A few weeks ago, I sat down with my wife and talked about her top handguns as a result of seeing a significant number of prospective first time gun owning women asking for recommendations and me wanting to get a female perspective. The published post drew quite a bit of conversation and several people, mostly ladies, were curious about what my wife had to say about rifles. As a result, I had another chat with my wife and asked her about her favorite rifles. This is what she had to say:
#3 Sig Sauer SIGM400 Elite
This is my wife’s AR-15 chambered for 5.56mm NATO which she loves shooting. When she talked about this rifle she pointed out that it was just really easy to shoot, a lot of fun, and, if push came to shove, something she would be comfortable using for home defense.
This rifle has been topped off with a Vortex Optics Strike Eagle 1-8×24 scope. This scope is a low powered variable optic (LPVO) that my wife has used to punch holes in a lot of targets ranging in distance from 50 to 100 yards with relative ease. She likes to point out that I’m a little jealous of her LVPO and have been itching to replace the LVPO on my AR-15 with it.
She considers this rifle to be a very practical and user friendly rifle. Mainly because of how easy it is to shoot and the relative low cost and high availability of ammunition to feed it.
#2 Savage Arms 110 FCP HS Precision Rifle
My wife’s number two pick is the Savage Arms 110 FCP HS Precision Rifle chambered for .338 Lapua Magnum. Truth be told, she was hesitant to shoot this rifle at first. She found the large magnum cartridge to be intimidating and was concerned the recoil would be too much to enjoy. She held firm to that belief until she actually fired her first round out of it.
Having now shot it, she loves telling people about her experience. In the storytelling process, she loves to point out how large and powerful the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge is and how manageable the recoil is from this rifle. She also loves telling folks how it punched a whole through a steel target like it was butter, almost as if the target wasn’t there at all.
She finds shooting this rifle very rewarding because she knows full well she is in complete control firing a cartridge that demands respect.
#1 Kimber America Hunter Pro
The Kimber America Hunter Pro chambered for 6.5mm Creedmoor (6.5CM) is my wife’s bolt-action deer hunting rifle. She’s grown very interested in deer hunting over the past couple of years and this is the rifle she chose after shooting several different rifles and cartridges while researching and deciding what she wanted in a deer hunting rifle. While she hasn’t actually deer hunted with this rifle yet, she confidently claims this is her absolute favorite rifle.
There are a lot of things she likes about this rifle. She likes that it’s light. She loves the Vortex Diamondback 3.5-10×50 scope she selected to put on this rifle. More than anything else, she loves the 6.5CM cartridge. While she knows full well and admits that this rifle isn’t optimal for anything other than hunting, she finds shooting this rifle to be a very relaxing and fulfilling experience. The rifle is extremely comfortable, soft shooting, and accurate. Whether one is punching holes in paper or ringing steel, it is simply an enjoyable experience.
She is very much looking forward to hunting with it. She also suggests that other women who are looking for a serene rifle shooting experience to try out this rifle specifically chambered for the 6.5CM cartridge.
Closing Thoughts
As my wife and I talked about her experience shopping for both handguns and rifles, she mentioned that the most important thing for her is, when possible, to try before you buy. She’s found that many gun shop employees are very quick to make recommendations that they believe are best for women. While she believes the recommendations come with good intentions, they are different from the recommendations made for men and aren’t always the best recommendations for her. At the end of day, everyone must decide what is best for them and there is no better data to help make that decision than one’s own experience.