Help Us select our "deer rifles" for next year.

[BoneCollectors]

My wifes first year deer hunting. My first year with my own rifle..

I grew up hunting with 12 gauges, so this will be my first year with my own rifle. I have shot many rifels, .308, .30-06, .270 etc, during deer season, but this will be my first deer-slayer

Since this is a Hunting forum, thought I would get better answers instead of posting it on a normal Rifle forum. Not ot mention we love the outdoors, so expect to see us both around here alot

i wish we could use the same rifle, but she said she wants one she can call her own, but that i can use if I ask here haha. so here we go..

Price is a factor. Looking at spending no more than 7-8 hundred a piece, preferably around 600 if possible. Scopes not included, will get those later.

We live in SC, where the deer are not huge either.

Club has open shots ranging out to around 250-300 yards. One field in 600 yards across, and a powerline section is aup to 400 yards. Also have a bunch of 100-150 yards wood shots in pine lanes... of course we have normal hardwoods also.

She wants a light recoil so for her I was looking at:
6mm Remington
.25-06
.243
7mm-08

For myself I am also leaning towards a lower recoiled rifle, since the deer here arent that big. so my choices were

.25-06
6mm Remington
7mm-08
.270
.280

My main 2 picks are
either the 6mm for her and the .25-06 for me
or
the .25-06 for her and the 7mm-08 for me

What do you guys think?

I like the 6mm and .25-06 because they are not widely used, and it would be cool to own rifles that not alot of people here use. Most of my hunting biuddies and people I know use 7mm-08, .270, .30-06 or .308

Biggest Question would be...

How does the 6mm Rem stand up on deer and ranges I listed?
Who makes a 6mm Rem and .25-06 in my price range?

Anything you would add to help us out? Like I said, not sold of these, but really liking them.

Thanks

[GTOHunter]

First of all I would check out a chart showing all the Calibers You listed and see exactly what kind of recoil each Caliber Rifle will have using that said Rifle and what grain bullet You'll be using?

I love my .243 Browning...it has low recoil and is one very accurate Rifle,I've used a 30-06 all the years while growing up and simply love the .243 caliber and it has taken down every Deer I've shot with it including 2 nice Big 8-Point Bucks.

I bought me a Savage 7mm-08 Bolt-Action Model GCNS 11 with the wood stock 2 years ago using Winchester 140 grain bullets,the recoil isn't that bad on the 7mm-08 but I went out and I bought a box of the Remington Managed Recoil shells in 140 grains to switch over to when I finally run out of the Winchester ammunition.Last year I shot a nice 8-Point Buck with it and this year I put down a Big 11-Point Buck right in his tracks broadside at 75 yards with it.I can't brag enough on the Managed Recoil shells to lower the recoil in a Bolt-Action Rifle.

I think the 6mm Rifle would be a very good choice to use for Deer Hunting...as far as the 25-06...Your going to have some pretty good felt-recoil from that caliber if I'm not mistaking?

[nchawkeye]

.243 for both...

I'm in NC and been hunting with mine since 1980, it's a wonderful round and does a great job on deer...Go shopping for bullets for some of those other rounds and you'll be shocked...I use 100gr Remington CoreLokts and stocked up years ago...They can still be found at Dicks on sale for $16.99 plus Remingtons $2.50 a box off when you buy 2 boxes...

If you don't mind more recoil the .270 or .308 fit the bill...

The problem with the .280 and 7mm-08 are the cartridges are pricy and you can't find them everywhere...My brother has had one of each since they came out in the early 80s and regrets buying them...

[homers brother]

A recoil chart will tell you nothing, and may confuse the issue even more.

I'm not familiar with SC's laws, but you may want to check first to see what the minimum caliber is there for deer hunting. Although I'd prefer something heavier, some states do allow even the .22 centerfires (.223, .22-250, etc.) for deer hunting.

In many states, the .243 is the legal minimum for deer hunting. That does NOT mean that it "barely gets the job done." The .243 is my choice for most of my deer and pronghorn hunting. The 6mm Remington is a near-twin of the .243. Both use the same bullets, but launch them from different cases. The 6mm has a very slight edge in performance, and it seems to have a faithful following in the reloading world. However, I'm not aware of any manufacturer (other than custom) who presently chamber a rifle for 6mm Remington, nor can I remember any time in the last ten years seeing factory ammunition anywhere on a shelf.

"Felt recoil in a .25-06?" Oh, come on. I have a 1942-manufactured M1903A3 Springfield with the "S" stock and steel buttplate in .30-06. THAT is felt recoil, and it's not at all unmanageable. In fact, guys who weighed an average of 140 pounds used those same rifles to push the ***anese off Guadalcanal back in WWII. Just a guess, but they probably fired more rounds in a day than most of us do in a year.

I'm beginning to wonder if the recoil-sensitive crowd here might want to take up airsoft? Just choose a caliber that'll get the job done, it doesn't have to be the largest one out there. Become proficient with it and confident in your abilities. You won't remember the recoil of the one shot you fire during a successful hunt.

[Colorado Luckydog]

I'd get her a .243. It's a great deer caliber.

Then for you, I'd get a .270 or a 30.06.

Then you would be covered from varmints to elk, in case you ever decided to hunt other places and animals.

I'd look into a Reminton 700 or Browning A-bolt. Great guns for the money and will fit your budget.

[bugsNbows]

There are tons of great choices. One of my (and my wife's) favorites is the 7mm-08. Her's is a Ruger Compact as she is small framed and needed a "child-sized" rifle. Mine is a Sako 85 Finnlight. I also have a 25-06, .243, and 30-06 as commonly used rifles. Her other rifle is a .308. Another nifty choice would be an 1885 Low Wall in .243. Single shot rifles are just plain fun!

