms of calibre required so that will affect your decision.

.243 is pretty tough to beat IMO as a all-rounder, and is about 30% less recoil or so than a .308 in my experience. If she can handle that, great. But if she's never going to need that much powder for game get her something from the .22* family.

[Herdsman]

If the furthest you're shooting is 500m then .223 with do the trick and be friendly as for recoil.

Obviously plenty of puff for varminting too.

Should cover her for everything to start. If she wants to hunt bigger game in time then you've got the perfect excuse to buy a new rifle

[Lorgar]

.243 is pretty tough to beat IMO as a all-rounder, and is about 30% less recoil or so than a .308 in my experience.

Bit less recoil that that even I reckon.

My GF is pretty small and she handles a .243 Ok. Good and the range and can hunt deer in VIC with it (hog,fallow and chital anyways...)

22-250 is solid as well if you have to go with something smaller.