Well today we shot a 243, 7mm-08, & 6.5. All belonging to friends. Used low recoil ammo on the 7mm-08, not sure what grain. 6.5 was 129 grain something. 243 used 90 or 100 grain. The 243 was the lowest recoil. All guns were compact with composite stocks. We even weighed them to see & they were all within 13 oz. of each other. With that said the 243 was a hit with my daughter. I'm sure its due to the low recoil. With that said the spot we will be going to hunt has a max of 200 yards. I was a little hesitant of the 243 but I've read enough now to be confident it can do plenty of damage within 200 yards. She can always graduate to another rifle later if we need to. Most importantly she was thrilled with the gun we shot & by the end of it was a heck of a good shot. I really wanted to push the 6.5 cm to see what the fuss is about but I also want her confident & happy. Thank you fellas for all the input. I will say after shooting the 6.5 I bet I end up with one just to have.