Need opinions for new rifle!
06-08-2015, 11:34 AM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 31
Need opinions for new rifle!
I really want a new rifle that I know will last for a long time and is accurate up to 300yds , I am looking in the 400-600$ price range and if anyone has any suggestions of their hunting rides or one that they have shot and let me know how it groups and pretty muck I just need some suggestions!
06-08-2015, 12:10 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,905
It's incredibly hard to go wrong with any of the rifles on the market today from the major makers. Ruger, Remington, Savage, Howa, Tikka, Weatherby, etc etc... They all make rifles that shoot 1-1.5MOA out of the box, and most of them offer a budget friendly model that will fit your budget.
For that price range, you might even bridge the gap between their "budget friendly model line" and the lower end of their "standard model line," as would be the case for the Ruger American Rifle and Ruger M77 Hawkeye, or the Savage Axis and 10/11/16. $400 will buy many of these entry level hunting rifles (Rem 700 ADL, Ruger American, Savage Axis), but $600 will buy the next step up.
I highly recommend that you take a long hard look at "the next step up" models. Guys that ride motorcycles can relate - guys that buy a 500cc as their first bike find themselves wishing they'd bought a 1,000cc bike within a few months. Nothing wrong with the 500's, but they're easy to outgrow quickly. Nothing wrong with a lot of entry level rifles out there, but they're easy to outgrow too.
If I'm buying a hunting rifle for myself: Savage 12/112 or 16/116 or Remington 700, followed by Ruger M77's. If I'm buying a levergun, it's a Marlin. I tend to only buy stainless guns, which raises the cost but these are all available in blued versions also that would save a little cost (Rem and Ruger use the same model number, Savage uses 12/112 and 16/116 for stainless guns, 10/110 and 11/111 for blued models).
Rules of thumb for buying budget friendly or entry level rifles, which don't necessarily apply to the "next step up" rifles:
As far as the cartridge choice goes - which you didn't ask about - look for a 6.5mm to 30cal that will throw 140-180grn pills somewhere between 2800fps and 3200fps. Recognizing here that a 140grn pill at 2800grns is a lot less power than a 180grn at 3200fps, but a 180grn pill at 2800fps is very manageable, and a 140grn at 3200fps quite potent. For general mid-size game hunting (deer, elk, caribou, black bear) at moderate ranges of 0-300yrds or even up to 600yrds for the right shooters, rounds like the 7mm-08, 257roberts, 270win, 260rem, 308win, .30-06, and a dozen others in this class will keep you very happy. Smaller rounds like the 243win are very capable, but they don't have quite as much punch at range, and larger rounds like the 7mm rem mag or 300win mag at the top end of this spectrum are pretty punishing on the shooters end. If mule deer are the largest thing on your list, and 300yrds is more of a "what if" than a reality, then a 243win is plenty.
In general, most of us use FAR TOO MUCH power to kill lil 'ol whitetail deer or hogs. The 243win is most likely the most efficient and effective 300yrd or less whitetail cartridge on the market, even though so many of us shoot 30cal large case cartridges at them.
Happy Hunting!! If you have any other questions, keep them coming, otherwise, be sure to post up pictures when you get your new rifle!!!
For that price range, you might even bridge the gap between their "budget friendly model line" and the lower end of their "standard model line," as would be the case for the Ruger American Rifle and Ruger M77 Hawkeye, or the Savage Axis and 10/11/16. $400 will buy many of these entry level hunting rifles (Rem 700 ADL, Ruger American, Savage Axis), but $600 will buy the next step up.
I highly recommend that you take a long hard look at "the next step up" models. Guys that ride motorcycles can relate - guys that buy a 500cc as their first bike find themselves wishing they'd bought a 1,000cc bike within a few months. Nothing wrong with the 500's, but they're easy to outgrow quickly. Nothing wrong with a lot of entry level rifles out there, but they're easy to outgrow too.
If I'm buying a hunting rifle for myself: Savage 12/112 or 16/116 or Remington 700, followed by Ruger M77's. If I'm buying a levergun, it's a Marlin. I tend to only buy stainless guns, which raises the cost but these are all available in blued versions also that would save a little cost (Rem and Ruger use the same model number, Savage uses 12/112 and 16/116 for stainless guns, 10/110 and 11/111 for blued models).
Rules of thumb for buying budget friendly or entry level rifles, which don't necessarily apply to the "next step up" rifles:
- They will NEED trigger work done, or a replacement trigger ($100-150)
- They will benefit from a new stock ($100-200 for reasonable models)
- The finish won't be great, but it'll be durable - I pay for stainless so I never have to worry
- They will be accurate enough to hunt game to 300yrds+ if you're capable of doing so in field conditions.
