I am looking for suggestions for a gun/caliber for our primitive season. Regulation in picture. I want something to shoot out to 200 yards with minimal recoil for the wife. Looking at possibly a cva scout but open to all suggestions for guns and calibers that fit the Regulation.

I had a .54cal scout. It was a muzzle loader. I loved it but by those rules I would go with a breech loader of some type. Just my .02.

well Remington and Henry teamed up to fit this almost to a T
https://www.henryusa.com/rifles/single-shot-rifle/
360 buck hammer

it is basically a modernized 35rem since that stuff is hard to come by
the 360 buck hammer is one of those cartridges that was purpose built to fill the primitive part of many states game laws

if you didn't add , to 200 yards 44mag or several others could have filled the slot , but many of them with lower recoil just won't get to 200 well.

You need to choose. 200 yard capable or low recoil. Of course low recoil is different to different folks. What is her idea of low recoil?

CVA scout in .35 Whelen meets all the requirements except low recoil.

It doesn't have to be low recoil, just want the minimum amount of recoil to reach 200.

I don't believe 200 will be achieved

Ruger #1 or Thompson Contender/Encore. A ton of caliber choices available in both. 35 Whelen or 350 Remington Magnum would probably be my first choices off the top of my head for lower recoil with the 35 caliber requirements. There are a lot of less common calibers available in those guns, or wildcats also.

The 200 yard requirement is really stretching muzzleloaders or most of the straight walled cartridges, unless you are going to adjust for windage. Going 35 caliber or above you have to move into a decent sized bottle necked case to get an acceptably flat shooting cartridge, which increases recoil. If you are worried about the recoil you can always add either a muzzle break or a suppressor.

44mag will get you to 125 or so with minimal recoil , easy ammo availability , easy availability of guns.

I ran some 200gr xtp over the chrono and coming in right at 2k fps average from my 18 inch barrel rifle ruger carbine that would not qualify for primitive but gets data.

the xtp has a bc of .170

running some numbers if you have an optic that is 2 inches above center of bore a common height.
working on the 2 high through 2 low is close enough
you are zero at 25 yards 2 inches high at 75 and 100, then 1 low at 150 4 low at 175 and 8 low at 200

that gets you 0-160 in the 2 up 2 down range and that will cover a Lot of deer hunting

Didn't say anything about straight walled cartridge unless I missed it

it did not
and a 358win would work well to fit , except that I don't know of anyone making one in a single shot and ammo is harder to find

with a bunch of states requiring strait wall , manufacturers try and hit both strait wall and primitive with one round like 360 buckhammer

That works, dialing isn't an issue if needed

If its like most hunting now a days as in drive up to a blind and have a rest to shoot from, get her a single shot in 35rem up to 35 whelen and add some lead to it. That calms them right down as far as "kick".

I don't think a Ruger #1 would qualify. The way I read it the gun has to have an exposed hammer. As a matter of fact, I don't think muzzle loaders would qualify the way the rule is written.

It has to be a true muzzleloader or meet this reg

Here's the entire thing however I'm only interested in single shot rifles.

Ah, there it is. Thanks.

I think I would use this as an excuse to look into a single shot rifle over shotgun combo if they make one that fits the rifle requirement. .44 mag over 12ga maybe? Just cuz I've always wanted one.

I would consider a 45-70 in an H&R single shot or something similar. They also make it in a 38-55. My H&R Buffalo Classic is very tame to shoot with 300 GR HP. 405's aren't a lot of fun though.

My Encore in 357 Max will meet your requirements----single shot, 35 Cal, exposed hammer, 200 yards but thats about the end of the road, not much recoil.

However, I wouldnt recommend that cartridge specifically. Since you arent required to have straight wall, get a bottle neck cartridge. Whether you reload or not might come into play. After that, all you need is the frame and MGM or something similar barrel