Low Recoil Rifle for Wife

M

MAGorSIG

Inactive
Hello. As you can see, this is my first post to THE FIRING LINE. I have gained a lot of insight into various topics since I have begun visiting this site. Now I have a question of my own and look forward to any advice or help anyone can provide. I am looking for a rifle with the lowest felt recoil for my wife to be used for bear defense. I am considering a Marlin .44 Magnum; one model comes with a 16 1/4" ported barrel and another comes with a 20" non-ported barrel. Does anyone have any advice about these or any other rifles?
 
The ported model will have less recoil, less muzzle flip, but lots of muzzle blast/noise, but will handle easier than the longer rifle. The longer rifle will kick a little more, will have a little higher velocity, but won't be as loud.
 
For a while I had one of those Ruger semi-auto carbines in .44 Mag. It didn't seem to have noticeable recoil of any significance.

You talking black bears? Probability of relative small ones?

Art
 
I'd op for the 20" Marlin. Shooting a ported .44 Mag even one time without hearing protection can permanently damage your hearing. Personally, I can't understand the popularity of ported firearms. They're fine at the range, but in the field wearing ear plugs constantly is very inconvenient.

Like Art "Art of the Rifle" Eatman suggested you might consider Ruger's new semiauto .44 Mag 99/44 Deerfield Carbine. Looks like a handy little rifle, semiautos have less felt recoil and in a bear attack or panic situation a semiauto would be easier to shoot. -- Kernel
 
How about the Remington Model 7 in .243 Win. or .260 Rem.? Both calibers are more powerful than the .44mag in a small handy rifle, although the Marlin would have more shots. By bears, I hope you are talking about black bears and not grizzlies. If you are talking grizzlies, you'll need a bigger gun and none of the rifles mentioned so far will fit the bill.
 
Have the 16-1/4 Marlin 1894P. Great little rifle, recoil is not bad. Can give a thumbs up.
Most shops have bunches of lever actions why not take her to a couple and see which one fits her. Winchester makes some very nice carbine models in .44 Mag and other calibers as well. A rifle which properly fits the shooter will greatly aide in reducing felt recoil.
Take Care
 
Black bears

Just wanted to let ya'll know that I'm dealing with black bears in the range of 200 to 450 pounds. Of course, I could be dealing with some quite a bit bigger; the state record in North Carolina is 800+ pounds and we are only a few counties over from where that bear was shot. From the tracks I've gotten, ours seems to be anywhere from 300 to 400 pounds, but could fluctuate depending on their traveling habits. Thanks for all the advice, and I would appreciate any additional info. you may have.
 
I agree with the others who mentioned the new Ruger Deerfield .44mag semiauto. A friend at our range just got one. Very accurate and very little recoil. Lightweight and handy. Easy to carry. She would not have to deal with a lever to fire multiple shots...just keep pulling the trigger till the bear is down or gone. That would be my suggestion, but I'm definitely no expert. Good luck with those bears. L
 
If there's serious chance of runnung into a bear, I'd be more inclined to a Marlin in 45-70 than a 44 mag. Though the recoil may be a bit punishing, it's quite a bit less than the punishment a P*ssed off bear is likely to hand out.
Just my 2 cents.
 
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