Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

I'm predominantly a bowhunter in NJ and I usually gun for the 6 day shotgun season (Rifle hunting in NJ with a Remington 1170) so I have very limited rifle knowledge. I now have my big chance to by a rifle and it will most likely be my last (wife is not a big fan). I'm going deer hunting in Texas next year on a friends ranch and may also get to Maine. I need advice on the best overall rifle for me to get - 30.30's or a 308 keep being mentioned by my friends....thoughts?

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

If I could only have one rifle it would be a Ruger all weather 30-06. They are about $550 so they are cheaper than Remington and Browning and every bit as good. My Ruger rifles all shoot good 1" or better at 100 yards and they come with scope rings which will save you about $50.

The 30-06 has the largest bullet range on the market, 55gr up to 250gr. It will and has killed every living thing on the planet. For deer hunting I use a 165gr bullet. Another very good advantage is that every little sporting goods shop in the country will have 30-06 ammo. In most cases it is cheaper than a lot of other calibers.

I would put a Bushnell Elite 4200 in 2.5-10x40 on it, if I could afford it, and if I couldn't I would put a Bushnell Elite 3200 in 3-9x40 on it. I own 4200s and 3200 and I like them both, they let in a lot of light and the rainguard coating is awsome. The 4200 is about $400 and the 3200 is about $200. Your scope is as important if not more important than your rifle, if you can't see it you can't shoot it. I also like Butler Creek flip open scope caps, they work very well and always stay with the gun.

I hope this helps, this is what I would have if I could only have one.

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

You might try a CZ-550 in 270. They are about 500 dollars, and i have heard nothing but good stuff about them.

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

Picking a rifle all depends on what you are doing. If strictly whittail, a .270 is a good choice, if hunting larger game (like bear and elk) you may want to get something in the 30 caliber range. For about the best all purpose rifle, I'd have to go with the 30-06. Arguably, it can effectivelly kill anyhting on the north american continent and then some. In terms of a brand, any of the big companies produce a quality rifle. You may want to check out remington, winchester, ruger, browning, cz, tikka, sako, and a number of others. In terms of optics, it is pointless to spend a ton of money on optics for hunting. You can spend over 1,000 on a zeiss or a swarovski that serves the same purpose as a leupold, simmons, bushnell, tasco, etc. On the flip side of the coin, an extremely cheap scope is exactly what i just said, an extremely cheap scope. If i was in your situation, i would have go with a remington 700 bdl ss in 30-06 and top if with a leupold vari-xII 3-9x40 silver. A rig like that would run in the neighborhood of 1,000 and with work will shot about 1" groups at 100 yards consistently.

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

Congrats on your opportunity to hunt Texas!! Sounds like fun.

I would buy a .270 Win, Remington 700 BDL or 700 LSS. Also, don't overlook the scope! I prefer Leupold. For Texas I would go for a VX-II 4-12x40AO.

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

NJ...boy what a can of worms you opened here. ...the point is there are untold numbers of options here. The thing to do here is pretty much what you should do anytime you make a hunting equipment purchase....buy the best you can afford. As far as caliber the .270 or 30.06 are good all around and hard to beat. You can hunt anything from Coyotes to Grizzlies with these calibers. Whatever you do dont get cheap on the scope. All of these replies are great, the Bushnell elite and the Leupold are great choices. Personally i shoot a Leupold vari-x III and i love it, but ( and im gonna get in trouble when i say this), I dont think they are worth the money. In my opinion if i had it to do again I would go with the 4200 or even 3200 elite. They have just as good of light transmission and as qaulity of glass with raingaurd to boot! Good luck and enjoy TX.

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

If I could have only one rifle:

Remington 700 LSS Mountain Rifle in 270Win. Scope: Leupold VX-III, 2.5 - 8x with matte finish. :D

Link: http://www.remington.com/firearms/ce...e/700mtnls.htm

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

You didn't say how much you're willing to spend.

I would say that if you are only ever going to get one and only one rifle, then you'd better save up and buy the best rifle you can get that suits you. I'd be strongly thinking about having a custom rifle built for you. Get the action you want, have a 'smith install a top-notch match barrel in whatever caliber you choose, blueprint and true up the action, lap the lugs, install a high quality trigger and pillar and glass bed it into a custom fitted stock. Of course, you can expect to spend on the order of $1800-3000 or possibly more. But it'd be uniquely YOUR one of a kind rifle, built specifically for you to be your perfect rifle.

Of course, if you don't have the money, or the patience ot time to save it, you could always go with a higher grade factory rifle as well. My personal first choice would be a Sako 75. These are as close as you can get to a custom grade gun from a factory. They run on the order of $900-1200, depending on model.

Mike

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

.270 would probably be a good all around choice.

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

If deer is the only thing you're going to hunt my choice would be the 25.06. If you're going after something bigger or you'll be hunting in an area where you may encounter something bigger then i would opt for a 30.06, a 7mm mag or a 300win mag.

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

Keep in mind that deer in Texas are pretty small. Also, depending on exactly where you'll be hunting, you may not be taking very long-distance shots.

Down here, people use 30-30's, .35 Rems, .243s, .270s, .30-06s, and just about any other caliber you care to name.

If you plan on hunting other stuff, it's generally easier to get something with more oomph and use lighter-powered rounds than it is to try to magnify the results from a smaller cartridge.

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this can of worms you opened!

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

30.06 Winchester Mod 70 (package) around $400 at wal-mart. comes with a cheap scope that you can replace later. It's a great all around rifle and you will be able to hunt anything with the 06.

