Lots and lots of very sensible and sage advice, none of which can I argue against, but I come down firmly on the side of
@L Ross and his sensibilities, while applauding his dissertation on astute observations. If he's wrong, then I'm wrong.
I will turn a blind eye to all the sense that all other suggestions make and throw in with two previously-made suggestions, ignoring my own personal preferences - which I have actually done in reality and subscribed to these two as my personal choices for ME, since I have always been attracted to anything anyone else refers to as "great for the younger hunter, the ladies, or those of short stature and deficient of recoil tolerance" anyway. I am also a sucker for "purty," though I CAN forego that aspect. The 30-30, which can be replicated easily with a 308, and the 7.62x39 - in a very specific bolt-action rifle.
A CZ 527 YOUTH Carbine in 7.62x39.
Short, light, easy to shoot, accurate, a shoo-in for cast, CLASSY as all get-out and soon to be very hard to find.
The former is one I picked up after I'd settled on the 30-30 for myself, because I love the Mauser actions and that diminutive version thereof is cute as a bug and absolutely wonderful. I've shot the two side by side and decided that for myself, the 30-30 is going to be my ONE 30 Cal., yet I haven't gotten in a big hurry to move the CZ because it's such a joy to handle and behold. I have a 527 in 222, which I've bedded into a youth carbine stock too - I like it THAT much. Now that they are discontinued, I sort of quietly pulled it off the table and stuck it in the back of the safe. I've been on a very brutal purge for a few years now, but what if I want another of these in a few years? A bird in the hand? No other gun I owned, which was not severely pragmatically useful to me survived the cut - as hard as that was.
But then a Ruger 77 International or Ultra-Light in 250 Savage, or a Model 7 in 35 Remington, or....
Maybe, since the 527 is now discontinued, my sense of utter pragmatism is tainted, but if someone wants a real Mauser today, this miniature of that exemplar is the last vestige thereof and may be one's last chance to grab one. I absolutely adore this action and the balance of the parts which make up each model for which CZ used it as a base, but especially the Carbine and Youth Carbine.
As sexist as it may seem, I can't think of a gal I could hand that rifle to who wouldn't love it.
