rifle for woman

I'm taking some serious notes...thanks everyone, again!
The coyotes around here don't have any problem getting up close and personal. Maybe we have a breed of stupid coyote....they are a favorite target of many folks in this area and are not hard to shoot. As far as me feeling guilty, Nick....I appreciate the concern but the only thing I'll feel guilty about is not thinning the population before I moved my cat out here.
Thanks again!
--f.g.

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At 100 yards (off the bench), I can put 5 .22LRs in less than a 1" group with a Marlin bolt action...if I get a bit out there, and mike all the rims (.22LR is one of the few cartridges that headspaces on the rim, therefore for exceptional accuracy it is helpful to make sure all rims are the same thickness) I can tighten that up a bit.

The first rule of a gunfight is to have a gun...that also goes for farm life, and targets of opportunity. The best guns are those that are easily packable, fairly light, and that you can shoot well. Since coyotes are typically not shooting back, even a .22LR in the boiler room will kill them. Maybe not today, but dead is dead.

Yes, bigger is better, but not everybody shoots bigger calibers well. If you do wish to go bigger, some "mildcats" I like are the .250 Savage, .243, and 22-250. The first two can double as deer rifles.

If you'd like to stick to a .22, the Ruger is a very sound choice, for all the reasons mentioned. A second choice would be a Marlin in .22 Magnum (gives you a bit longer reach, but at the expense of higher priced ammo). CZ makes a fine weapon, but might be a bit more money than you'd lie to spend...I don't think they make even the beech stocked ones for less than $200 wholesale nowadays.

Lastly, if you'd like something very nice in a .22, but a bit pricey, check out Kimber....

buspete My wife is 5' 3" tall and I thought she was short but gee your 5" wife has mine beat hands down

WE have a SKS shorty and the Ruger 10/22. Another good 22 is the youth model carbine Henry Lever Action. Fine rifle right out of the box. I bought DW one with the large loop last Christmas.

Froggirl what did you decide upon?


Kenneth in NC

Good question, Ken....I've been re-reading the posts. I think I'll definitely go for the Ruger and then also look at something a little bigger down the line. Good thing I can revisit this tread....so much good info!
--f.g.

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Chalk me up as another vote for the 10/22. They're hard to beat for the money spent.

I also agree with gilberte. Out to 50 yards, a .22 is fine for coyotes. Further out than that and I'd want a .223 or possibly .243.

Ruger 10/22s are great for the money.

Grapple hook hung from trees about 4 feet offthe ground , bait with meat.

skinner

I really like the iron sighted lever action rugers. they teach the basics, offer great follow-up shot time and are rugged. Giving a shooter a scoped 22 is a waste. Spend $10 on shells and teach them to shoot. if they can't hit dimes at 50 yards it isn't the gun or the shooter but the teachers problem.

Crikey, I said under $1,000 , didn't I? I'm still not sure the Kimber is better than the CZ, but it's close, and only four or six (or eight) times the price of the CZ.
I sort-of agree here. The .243 is a great round.

If you're buying a .22, though, you might as well go for the most popular one - and that's the .223. The .22-250 is more powerful, but not so much more so that it's worth sacrificing the commonality of the military round.

Again, the .243 is great. If I was having just one round, and I was loading my own, that's probably what I'd get. I could load it down to around the hot-shot .22's, or up to a pretty heavy deer-killer. Bullet weight say 55 to 110 grains.

However, I'm not. I like the 6.5x55mm Swede (Mauser). It's effectively the same recoil as the .243. Really - no worse (±5%). Proven long-range performance though. It was designed as a military cartridge back in the days of the .303, .30-06, 8mm Mauser. It's good for anything on the North American continent with the exception of grizzly and maybe moose (from memory, acceptable in Europe for moose too). Choose your shots and it could handle them too.

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ô¿ô Don Armstrong,Terra Australis

Grandad, tell us a story about the olden days, when you were young and men could walk on the moon.

YOWSA!!!
I can't even see a dime at 50 yards. Through a 4x scope it just looks like a shiney spot slightly larger than the area covered up by the intersection of the crosshairs in the scope.

Well, you're right, to a point. Nothing can take the place of practice and it needs to be done if one is to be proficient. My eyesight isn't what it used to be though and I find that the scope is necessary for pinpoint shot placement on those 25 yard and out shots.

I thought we were talking about a new young woman shooter. Not a older person.

Dan,

As a 12 year old boy I use to shoot barbed wire off of fence posted mainly to pee in my dad's wheaty's...No scope.Was tought to shoot by a 23 year vet of the USMC which also helped.

Well, I think I have seen one or two women wearing glasses or contact lenses so I guess vision problems aren't confined to the older population.

i tell you what! some of you fellow are getting less than 1 MOA out of a 22 rimfire.....thats pretty good shooting.

Ruger 10/22 also. If you want a less expensive brand we also have a Marlin that has been very dependable. ..........and use Hollow Points.

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That's what I use for deer. I'm about 5'5", so I had the stock shortened a bit, and it's been great. However, it's my .22 that gets used most often. The key thing for me is it's shorter range, and that it's quiet. I love my .243, but it's just a bit too loud to use when I'm out picking off coop-raiding racoons and ferrel tom cats at 11pm! I'm one of those who would say, if they are that audacious, then at 50 yards or less, a good .22 will take care of a coyote. Granted, he'll still be in one piece rather than spattered across the next acre, but I'd think it will get the job done.

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April

Gardener Chick, Poultry Wrangler, and Goat Mama!

Don't know about the less than one minute of angle thing. I do know that my .22 is very accurate out to about 50 yards or so. I can usually hit a bottle cap 2 out of three times at that distance, course that's with a scope and from a rest.

OneWheelBiting is much better, he can put a flea's eye out at a 1,000 yards, shooting backwards, blindfolded, from an off-hand position

Seriously, The CZ will do it - with limitations. I don't think there's a commercial .22 rimfire round that the CZ won't shoot inside 2.5 MOA at 100 yards. Any worthwhile brand will be under two MOA, and you can reasonably expect 1.5 MOA. Best of all, I don't think there's a CZ for which you can't find a common round that consistently shoots inside one MOA off the bench. It does happen that you need to pick'n'choose to find the brand and model that's right for your rifle, though.

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ô¿ô Don Armstrong,Terra Australis

Grandad, tell us a story about the olden days, when you were young and men could walk on the moon.

Hi all,
Well, my uncle had an old Marlin in his closet so he let me take it home and try it. No scope but that's fine since I never learned to shoot with one.

I printed out a drawing of a coyote from the WDFW web site....it's about 4 inches high. Then I tacked it up on a big alder about 70ft away (I even colored in the bastard's eyes RED). I'm thinking between the distance and the drawing's scale I can get a feel for the real deal.

So far I've hit "it" in the snout and in the butt....not too shabby, huh?! The Marlin is a bit heavier than I would like and it fells a little long but maybe I'm just overly weak and short. I'm still asking Santa for a Ruger for Christmas and a nifty target thingy for my b-day (Christmas babies get 2 presents).
Thanks again for all the input!
--f.g.

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