jeff gordon

Hello,
I need some help picking out a rifle. My money is down to almost nothing, but I' m going to try to save up for my first rifle. My budget will be very low. At most I am hoping to have $150- $200. I finally have a shotgun, I just need a rifle. The ones I am considering are a Rem. 700 in 30-06 or a Rem.710 in 30-06. Are these good rifle choices? I am only 12 years old. Do you think that I can handle a 30-06? Even though I' m 12 I' m big for my age. I am 5' 7, and weigh 180 pounds. I know I probably won' t have the money before Christmas, but I might have it after. I am telling everyone that I just want money for Christmas. What rifle do you think I should get? I might be able to get a rifle from a friend of mine, but it is doubtful. Are pawn shops a good place to get them. There is a store down here called Old South Trading Company and the person who owns it is a great source of info for anything you needl, but his prices are high. I haven' t been there in a while, so I don' t know what used guns he has. The animals I will be hunting with the rifle are deer and coyote. Is the 30-06 a good caliber choice for the game I will be hunting? I live in West Tennessee so there aren' t a lot of long shots over open areas. It is mainly all wooded areas. If you have any suggestions or opinions I will greatly appreciate them.
Thanks,
Thomas

WV Hunter

A .30-06 is a good all around choice, but for what you will be hunting...there may be better options. You might want to look at a .260, .270, or 7mm-8...these probably offer a little more versatility in lower bullet weights. All would perform excellent on deer. A far as recoil goes, yes you are big enough to handle any of those...but it' s more mind over matter. You need to make sure you can handle them mentally. It doesn' t matter how big you are, if you are the least bit recoil shy...you will suffer big time in accuracy. Try and find someone with a gun of these cal, and shoot it and see how you do. The .260 and 7mm-08 have fairly low recoil.
As far as guns....stay away from the rem 710. It' s junk. The rem 700 adl is a nice gun, and reasonably priced...(around $350) but not really in your price range. Savage makes nice reasonable guns as well, but still not in the price range youre talking about. If you are dead set on spending $200 or less, your options are limited. You can look at H&R/NEF single shot rifles...they are nice and won' t break the bank. Pawn shops are hit or miss. If you don' t know alot you can get burned. There are some good used guns out there, but also some real junk. If you know someone selling a gun, that may be an option too.

I think you may be better off waiting a while and saving up some and getting what you want(new). Also, don' t forget optics. You will need to spend some $ on a decent scope....I recommend not buying a cheap one. Good luck, hope this helps some.

noway

WV gave great advice.
The NEF rifles are very good for the price. They are single shot with a very simple and reliable action.
You can also get extra barrels in additional calibers for like $80. fitted on the rifle if you are interested.
You should be able to find this rifle new for $200.

Doesn' t sound like you need a caliber as large as a30-06 for your hunting.
WV' s options looked right on.

hotgunner21

sup man, try a rem 710 in 270, at bass pro they have them for 300-something dollars it comes with a bushnell scope boresighted-270' s hit like a 30-06 without the extra recoil-- HOPE I HELPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-hotgunner

hotgunner21

the 710 also comes in 30-06 for the same price.

eldeguello

yes! You can handle a .30/' 06! I bought my first ' 06 when I was 13, a M721 Remington, and I weighed 140 pounds. You are much bigger than I was, and I' m sure you can handle it. Avoid the Remington M710, though, and stick to something like the 700, a Win. M 70, or a CZ Mauser-type rifle in that caliber!

