I am stuck in a decision of what caliber and rifle to get my girlfriend.

I basically have it limited down to these calibers and in order of what I think the best is:
7mm-08
25 06
270
308
243

She would not be making very many long shots, nothing more than 200 yards. With many shots being under 75 yards.

I am not a huge fan of the 243 mainly because of the small bullet size. I know they have killed hundreds of thousands of deer, I just feel its too small of a bullet not getting over 100 grains.

I know 7mm 08 is a bit harder to find ammo. Also has a bit more recoil.

So with that said, what caliber rifle would you suggest for a mid twenties, small frame female? I plan to shoot quite often with her this summer, As I shoot weekly and from what I have seen with her pistol, archery, muzzelloader shooting, she should be a dynamite shooter.

I know form is most important, and we have been starting out with .22, 17, .223 to help her not get gun shy and eventually to her deer gun.

This is nothing more than a deer stand gun, no walking etc. Going out west she would much rather go with her bow anyways. (score) lol

Any help and info would be fantastic!

Have a great day!

My neice loves her .243. Basically the same scenario.  Very few long shots, mostly under 100 yds.   She has been using it for quite some time now.  She switched from a 20 ga shotgun to it. My brother on the other hand does not like his.  
Don't know about the .270, but some in our family use the .308 with good success.

Why not a 30-30 ammo everywhere,not much kick less than all except the 243 you mentioned.The marlin mod 336 is a nice rifle,Groved for a scope or open sights.Could even put a recoil pad on it.




 

you could also try a rem. 280 it is basically a 7 mag with much less recoil but still has all the power of the 7 mag. it is the sweetest shooting gun i own sub MOA at 100 yards with reloads. wife used it for hunting before we had kids and loved shooting it. the shells are a little spendy but reloads make it easier on the wallet.

 Then there are the short mags heres a read on em
http://www.cabelas.com/the-short-mag-revolution.shtml
 I'd still start with the age ole 30-30 proven. 200 yds is a looooong shot for deer and its not a sportsmans shot,The 30-30 will be about 17 inches low sighted at 100 where the long cartridges willbe 8-10 low

how bout a 30.06 with a muzzle break? little louder but the recoil shouldnt be that bad. little more than a 12 ga. i know Brownings X-bolt can get a muzzle break on it and those rifles are amazing.

you shot a bullseye at 200 yards with a 30-30? with a 150 grain bullet??

.270, .30-06, and .30-30 are hard to beat rounds.  Find one that she likes to shoot in a gun that fits her well.

http://youtu.be/-ty68UjUJsQ

Check that out for long range .30-30 shooting.

im sorry man but that was pure luck. i shot my first few deer with a 30-30 and there is no way you can hit a bullseye at 200 yards unless you are aiming atleast 5 ft above the target. its hard to hit a bullseye at 100 yards with those things i will almost guarantee that you can not do that agian. haha i will bet 100 bucks man. that was just a luck shot. 

Go with the 7mm-08 or the 25-06 or a 30-06. that's what I like to use for deer.

 Here's one for yah.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcEvBwMKZ9s" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcEvBwMKZ9s</a>

Hornaday came out with a new ammo for lever action guns that is called leverlution ammo. This was made for tube fed guns because one of the problems was if you used a pointed tip ammo in a tub fed gun it could be possible for the point to set off a primer in the tub that is why most of your tub fed ammo has a rounded tip so hornaday put rubber tips on this ammo to eliminate this problem. They are getting some very good results from this ammo 200 plus yards from a 30-30.

I don't know much about calibers and such. My suggestion, if possible, is go somewhere to shoot a few guns and see what she's comfortable with and what she likes.

Well Chris sure got a lot of opinions.  Hope he can figure out now what to get.

I used my 12g the first two years I hunting. I could hit the bulls-eye at 100 yards consistently with open sites. 150 and it started getting off target.