The .270 is a great cartridge for the hunting you will be doing. It's also perfectly suited for elk as well should you ever want to hunt them. If you like the .270 then don't let anyone talk ou out of it. There are bullets for it in every sporting goods store you will ever go in to, and it will be here for ever. For your first rifle there are probably no two better cartridges than the .270 and 30-06.

As far as the finish goes, there is absolutly nothing wrong with a blued gun. Every one of mine are blued and have hunted in the salty, rainy Florida air, South Texas, Colorado and a few other places and have never had to worry about rust at all. The stainless, contrary to popular belief, will get damage from the elements if not properly taken care of just like blued guns will. IMO unless you are hunting in CONSTANT foul weather, save your maney and go blue. If you can get an A-Bolt for $509 then you better not wait cause they'll be gone when you go back.

Thanks for the help, really.

I think the stainless A-bolts just look really clean.

I asked a reliable friend, today, about the stainless finish, and he echoed bigbulls, "If you take care of a gun, it won't rust, you'll have no problem with the finish. If you don't take care of it, the finish won't matter, anything will tarnish and look bad over time." He said he and his family own countless blued barrels, none of which have tarnished or rusted due to common sense care.

I shouldered a Ruger yesterday. I didn't care for the action. The Browning feels the best to my extremely novice hand.

dodger02..

just curious. how did the action feel?

herky-jerky

It took too much effort. I shouldered, paused, open & closed the bolt in an attempt to load another round. Took quite a bit longer than I'd like.

It was odd. I was suprised. Not near as smooth as the Winchester, Rem, or Browning I shouldered about 5 minutes earlier.

I dunno.

My personal preference would be Remington, Browning, Winchester...in that order. It just depends on what you like. Blued or stainless...again, personal preference...if you take care of them, they will be fine for sure. As far as your description of the Ruger action...IMO....based on the ones I've felt, you are being kind <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
Your choice of &quot;Browning A-Bolt composite stalker in a blued finish, chambered in .270&quot; for $509...I think you'd better go get it, that will be a super gun.

I'm going with the Browning, blued.

I'll save the $175 from the stainless and put it towards another gun.

Win .30-30? Seems like a fun gun.

Maybe a 9mm for fun.