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

You will enjoy your Texas hunt. I live and hunt in the Texas hill country. Lot's of 30-06 and .270 out there.

JMO. . . .270 with a 3-9x40 will work very well. I use this with a 130gr for Deer and 150gr for the pigs. Zero it at 100yards. You may not have to make many shots over 100 yards although I made one at just over 200 2 seasons back.

If you go with the remington ADL or BDL be ready to have the trigger worked. It comes pretty tight from the factory. I have one and like it but did work the trigger. Perhaps you should check some of the others with adjustable triggers.

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

My vote is for the T/C Encore if this is going to be your one and only rife. The price is competative with most of the others and cheaper than alot. You get to pick your first caliber for hunting in TX and if any other opportunities arise anywhere else in the world, then it'll only cost you a little over $200 for a new barrel/caliber. It also gives you the option of adding a shotgun barrel and/or muzzleloader barrel later on.

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

If you are only going to hunt whitetail deer with this rifle I would purchase a 270 Winchester. Ammo is plentiful in this caliber and recoil is very manageable. The 270 is also a flat shooting round and an excellent deer rifle. As for rifles it depends on how much you would like to spend. For a rifle you will use 6 or 8 days a year I would buy a Savage package gun from the local Wal Mart. The rifle will cost around $350 with the tax and will have a cheap 3-9X40 scope. If you would like to spend more there are any number of rifles from Browning, Remington, Ruger, Savage, Tikka, Weatherby, Howa, CZ, & numerous others. The best thing is to go to a sporting goods store and handle as many as possible and buy the one you like the best. If you buy a rifle for $350 and have more to spend use that money on a quality scope from Weaver, Bushnell Elites, Nikon, Leupold, Burris, Zeiss, or Swarovski. The scope is every bit as important as the rifle. Another option is to attend a gun show in your area and purchase a rifle that already has a quality scope on it. This can lead to considerable savings on a good rifle/scope combo.

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

If you only get to have one rifle it should be 30-06, 7mag, 300mag, the old 30-06 is hard to beat.

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

Two Cents:


Remington CDL in Rem 280 $509.00, the scope can be anything with a good name, I have a Bushnell Banner that cost 89.00 on a 308 and would buy it again. The one thing I find disturbing in this discussion is the 1 inch groups, I have 10 Remington rifles with scopes from $89.00 to $1200.00 and only one has any gun work, they all shoot 1/2 or less groups at 100 yards, although one Remington stock had to be replaced because it was molded wrong it cost me 50.00 for a new ADL stock. Don't overlook Savage rifles, I've shot them and they shoot at least 1 inch groups. Hope this helps.

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

I view rifles as tools. They are fun to shoot and great to look at but the most important thing is that they do what you want them to. I would look at Savage or a Weatherby Vanguard. They are both on the low end price wise, but extremely accurate rugged rifles. Since you mentioned Maine I assume you might have a chance to shoot black bear as well as deer. The .270 has been mentioned and that would be great on deer and is a nice flat shooter. Many bear have been bagged with it as well, although I would rather have something larger for bear. If I was looking for a one rifle to do it all I would go for .30-06 or .308. They are pretty similar balistically, neither of them will seperate your shoulder, although they can both kick a little....the '06 kicks more.
The Savage and Vanguard are both affordable and you can spend the difference in ammo to practice with at the range.
Good luck

David

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

NJ the main thing is find one that fits you well.What fits me might be terrible for you.Caliber wise the 30-06 would be a good choice. There is a wide range of bullets for the 06.Scopes are another story.I recommend buying the best scope you can afford. I don't mean going overboard.I would stay away from the lower ends scope.E.g. Tasco,Simmons, BSA to name a few.Leupold, Burris,Bushnell all have a good line of scopes in all different price ranges.I personally like the Ruger M-77's. They fit me well.You still have time to search for the perfect rifle for yourself.It's better to take your time getting what you want then to rush out and buy something you'll regret later down the road.

Ruger Redhawk

RE: Suggestions for my 1st Rifle
 

I am new to deer hunting, but a longtime shooter and a longtime resident of Texas.

Which part of Texas will you hunt? I hunt the piney woods of East Texas and a .30-30 carbine with open sights is great for that area. Good luck seeing a deer beyond 75 yards in this part of the state.

I have read some about the big game ranches of the South Texas brush country (King Ranch and then points west up towards San Antonio) and the shots there vary a lot, longer ones are found along the senderos which are like pathways cut through the brush. I'm guessing 200 yards would be plenty down there. I've driven through the King Ranch (along Highway 77 south of Refugio) many times, but never hunted there. The shots get a bit longer as you get further west into the Hill Country west of San Antonio. (My next door neighbor hunts there every year and I am green with envy.) If I am guessing correctly here, then I would recommend the .30-06 Springfield bolt action with a decent scope. I have been quite impressed with the low-end Leupolds. Matte finish is a very good idea. My next door neighbor uses an old, multi-generational .30-30 carbine. He always hunts the same area, so that carbine might not work in other parts of the Hill Country or in the Brush Country.

For West Texas hunting, like Abilene, Lubbock, Alpine and so on, I'm thinking the key is long range effectiveness. That means you should look for fast, flat-shooting bullets that won't take your shoulder off. Again, it's hard to go wrong with .30-06.

For what it's worth, if you like to shoot A LOT, you might want to go with .308 as you should be able to get cheap, surplus military 7.62mm NATO ammunition. It has about 95 percent of the ballistics of the .30-06, but smaller and lighter.