Both of my girls started off, and are still shooting, a Ruger M77 Hawkeye compact in .243. My oldest (now 18 yrs old) killed her 1st deer with it back in 2013 at age 12...she now has my first rifle, a Remington 700 ADL in .243, that my dad got me when I was 14. My youngest, now 13, killed her first deer 2 years ago, with the same Ruger .243. She loves shooting it...any time we get ready to go to the gun range, she asks to take it. She went through probably 5 boxes of shells over the summer shooting it. But, I do believe she would shoot anything I'd let her shoot; she's not scared of any recoil.