I need a gun and on a budget for deer hunting
 

ok so I am new to hunting and this will be my fist year deer hunting

I already have a remington 870 shot gun. so I could just get a slug barrel but my cousin has one and he says it is very inaccurate (mosberg riffled scoped combo) and hes tried different slugs

so I think I will be better off getting a riffle
any suggestions

what caliber do I need my grandpa was saying I need a 30-06 but It seams that other people use smaller ammo

I was thinking remington 770 (cabellas has a scope combo 30-06 for $359 after rebate) I know its has some bad reviews but the people that own then seam to like them. and I would only use it to get a dear a year and make sure it sighted in thats all the shooting It would do.

thats my thoughts what do you guys think

IMO the remington 700 is all the rifle anyone could ever ask for, but the 770 must be the red headed step child of economy guns for a reason. I know the bolt is pretty rough and they are ugly as...(if that matters) Personally I would just stuff the 870 w/ cheap foster(rifled) or brennekee slugs, mod or IC choke and take 50 yd or less shots. Id save up and buy a good rifle and scope ,cause you will save more $ buying a good gun 1st, instead of buying crap, then quality ,which is ultimately what most hunters wind up doing. If you really must buy a cheapo, I would go w/ a marlin XL7 or marlin 336, savage 11/111, 0r an NEF handi rifle. 3006 is great but you can dump deer w/ much less. any of those w/ a bushnell trophy(not great but good and tough scope) would serve you well, and for about 400+tax NIB

If money is an issue consider buying used. A .30-06 is a good cartridge but consider the recoil. You can can kill deer with much less.

If you don't mind me asking, how old are you? How many rifles have you shot? What is your frame size, small, med or large?

Tom

im 19 im a big guy. I have only shot one big riffle before a 30-06 shot it twice. it had kick but I did not have a problem with it.

Marlin XL-7 is a good choice for about $300.00 to $350.00 nice gun for the money and accurate. An even better choice for about $440.00 is the Thompson Center Venture very very accurate and well made. Both are good guns for the money. I have three Remington 700's and the Thompson out shoots them all.

There are much better choices out there than the Remington 770 for cheap prices. 30-06 is also a fine caliber for deer as is .270. I'm a fan of 30-06 personally.

The Savage 110 or whatever they have at Wal-Mart seems really nice. I have a friend that bought one in .243 and loves it. The only complaint I've heard about them is the scope isn't the best but it should get you buy until you can afford a better scope and it's a great gun.

The Marlin XL7 is another cheap gun that I wouldn't hesitate to get. You can get either of these for probably not much more than a Remington 770 that's a crappy gun and a even crappier scope. A friend had one in .300 win mag and the scope that came on it wouldn't stand up to the recoil of the gun.

Stevens 200 in either .243, 7m08, or 06. I have one in .243. Great rifle for the price and I couldn`t be happier with mine.

Ron:D

I guess the best question to ask you first is, what's your budget? You mentioned the Rem 770 for $359 after a (mail-in?) rebate, so the out-of-pocket cost would be somewhat higher. Ao I'm going to guess and say that your budget is probably around $400.

I'd suggest you go to www.galleryofguns.com, which is Davidson's website (they are a big gun distributor) and use the Gun Genie. This is a nifty little tool to price shop for guns, as it gives you actual price quotes from local participating dealers in your area, and you can buy from the site if you find one you want at a price you like (but you have to pick the gun up in person at the dealer you choose).

Here's an example:

A Stevens 200 bolt action rifle (which is a Savage 11x minus the Accutrigger) package that come with a (cheap but functional) scope, would set you back between $378.81 and $432.92 depending on which dealer you went with. I selected all dealers within 100 miles of my Zip code. These prices INCLUDE any dealer fees and tax.

A second search, using the same parameters as the first shows a Marlin XL-7 bolt action rifle for between $306.01 and $336.65 total cost, but without a scope. If you paid $306 for the rifle, you could slap a $100 scope on it (again, not great glass, but functional) and be in business for about $400.

Mossberg 100ATR bolt-action package rifle w/scope: $388.40 (lowest total quote inc tax and fees if any)

H&R Handi-Rifle break open single shot rifle (blue/wood, with Weaver rail scope mount included): $264.81 (w/ tax and fee if any)

All of the above are better rifles than the Remington 770, even if they are cheaper. The Handi-Rifle is a great little gun for a very reasonable price. Other I'd look at would be Howa (which is the same as the Weatherby Vanguard, just under the manufacturers nameplate), the Rem 700 SPS, and the base model Savages. All are MUCH better than the 770, and not really that much more money. Just because there are a lot of folks that just absolutely love their 770, that doesn't mean its worth a crap, especially when compared to other entry-level rifles in a similar price bracket.

Mike

As for caliber, you certainly won't go wrong with the .30-06. It's been the most popular big game hunting cartridge for over 100 years for a reason, but it does have the drawback of fairly stout recoil. It's not the type of rifle you're going to want to shoot a whole lot in one sitting, and as an inexperienced rifleman, you could very quickly develop a flinch that can be very hard to overcome.

I would strongly suggest you look at a cartridge like the .243 Winchester or .25-06 Remington. Both are right up there in popularity to the .30-06, so factory ammo is comparably prices (or even a touch cheaper), and is just as available. The 7mm-08 is another great cartridge, and has been suggested to you by a couple folks, but it still is nowhere near as popular as the 243 or 25-06, so while ammo should be available at any of the bigger sporting goods stores, it might not be available at the local mom-n-pop or even Walmart (whose shelves have been remarkably bare of late, but they still have .30-06 and 243 Win ammo). Otherwise, the 7mm-08 is a great deer cartridge.

If I were you, I'd lean toward the .243 Win. It's very easy on the shoulder and wallet, if you practice well and have some level of discipline to wait for a good shot, it's VERY bad for the deer on the receiving end.

Mike

Look at the pawn shops for a lucky shot at a real good gun. The Mossberg and the Marlin as well as the Savage Stevens 200 are all good rifles for the money if you really want new. Also, the rem 710 if they still make it was a functional gun that I nearly bought a half dozen times. The H&R's are very good little guns if your not adverse to single shots and want to save money with the money you save you could buy a good scope used and maybe a nice recoil pad.

Also check the thrifty nickle and local gun shops sometime you can pick up a real steal. Learn about quality rifles and what they are worth roughly by searching sights like gunbroker.com and gunsamerica.com. Then look at what is in your area.

Any common caliber .243win and up is a good deer rifle with the proper ammo(some would say .223 but its a little close, and not legal in some states.). The .30/'06 is as big as I would go if I were just hunting deer sized game at standard distances, and I would consider .308 seriously it will do all that it's big brother does to deer and its a little easier on the shoulder and the pocket book if you just use standard hunting ammo.