[Okie76]

I am not a expert deer hunter. In fact I just returned to deer hunting this year after having not hunted since I was a teenager. I returned to deer hunting this year with my 10 year old son and we were hunting out of the same blind and sharing a rifle. My purchase was a Thompson Venture 25-06. I paid $460 I think for the rifle and $175 for the scope (Nikon Prostaff 3-9x40).

Me and my sons first season out together we both got a buck with the same rifle.

Being prior military and good old country boy growing up my only prior experience was a Marlin lever action 30-30 as a teenager and primarily a .223 (m16a2) while in the Marine Corps. For me and my boy's first hunt I wanted something with 1) long range capability, 2) low recoil, for him not me 3) minimal bullet drop over long distance thus requiring less scope adjuistments (easier for him).

The 25-06 fit that bill perfectly. I did my homework before purchasing my rifle by coming here and posting, also looking at ballistic charts, and reading lots of rifle reviews online and hands down if you criteria is the same as mine your not going to find a better rifle than the 25-06.

1) Are there rifles that have longer distance than the 25-06? Yes, but they either have more recoil or the bullet weights are too low and arent legal for deer in my state (anything under 55gr I believe for Oklahoma which means about anything under a .223).

2) Are there rifles that have less recoil than the 25-06. You bet, but are the bullet weights legal for your state? Most popular factory loaded ammo for the 25-06 comes in 85gr, 100gr, 115gr and 117gr and do they have longer range. Nope.

3) Is there a rifle with less bullet drop over long ranges. Guranteed there is but again do they meet the minimum bullet weights and do they have less recoil? The 85gr hornady rounds I used show to drop only 6 inches at 300 yards. I couldn't find anything that was less than this, "that also meet's the two prior criteria".

The only complaint my 10 year old had about our Thompson rifle was that it was loud as hell. He would only shoot it with ear plugs in. It didn't bother me but my hearing isn't the greatest anyways. Shooting this rifle is like a laser beam in terms of accuracy. One shot - One kill on his deer and the same for me. I would not pick another rifle If given the oppurtunity to repeat this year over again.

My only complaint for the 25-06 is the price of the ammo and finding it. I knew these issue going into the purchase so thats my own fault. Your best bet is to order it offline as it's cheaper and you have a better selection. You're most likely not gonna get good premium ammo from walmart or some other big box store (at least I couldn't here in Oklahoma)

Here's the post I put up, when I came here asking for advice on this same subject. Maybee it can save you some time researching:
http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/guns...le-advice.html

It's kind of funny though I came back here to today to ask advice on another new rifle. My son has pretty much claimed the 25-06 for next year and want's to hunt on his own stand so I'm gonna have to find myself a new rifle. I want maximum range and don't care about recoil so I'm looking at a couple different options. Gonna post my own thread on that shortly.

[BoneCollectors]

I looked at a T/C venture today in 7mm-08, I like the feel of it.

What's the differances between a 7mm-08 and 25-06?

[Okie76]

Originally Posted by BoneCollectors

I looked at a T/C venture today in 7mm-08, I like the feel of it.

What's the differances between a 7mm-08 and 25-06?

Never shot a 7mm-08 so I couldn't tell you anything that cant be found on a ballistic chart.

According to Hornady a comparison of 25-06 vs 7mm-08 ammo is:

The 7mm-08 falls about 2 inches faster in it's measurements vs the 25-06 (IE 25-06 at -6.1@300yds / 7mm-08 at -7@300yds)(25-06 at -18.3@400yds / 7mm-08 at -20.3@400yds). However, thier chart shows that the 7mm-08 has greater knockdown power out of the muzzle and also at 500 yards but then the bullet weight is 40+ grains heavier than the 25-06 which means the recoil from a same weight gun would be more as well. Basically the 25-06 is flatter in it's trajectory than the 7mm-08. About the only gun that can beat it in trajectory terms and have the same or less recoil is going to be a rifle that probably isn't legal for deer (IE 22-250, 223, 220 swift, things like that). You really need to call or check your states Department of Wildlife website.

Basic rule of thumb:
Recoil decreases as a gun gets heavier. Recoil increases as the round gets heavier also though.

I don't know if you if you live anywhere near a gun range, but before purchasing my rifle I went to one here in Oklahoma City that rent's all kinds of different firearms and I let my son shoot a wide selection before settling on a caliber that he could shoot comfortably. Then it's just a matter of finding a rifle manufacture that fit's your budget and has the options you want. The range here charged 10$ per rifle for rental fee's.

PS.
Someone may have already mentioned this. If all you ever plan to hunt with this rifle is game that is deer sized or smaller then you got nothing to worry about. However, if you ever plane to go after larger game like mule deer or Elk or even larger than that, then your gonna want more bullet weight (the heaviest 117gr 25-06 ammo isn't gonna cut it for most states big game laws). 139gr 7mm-8 is heavy enough for such larger game.

[nchawkeye]

The 7mm-08 uses the same case as the .308 and the .243, it came out in 1980...It does a good job on deer, the most commonly used weight bullet is 140grs...

The 25-06 uses the same case as the 30-06, so it has more powder and being a .25 caliber instead of a .280 (7mm) caliber the bullets used for deer are more in the 125gr weight so it has more velocity...This means it shoots a bit flatter...

Either of these would be excellent for deer except for availability of ammo, which is really not a big problem if a fellow has sense enough to stock up and order online...

I just had a problem with a fellow that shot a .260 years ago that knocked his scope off and used the rest of his ammo resighting in...We lost a morning of hunting during the rut because we had to drive an hour to get ammo...I'm the type that has 5-6 boxes of ammo if I take a week off to hunt...