Hello all, well ask for some help a while back for a new bow and ended up buying the Mathews Z7. And HOLy crap i haven't regretted it. lol well kinda considering the hoyt was 250 cheaper. So the reason why im posting this is because now i need some help for a new gun. I own a Win 30-30 and love it. Except its a bush gun. I am looking for something with some range. I have come across the 300 mag. Now i know the 300 is a great rifle and has range, but when it seems who makes the gun everyone has something to say so here are a few guns i have found. 1.MOSSBERG (421) , 2. WINCHESTER (425) 3. SAVAGE (353) 4. RUGER (450) 5. SAVAGE STEVENS (290). In the parenths are the prices. So if anyone has any experience with any of these plz reply.
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Don't you just hate when you have the "itch"? It feels you need to be within 20 yards of a deer with your bow drawn.
If you want a great shooter that is a great gun, but may not be the prettiest, Savage imo is the best choice. Winchester would be my choice if you wanted a gun that was decently accurate, with nice wood.
Make sure if you get the Savage that you get one with the accu trigger as it really is a great trigger. The Stevens 200 is basically the older Savage Model 110 without the Accu trigger. So if it came down to the Savage without the accu trigger or the others, I'd just save my money and get the Stevens as it's basically the same. The big advantage to the Savage line is the great trigger on the accu trigger models.
Savage guns are very accurate, very good quality guns. They just aren't always the prettiest. They do have some with nice wood, but even then they to me aren't the prettiest, but they sure are reliable shooters.
The Rugers are nice looking guns, but most of the time they have a reputation for not being the most accurate.
The Mossbergs, are known for just being okay guns at best and if it's the ATR they have had issues in the past with a bad bolt design and people getting hurt shooting them. This scares me off from the ATR line, especially when you can get a lot more gun for not much more money from Savage.
Definitely the Winchester 70..... but for $450 it is probably left over inventory from before Winchester closed the Connecticut plant. If it is an FNH made Winchester the grab it up quick. If it isn't I would wave just a little more and purchase an FNH made model 70.
Next in line would be the Savage or Ruger. Forget the Mossberg and Stevens.
Now, I know you didn't ask for this advice but you're getting it anyway.
You live in NC and the deer aren't much bigger than the deer we have here in Florida. You stated that you wanted a cartridge that had some "range" to it. You could just as easily get the job done at 400 yards on NC deer with a .243 as you could with a .3oo mag. If you aren't going elk or moose hunting any time soon I would recommend one of the many excellent standard cartridges like the .243, 7mm-08, .25-06, .270 Win, etc... over the .300 for deer hunting.
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I Agree with what BIGBULLS said. dont rush, and dont be close minded. wait it out a little and check out some different calibers. I was going to recommend the .243 or a .308, Tikka T3Lite? you cant broaden these guns? are they whats left on the used lot? goodluck brah
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=- Formerly CKRIMITS -=
LongIsland NEW YORK
Browning BLR .284 and .308 caliber
Hoyt Reflex Ridgeline 60#
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im a n00b @ archery... but a natural. RuLzU
Savage, Stevens, Ruger, Winchester......you're probably going to end up with a straight shooter, just check out the features for yourself and decide what you like.
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I agree that a little more info on what you plan to hunt, and what you consider long range, would be helpful. If you are only hunting deer and want to shoot out to 300 yards or so, a 25-06, 270, 30-06, 7mm-08 or 308 would do the trick. The rifles you listed are on the lower end of the price scale, so I am assuming you are on a budget. Ammo for the standard calibers listed above is cheaper than 300 mag ammo, and you would not have to put up with the extra recoil. If you are going after elk that is another story. If elk is a potential, but not a given, I would go 30-06. You would not be undergunned out west with an 06. If you do get a 300 win. do not get a barrel less than 24 inches. You will loose some of the velocity advantage and greatly increase the muzzle blast. If you get a 300 mag for deer do not buy the cheapest ammo you can find. I have a 300 wsm that I ran 150-grain core-lokts through. They were very accurate in my gun, and I am sure at 200 yards plus would work great on a deer. But the first deer I shot with them was at 75 yards and the bullet blew up. The deer fell over and never twitched, I thought great. When I butchered it there were lead fragments all over the place. I had to throw away a lot of the meat. Could not risk feeding lead to my kids. So now I have to spend even more on ammo for the peace of mind. Or I could, and will, just take my 25-06!
I would tell you to listen to slowdraw, but my two cents would be to save your money and buy a good rifle when your budget allows.
Just like everyone else has said, the deer in North Carolina are not very big and you do not need a cannon to kill one. The .300 Winchester Magnum would be over kill for something where a large deer might weigh 125 lbs and an average deer might only weigh 70 lbs.
I would save my money another year. A good hunter can get to within 50 yards of any deer and maybe what you need to do is to get together with a bunch of other hunters and put on some drives to see deer and then the 30-30 would come in handy for close up shooting.
You can't make up for a lack of experience with a gun that is too big to do the job. Like I always say - dead is dead. It doesn't matter if you shoot them with a .22 or a 416 Rigby. Once they are on the ground, it doesn't matter what you used to kill them with.
Some guns just makes a little more noise and a lot bigger hole.
Neither of which is good if you want to keep your hearing or eat what you shoot.
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