Budget Pronghorn / Deer Rifle for my wife?

[Tim1173]

.243 is a great choice. It is light in the recoil department, but powerful enough to take both deer and antelope. I can suggest Remington packages, you will get a good action and a decent scope for a very affordable price. I would think that for the price you can do no better considering that most packages start at around $299.99. With a couple of boxes of cartridges you can get her up and going for under $500.00. This is just my opinion but weatherby and tikka are not budget conscious choices, Remington is a great choice and the price of cartridges is very budget friendly and accurate. Weatherby brass is too expensive for the budget hunter. I have had more success with Remington Core Lokt, than with Weatherby. Once the hype subsides Remington is a very good choice, it has been around a good long time and it is still a quality product.
Hope this helps!
Tim

 

[sjsmallfield]

Although I am a big fan of the .257 weatherby for deer and antelope the amo is crazzy expensive if you don't reload. I would look at the T/C venture in a bolt or the encore if she is dead set on a single shot in .243 7mm08 or .25-06. I have an encore and I love it. The good thing is if she ever wants to bump up in caliber all you have to do is buy a new barrel. I do agree with Dr.HP though you can always use the bolt as a single shot but you can't add more rounds to the single shot. Good luck!

 

[Ikeepitcold]

I picked up a savage 7mm-08 for my daughter but my wife really likes it for herself. $320 at Cabelas new.

 

[Darktimber]

I highly recommend the Weatherby vanguard II in .243 for your application. It come with an accuracy guarantee that most of the other brands don't offer and is just a quality built gun. They are built by HOWA. The .243 is one of the flatter shooting rounds mentioned so far in this thread and is very reloader friendly to. You can shoot a 58 grn pill at nearly the same velocity as a 22-250 for the varmints, or throw an 85-105 grn on and knock the deer and goats flat all day long with it. Components are cheap and readily available for this load. Good luck on your choice.

 

[6mm Remington]

A 6mm Remington or a 25-06 would both fit very nicely, effective, and minimal recoil. The Tikka's are nice rifles as are the Ruger
Hawkey sporters.

 

[Vanish]

Thank you once again for all the recommendations.