7TC/U or 7-08??

[jhalcott]

  My wife,who never shoots,has seen a deer that she WANTS to try for! Since this season is over, I'm going to get her shooting a .22 rf and work up to either a 21" 7tc/u or an 18" 708. Her recoil tolerance will tell me when to stop. I'm thinking of a 120 grain bullet in the tc/u and a 139 or 145 in the 7-08. Her shot will be under 100 yards from a ground blind. I have seen pictures of this deer in a drive way near where we hunt. It IS a big deer with about 12 or more points. IF (big IF) he's still around next year I'd love to see the wife get a shot at it. I'd HATE to wound such a deer,so which should I push the wife into ? The 7tc/u or 7-08.?

[Graybeard]

I've killed several with both. The 7 TCU kills were all with a 10" barrel and the 7-08 kills have been from 18.5", 20" and 22" barrels. The 7 TCU using Sierra 130 SSP bullets did the job fine but I shot only does with them never a big buck. The 7-08 kills have been with the Remington factory 140 and Hornady Light Mag 139s. I can highly recommend both as very effective on deer of any size.

My wife uses an original Remington Model 7 in 7-08 with the stock cut to fit her. The gun is one with the 18.5" barrel. I think you'll find that if you don't make her spend too much time at the bench with it she can handle the 7-08 with 140s just fine. Confine most of her bench time to rimfire shooting that's what I do with my wife.

[jhalcott]

  thanks GB. I plan on getting her to begin shooting an air gun in the basement ASAP!

[beemanbeme]

Practice, practice, practice. Especially from positions like she will be shooting from.  I sure you know to keep the sessions short and fun. 

[jhalcott]

  I've got to figure a way to get her to practice! I asked her tonight if she'd "like to shoot a few pellets" in the basement. "No thanks" was all I got. Maybe I can coax her into it by betting on a dinner out on me IF she can at least HIT the big piece on the target frame. She does have a gamblers streak in her heart!!