It is every free-born American' s right to purchase a rifle chambered for a cartridge other than the .30/' 06, but for a first rifle, it is NO GREAT TRIBUTE TO HIS INTELLIGENCE IF HE DOES!! The ' 06 is by FAR the best FIRST CHOICE, because the day may come when you want to hunt caribou, moose, elk, even grizzly bears, and you can shoot all this stuff with an ' 06!

driftrider

Why not consider a .243Win? You say that you only need it for deer and coyote, and the .243 with the right bullet will kill both very well. The .243 also gives you the choice to hunt smaller varmints without splattering them all over tarnation. Factory .243 ammo is also a little cheaper than a .30-06, but the biggest benefit is the greatly reduced recoil of the .243 over the .30-06. I' m pretty recoil tolerant, so the .30-06 doesn' t bother me too much, but a .30-06 in a lighter sporter rifle does kick a bit, perticularly with heavier bullets. The lighter recoil of the .243 will very likely mean you' ll shoot it better, especially if you shoot a lot. You may decide later that you want to go northwest and hunt animals bigger than deer, but consider that by the time you have the time and resources to do so you' ll also likely have enough money to buy a rifle specifically for hunting the BIG game.

Others to consider in the lighter recoil range would be the 6mm Rem, the .25-06, and the 7mm-08 Winchester. If I were buying a deer/predator rifle I' d probably go with the .243Win. It' s accurate, won' t beat you up, is more than adequate for anything weighing less than 250lbs, and the ammo os less expensive, plentiful and easy to find. Of course, the same can be said about .30-06 ammo.

As far as where to buy a rifle, I' d stick with a competent gun dealer and not a pawn shop. A pawn shop isn' t likely to know crap about the guns they have and wouldn' t know a good gun from a bad one. They just want to sell their stock and will tell you anything to move them out the door. A dedicated gun dealer is going to be a far better resource as he should be able to answer any questions you may have, because that is what the do. Most decent dealers are pretty honest as well, and will give you a fairly honest assessment of any used gun they have in stock and the prices will reflect the quality of the gun. The best thing you can do is go to your local gun shop (not necessarily the big chain sporting goods store), tell the owner what you are looking for and what you have to spend. I' ll bet he' ll practically bend over backwards to help you find the gun you need.

I' d also suggest that you save a little more money. $200 isn' t going to buy much even used. The NEF rifles might be a good choice, but you still will need to save to put a scope and rings on it. Look at it this way, you could buy a NEF rifle tomorrow and maybe not be happy with it in 6 months and want a nicer rifle. Or you could save your money for 6 months and buy the rifle you really want. That' s what I did and I just bought a really nice Ruger M77VT MkII and topped it with a top-of-the-line Nikon Monarch target scope. I could have bought a heavy barrel NEF with a cheap Simmons or Bushnell scope a couple months ago, but I knew that in the end I wouldn' t be happy with it. So I saved and waited and got the rifle I really wanted.

Anyway, good luck with whatever rifle you choose.

Mike


Good luck

Handles

Your size has nothing to do with being able to " handle" recoil. I' m 5' 10 180 and I absolutely HATE rifle recoil. I think it was because I too thought I could handle it when I was younger. I shoot much better now that I have dropped to a .270. I would take that rifle for anything except bear. I am that confident in my shot placement because I can practice without getting a sore shoulder. At your age, and for what and where you are hunting (deer, ' yotes)I would think a Rem .260 or a 25-06 would work great. I have shot both and LOVE them. As far as the rifle, have you thought about a Savage? The couple that I have shot were very accurate (I was surprized and a little jealous that these inexpensive " not cheap" guns were much more accurate than my Browning A bolt). Give them a look. What ever you do, remember that you should be shooting a lot, and you can' t shoot well with a sore shoulder. It will just make you frustrated and shooting won' t be fun anymore.l

andy_o

If you are looking to hunt deer and coyotes but dont want to pelt out the coyotes than i think you should go with a .30-30. It is a great low recoiling rifle that you can pick up for a reasonibal price. Winchester model 94 or a marlin would be in your price range. I picked up a used 94 with pretty nice checkering and it shoots great for $265. In my opion if you get one with good sights and shoot it at a range than you will not need to go shelling out any extra cash for a scope. Dont get me worng a scope on a .30-30 is as much of a good thing as on any other calibers but unless you really want one you will probly not need one. Whatever your choice may be i wish you good luck getting one and good luck hunting.

Steelshooter

Look for a used Marlin 336 in 30-30. I picked one up not long ago for $150.00 in like new condition. You should be able to find a nice one in your price range. There has been a tons of deer that have been taken with the 30-30.