it is nice to meet you averagejoe hunter. welcome aboard !!!


it really depends of where you intend on hunting and how far your distances will be. also depends on how much you want to spend on a rifle.
i have owned the newer rem model 7400' s that turned into a 1shot rifle. out of all my guns this gun i spent more money on differant mags and diierant types of ammo from round nosed bullets to spitzers , to 130 gr. - 1560gr. rom ballistic tips to regular plain jane buulets ( was chambered in 270win )i was also told from a person on the remington hotline on the phone. that when taking offf the front forearm stock if you tighten the srew too much that your chances are good you will have to check to re-sight in your rifle again. which i have found was somewhat true. and would chance the P.O.A by as uch as 1"
the older rem 740 or is it 742. seem to have better luck with not jamming and better accuracy than the newer 7400' s. which left a bad taste in my mouth on semi auto' s in general.
i did also own a remington 700 ADL chambered in the 30-06sprg. i bought from wal-mart . shot awsome at 50 yds using iron sights and got like 2" groups with a sand bag off the front of my truck ans got 3-4" groups at 100yds. the only downfall i did find with the rem model from wal-mart was that the stock looked cheaper than ones you would buy from other stores and mom and pop stores. mine ended up being a lemon and foun that i had to send it back to remington' s N.Y. factory to have work done on the bolt and action assmebly. got it back and after mounting a variX-II 3-9X40mm on it found that after 3 shots i could extract the empty casing but could not close the bolt for the 4th round to e chambered. found out from a gunsmith that the bolt was never corractly made ( something to do with it being never aligned from the factory when being made ).
but i have heard mixed reviews now-a-says since this hapened to me with the quality of the newer remington products with the bolt locking system where you need a key to lock and unlock the bolt .
i still have not yet bought a T3 and i have heard nothing bad about it so far from the few people that have them. i hear mostly people getting under 1.5" groups out of the box.

you might also want to look at the savage guns. they are cheaper and somewhat uglier by some spects but are a awsome rifle for the money and are dang on accurate for the $$ they also have package guns which include a sling and a scope already on them for a beginner rifle. i would stay with maybe one of these guns from savage first then from there down the road if you like hutnign out of state down the road you can upgrade ot a better gun.
i would also judge a gun by if it feels like an extension of your arm. if it feels nice and you can bring to your shoulder with no problems get that one that feels right.
good luck just trying to give you some facts and from personal expereince.

i always look when buying a rifle ( lets say you spend $400.00 ) you should atleast top her off with a scope that will be as much or more than $200.00. you gun will be only as good as your scope will let it. you out a jumk scope on you get junk results.
i use a browning a-bolt medallion in 30-06sprg that gets .080" at 100yds with a variX-II 3-9X40mm
i also own a browning BAR MKII safari w/ iron sights in 30-06sprg and get 2" groups out of the box using plain jane bullets shooting from a standing position shooting.
i am a browning fan myself even though i also own a savage model 10FCM " scout " in 308win that gets 3/4" at 100yds using 165gr. sierra gameking' s. topped off with a VX-II 2-7X33mm and the savage was cheaper than the other two that are above this one.