- Package rifles that come with a scope will need a new scope, and usually new mounts
As far as the cartridge choice goes - which you didn't ask about - look for a 6.5mm to 30cal that will throw 140-180grn pills somewhere between 2800fps and 3200fps. Recognizing here that a 140grn pill at 2800grns is a lot less power than a 180grn at 3200fps, but a 180grn pill at 2800fps is very manageable, and a 140grn at 3200fps quite potent. For general mid-size game hunting (deer, elk, caribou, black bear) at moderate ranges of 0-300yrds or even up to 600yrds for the right shooters, rounds like the 7mm-08, 257roberts, 270win, 260rem, 308win, .30-06, and a dozen others in this class will keep you very happy. Smaller rounds like the 243win are very capable, but they don't have quite as much punch at range, and larger rounds like the 7mm rem mag or 300win mag at the top end of this spectrum are pretty punishing on the shooters end. If mule deer are the largest thing on your list, and 300yrds is more of a "what if" than a reality, then a 243win is plenty.
In general, most of us use FAR TOO MUCH power to kill lil 'ol whitetail deer or hogs. The 243win is most likely the most efficient and effective 300yrd or less whitetail cartridge on the market, even though so many of us shoot 30cal large case cartridges at them.
Happy Hunting!! If you have any other questions, keep them coming, otherwise, be sure to post up pictures when you get your new rifle!!!
06-09-2015, 07:07 PM
#3
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location:
Posts: 5,130
It's incredibly hard to go wrong with any of the rifles on the market today from the major makers. Ruger, Remington, Savage, Howa, Tikka, Weatherby, etc etc... They all make rifles that shoot 1-1.5MOA out of the box, and most of them offer a budget friendly model that will fit your budget.
For that price range, you might even bridge the gap between their "budget friendly model line" and the lower end of their "standard model line," as would be the case for the Ruger American Rifle and Ruger M77 Hawkeye, or the Savage Axis and 10/11/16. $400 will buy many of these entry level hunting rifles (Rem 700 ADL, Ruger American, Savage Axis), but $600 will buy the next step up.
I highly recommend that you take a long hard look at "the next step up" models. Guys that ride motorcycles can relate - guys that buy a 500cc as their first bike find themselves wishing they'd bought a 1,000cc bike within a few months. Nothing wrong with the 500's, but they're easy to outgrow quickly. Nothing wrong with a lot of entry level rifles out there, but they're easy to outgrow too.
If I'm buying a hunting rifle for myself: Savage 12/112 or 16/116 or Remington 700, followed by Ruger M77's. If I'm buying a levergun, it's a Marlin. I tend to only buy stainless guns, which raises the cost but these are all available in blued versions also that would save a little cost (Rem and Ruger use the same model number, Savage uses 12/112 and 16/116 for stainless guns, 10/110 and 11/111 for blued models).
Rules of thumb for buying budget friendly or entry level rifles, which don't necessarily apply to the "next step up" rifles:
As far as the cartridge choice goes - which you didn't ask about - look for a 6.5mm to 30cal that will throw 140-180grn pills somewhere between 2800fps and 3200fps. Recognizing here that a 140grn pill at 2800grns is a lot less power than a 180grn at 3200fps, but a 180grn pill at 2800fps is very manageable, and a 140grn at 3200fps quite potent. For general mid-size game hunting (deer, elk, caribou, black bear) at moderate ranges of 0-300yrds or even up to 600yrds for the right shooters, rounds like the 7mm-08, 257roberts, 270win, 260rem, 308win, .30-06, and a dozen others in this class will keep you very happy. Smaller rounds like the 243win are very capable, but they don't have quite as much punch at range, and larger rounds like the 7mm rem mag or 300win mag at the top end of this spectrum are pretty punishing on the shooters end. If mule deer are the largest thing on your list, and 300yrds is more of a "what if" than a reality, then a 243win is plenty.
In general, most of us use FAR TOO MUCH power to kill lil 'ol whitetail deer or hogs. The 243win is most likely the most efficient and effective 300yrd or less whitetail cartridge on the market, even though so many of us shoot 30cal large case cartridges at them.
Happy Hunting!! If you have any other questions, keep them coming, otherwise, be sure to post up pictures when you get your new rifle!!!
For that price range, you might even bridge the gap between their "budget friendly model line" and the lower end of their "standard model line," as would be the case for the Ruger American Rifle and Ruger M77 Hawkeye, or the Savage Axis and 10/11/16. $400 will buy many of these entry level hunting rifles (Rem 700 ADL, Ruger American, Savage Axis), but $600 will buy the next step up.
