I am casual deer hunter, meaning that most years (when I don't forget to send in for my tag) I will. First I will explain that I hunt in North Dakota so that means that often times I end up walking quite a bit since the only trees here are shelterbelts. I previously had been borrowing a gun from my uncle but after jamming problems and misfires I have decided it's time to make a purchase of my own. I have many questions and I hope these are not too elementary for you but your input would be greatly appreciated.
1. What caliber should I get?? Most shots are out in the open across fields and 200-300 yard shots. .270 seems to be a popular caliber but I'm open to suggestions. How bout the .270 WSM??
2. I've looked at a couple of guns in particular and I'm leaning toward the Tikka T3 Hunter (or Lite) or the Remington 700 BDL. (I like the clip option). Any options on either of these rifles??
3. Lastly, I will need a decent scope and I hope to spend around $200 for one. Any suggestions here? I've looked at a Nikon and also Leopold (spelling) has one in that price range.

Thanks for any replies and if anyone has any other buying tips for me as you can tell by my screen name (nadadamclue), I would greatly appreciate them.

IMO If you are only going to shoot that far and not hunt or shoot lots ,Stick with a 308 , 270 , 30-06 ect that way ammo will be easy to come by and a lot cheaper than any of the short mags
Deer don't need a mag round to take even past 300 yds
Either of those rifles will do fine , I am not a fan of Lite rifles ( any brand) due to the fact they are harder to shoot well.
I would also look at the Browning
My Savage may not be as good looking , but will shoot as good or better than any other brand.
2 good choices .
I just put a Matte Black Nicon Monarch 3-9 x 40 on a 338-06 the other nigh. .

Spend some time shooting however you normaly hunt , not just from the bench.

Johnch

Casual hunter that does alot of walking and like's a gun's with a clip,hunts where shot's will be200-300 yards. I would suggest a Remmington 700 Mountain Rifle DM in 270win,280rem or 30-06 with a 3-9x scope. For $200 you can get a Burris Fullfield II 3-9x scope with Ballistic plex, I have this scope on a 7mm mag and Ithink it's the best scope under 200 in the 3-9x class. Other good choices would be a Leupold VX-I 3-9x or a Bushnell elite 3200 3-9x..
I think you will be happy with a plain jane round like a 270/280 or 30-06 over 270WSM.

...just search through these forums & threads......this is probably THE most asked question of all time ! You should be able to find lots of different views and opinions on what is the best cartridge/rifle combination.
Standard answer: .270 win ,30-06,.308 etc.etc.. are all good deer calibers.
Rifle: pick one you can afford AND still purchase good optics for...and one that you like(synthetic or wood,blued or stainless)and fits you well.Savage,Remington,Winchester,Tikka,Sako etc. etc.etc.

Welcome to the board and happy hunting....

It's hard to go wrong with any one of those calibers. I would wait a few years before getting a WSM or WSSM shooter. There's nothing wrong with them it's just I have a feeling that one or two of them is going to drift to the obsolete cartridge shelf. Most of the short magnums are just duplicating what an already established cartridge is doing just fine. The improvement in performance is there but not enough for me.

Ok, for deer hunting at ranges up to 300 yards the 25-06 or 270 Win will be very hard to beat. Either of these two calibers, if sighted in correctly, will give you a + or - 3 inch trajectory all the way out to 300 yards. Meaning that out ot 300 yards you would only need to hold in the middle of the vital zone to make a clean kill. Assuming no wind of course. Yeah right! That is another story entirely.

Which gun really comes down to how it fits you and you only. Shoulder as many as you can at various gun shops. As long as you stick to a reputable manufacturer (for the most part) you will likley get a good shooting rifle. Tikka, Remington, Howa, Ruger, Winchester, Browning, Savage. They all make good shooting rifles. Savage and Howa offer the most bang for your buck than any of the others IMO.

Stay away from the entry level scopes from Leupold and Nikon. They are decent enough but for what they offer they are WAY WAY WAY OVER PRICED. For $200 you should definetly look at the Burris fullfield II, Bushnell elite 3200, and Simmons Atec. All three of these scopes far excede the proformance levels of the Leupold and Nikon scopes you are talking about. The Burris being, by far, the better scope for under $200. It is right along the lines as the Leupold VX-III in performance but at a fraction of the cost and Burris also has a lifetime warranty just like Leupold.

Good luck and what ever you end up getting shoot it a lot.

For just deer hunting I would look at a 25-06 or a 7mm-08. If you check the ballistics out on these 2 they are better than the 270, 3006, or most other ones and are plenty gun for deer.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I was really only looking at the .270 caliber until I started reading this forum and it sounded like the 25-06 caliber was a good deer caliber especially for longer shots. As far as the rifles go, I like how the action feels of the Tikka and the salesman was stating that they were probably one of the more accurate rifles out there. The reason I even brought up the .270 WSM is that one store had a regular .270 and the other had the WSM.

I love my 257 caliber, great job on deer out to 400 yards. As far as the scope, I personnally think the Swift is the best scope for the money. I have 2 of them and both are absolutely crystal clear. My buddy and I cannot tell the difference between his Leupold VXII. I got my first 3x9x40 for $100. The second I bought used for $45. With a full lifetime replacement warranty you can't go wrong.

Mark

I would look at the Ruger 77 Mk II they are about $450-500at walmart, they are a nice tough gun with a mauser type action and a three position safety. They have intrical bases that can't come loose and they give you the rings for them. Stainless or blued would be fine. I would also go with the 30-06 it has the largest bullet selection on the market and will take any game you will hunt on the planet. For a $200 scope I would go with the Bushnell Elite 3200. This is a very good scope for the money and it has rain guard which allows you to see through the scope when it is fogged up. I own 2 77s and have friends that have 77s and all will shoot 1" or better at 100 yards.