Go for it. A great round. First rifle I got my son. Not only a great deer round but excellent groundhog round. First thing I did was replace the stock with a synthetic so he didn't have to worry about beating up the hardwood. I do reload and that helps in the ammo expense, but most people don't shoot more that a box or two of ammo a year so that shouldn't be an issue.He has shot close to 50 deer over the last5 year with it and a boat load of groundhogs.