I highly recommend that you take a long hard look at "the next step up" models. Guys that ride motorcycles can relate - guys that buy a 500cc as their first bike find themselves wishing they'd bought a 1,000cc bike within a few months. Nothing wrong with the 500's, but they're easy to outgrow quickly. Nothing wrong with a lot of entry level rifles out there, but they're easy to outgrow too.
If I'm buying a hunting rifle for myself: Savage 12/112 or 16/116 or Remington 700, followed by Ruger M77's. If I'm buying a levergun, it's a Marlin. I tend to only buy stainless guns, which raises the cost but these are all available in blued versions also that would save a little cost (Rem and Ruger use the same model number, Savage uses 12/112 and 16/116 for stainless guns, 10/110 and 11/111 for blued models).
Rules of thumb for buying budget friendly or entry level rifles, which don't necessarily apply to the "next step up" rifles:
- They will NEED trigger work done, or a replacement trigger ($100-150)
- They will benefit from a new stock ($100-200 for reasonable models)
- The finish won't be great, but it'll be durable - I pay for stainless so I never have to worry
- They will be accurate enough to hunt game to 300yrds+ if you're capable of doing so in field conditions.
- Package rifles that come with a scope will need a new scope, and usually new mounts
As far as the cartridge choice goes - which you didn't ask about - look for a 6.5mm to 30cal that will throw 140-180grn pills somewhere between 2800fps and 3200fps. Recognizing here that a 140grn pill at 2800grns is a lot less power than a 180grn at 3200fps, but a 180grn pill at 2800fps is very manageable, and a 140grn at 3200fps quite potent. For general mid-size game hunting (deer, elk, caribou, black bear) at moderate ranges of 0-300yrds or even up to 600yrds for the right shooters, rounds like the 7mm-08, 257roberts, 270win, 260rem, 308win, .30-06, and a dozen others in this class will keep you very happy. Smaller rounds like the 243win are very capable, but they don't have quite as much punch at range, and larger rounds like the 7mm rem mag or 300win mag at the top end of this spectrum are pretty punishing on the shooters end. If mule deer are the largest thing on your list, and 300yrds is more of a "what if" than a reality, then a 243win is plenty.
In general, most of us use FAR TOO MUCH power to kill lil 'ol whitetail deer or hogs. The 243win is most likely the most efficient and effective 300yrd or less whitetail cartridge on the market, even though so many of us shoot 30cal large case cartridges at them.
Happy Hunting!! If you have any other questions, keep them coming, otherwise, be sure to post up pictures when you get your new rifle!!!
Put that in a new Rifle sub-forum; "Advise for a new shooter"
06-10-2015, 07:18 AM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,905
06-11-2015, 08:48 AM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
I bought my niece a Browning A-Bolt II. It is considered an entry rifle. I like it. It is about your price range .... I paid $379 + sales tax. My suggestion is to stay away from "package" deals --- scope and rifle combos. The scope will not be much to speak of and probably the mounts either. Realizing that you are in about the $600 range. if you spend $400 or so on the rifle, you are left with $200 or so for the scope and mount. Use that $$$ to buy the best scope that you can. Leupold, Vortex, Burris, Nikon, etc. (name brands) offer scopes in this range. Don't get sucked in by the $75 scope that is the "best ever made" ads. These are not ... by far.
Cartridge? Nomercy448 pretty much covered it
Cartridge? Nomercy448 pretty much covered it
06-11-2015, 08:52 AM
#9
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 31
I bought my niece a Browning A-Bolt II. It is considered an entry rifle. I like it. It is about your price range .... I paid $379 + sales tax. My suggestion is to stay away from "package" deals --- scope and rifle combos. The scope will not be much to speak of and probably the mounts either. Realizing that you are in about the $600 range. if you spend $400 or so on the rifle, you are left with $200 or so for the scope and mount. Use that $$$ to buy the best scope that you can. Leupold, Vortex, Burris, Nikon, etc. (name brands) offer scopes in this range. Don't get sucked in by the $75 scope that is the "best ever made" ads. These are not ... by far.
Cartridge? Nomercy448 pretty much covered it
Cartridge? Nomercy448 pretty much covered it
06-11-2015, 09:02 PM
#10
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,905
Like most rifle models out there today, the Browning rifles (which I forgot in my list in my first post here) are typically in the 1MOA ballpark, better with ideal loads, worse with "bad" loads. As long as the stock fits you, you'll be happy with it.