bronko22000

I have to agree. Find the rifle that fits you best. I assume you plan on keeping it for a while so a few bucks more or less isn't the issue. As for the chambering, the '06 will do you just fine as would a bunch of other chamberings. I somehow get the impression from reading your post that you don't shoot that often. If I'm mistaken, I apoligize. You don't need a 7 mag or 325 WSM for deer. Nor the 270WSM (but this one is nice). I would shy away from the 'magnumitis' . It just isn't necessary. In a long action, the '06, 270, 280 will be fine. Should you decide on going with a short action, then the 7-08, 7x57, 257, and 308 would also be fine choices. And if you haven't shot an '06, you may want to start out with the reduced recoil loads until you get the feel of it.

aharper33

another option for a scope if you do not do the package deal or spend more on a scope then you do on your rifle like alot of people are suggesting is Red Head scopes that you can get at Bass Pro. i was talking to one of the guys at the gun counter and he was saying that Bushnell actually makes the scopes for Red Head. plus they are about half the cost and they seem to be of the same quality. its just another option.

Folically Challenged

'Twas interesting that I saw your post, and on the same day I came across this: http://www.chuckhawks.com/1000_hunting_rifle_system.htm

In particular, I noticed this portion: "Likewise, nobody chose a package deal that included a rifle, mount and scope, although most of these rifles are available in such packages. We all have our individual preferences in scopes and mounts and are perfectly willing (actually prefer) to do our own scope mounting and bore sighting."

Naturally, there's an entire threadon this very website regarding the credibility of Mr. Hawks.If nothing else, though,the opinions shown are from guys who've handled far more rifles & scopes than I ever have.

Just some food for thought.

FC

Alsatian

Get the .30-06 for your first rifle. It will work for all North American game, particularly in the lower 48 states. As you get older you may wish to accumulate more specialized rifles -- .25-06/.257 Weatherby Magnum for pronghorn hunting, .338 Winchester Magnum for elk, etc. -- but it is always a good idea to have a back-up rifle available if your go-to rifle goes down (scope goes haywire, you drop the go-to rifle out of the case on the concrete at the airport, etc.). The .30-06 is an ideal back-up rifle because . . . it will work for all North American game.

Don't get excited about the scopes that will be mounted on the rifle when you make a combo purchase. They aren't likely to put a high quality scope on the combo, so if you are choosy about your scopes, you WILL replace the scope with something better down the road. Try to figure out what the price difference is between the raw unscoped rifle and the scoped combo. If you pay more than $100 for the inclusion of the scope it probably isn't the way to go. You won't get anything out of reselling a used, cheap scope. It is just going to be money flushed down the toilet. Alternately, you can think of the money saved as a start on paying for the better quality scope.

Most rifles will do what they are supposed to do -- throw a bullet down range with acceptable hunting accuracy. The sighting system -- the scope and scope mounts and scope rings -- may be a very big factor in the useability of your rifle. If you can't sight the rifle on target, you can't make use of the accuracy of your rifle. If you buy a cheap rifle, it may make sense to spend more money on the scope than you spent on the rifle itself. I bought a Remington ADL with synthetic stock in .30-06 for about $280 at a Grand Opening of a Bass Pro shop. I had been looking around for a beater rifle for use in the rain. I realized, after looking around at some pretty dubious candidates (old military mausers from uncertain second countries such as Argentina of uncertain years), that this was probably as good as it was going to get. When I scoped the rifle I put a Leupold VX-III 3.5-10x 40 mm scope on it -- $500 for the scope, mounts, rings, and installation. This would appear to be silly, for such a cheap gun. But I want to use this as a back-up for all my hunting, and if I am using my back-up on an elk hunt and Mr BIG shows up, I don't want to be relying on a cheap scope. A cheap gun will probably still do what it is supposed to do; a cheap scope? Maybe not.

Paul L Mohr

Skip the package deal, if you want a savage 16 just get the basic model, they go for about $560 in my area. And I would stay away from that remington model, if you want a remington get a real one (700 model). I would actually get a Howa myself to be honest.

You can get a really good hunting scope in the 200 dollar range, just keep the power low.

Paul

oldelkhunter

Ebay is full of deals on scopes that formerly came on package rifles

vadeer

Thanks, guys - This helps alot.

A11en

I also agree with skipping on the package deal. The .30-06 is the way to go. You can't go wrong with a Savage or Remington 700. My vote would be to save up and put a Zeiss Conquest on it.

Mojotex

"nchawkeye" hit the nail on the head.

I am almost 60 years old. I have been hunting deer since age 14. I started with center fire in 1965 with a Remingtom 660 in 6.5 Rem . Mag. Cost me nearly a whole summer's savings. I am still pi$$ed at Remington for giving up on that cartridge. My replacement was a Winchester Model 88. It to went out of production !!! Might be a trend here ??

If I have learned anything at all it is to spend the $$$ on optics. Admittedly I have become somewhat obsessive about this point. I have good reason. I have had one and only one chance at a truly monster scoring buck. It is impossible to tell but if it was not 180+ I am not bald. And believe me I am an onion head. It was 126 yards. I had a perfect rest. I got 3 clean , steady shots at this buck before he decided enough was enough and bounded off. The scope was a Tasco "World Class". It was the first scope I ever bought ... because my eyesight no longer would let me use iron sights out to 200 yards. The guts in that scope were gone. When I checked it back at the camp, it would walk 15"-20" without me ever touching it.

You spend $300-$500 on a rifle ??? You need to spend as much above that as you can to get a good scope. Is a $2000 Zeiss or Swarovski, etc. necessary? Nope? My personal choice ... yep.

Can't go there ? Not a problem, Get into the $350-$600 range and you can fined several makes that will do just fine. My personal recommendation in that price range are the Leupold Vari-X II and Vari-X III line and the the Zeiss Conquest.

Paul L Mohr

You don't need to spend 3-6 hundred dollars to get a good hunting scope. If you can afford it by all means do it, but from the sounds of it you can't. Going from a savage package deal to getting a 600 dollar Leupold scope is a pretty big leap. If you are looking for a varmint rig or target rig with lots of magnification then I would say yes, 300 is about where they start to get good. But for a low powered hunting scope you can find some very decent scopes in the 150-200 dollar range.

I have never been a believer in the spend as much on the scope as you did the rifle concept. Just makes no sense to me considering the large range of gun prices out there. If I am getting a gun to deer hunt with and I go with a Stevens or Mossberg for around 250-300 dollars then I should get a 300 dollar scope. If I get a nicer rifle for say $1500 for the same purpose I now need to get a scope that costs more than a grand? That just makes no sense to me. The more expensive rifle is just going to be more pretty than the cheaper one, the performance is going to be virtually the same.

like I said if you can afford it go for it, but if you can't don't beat yourself up over it.

Going from a Tasco to a higher end Zeiss or Swarovski is a HUGE leap in price and quality. There are tons of scopes inbetween there that are perfectly suitable for large game hunting. Lets be honest here, if you had over $1000 dollars to spend on a rifle and scope you wouldn't be looking at Savage package deals or the Remington 770.

Paul