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.

Marlin XL7 in .25-06 or .270 or .30-06
Marlin XS7 in 7mm-08 or 308

If you think you will ever hunt game larger than deer and want one gun go with a .270/.308/.30-06 caliber range.

If not, then .25-06/.270 or 7mm-08 are the perfect whitetail calibers. The .270 is one versatile caliber.

At a minimum, I'd go with a Marlin XL7 or XS7 that's in the $300 range or so. Then I'd top it with a Nikon Pro Staff 3-9x40 scope, that you can buy on E-Bay for $100-$110 new. Good rings and bases will cost you $40-$50. That combo, in my opinion, will last you a lifetime and would be a great gun to start with.

Don't rush into things, and keep an eye out for a good used gun -- you'll get a lot more for you money. Like another poster said, don't go too cheap -- you'll regret it. If you must save your money a little longer for a good gun combo, shoot Federal Tru Ball Slugs through your shotgun this fall. I use them in my 870 and they are very accurate out to 50 yards with a vent rib barrel, which is adequate for the woods hunting I do in Michigan.

Since you are only looking for a deer rifle don't overlook the Marlin 336 in 30-30.

Let me throw another option in the mix. I have a Weatherby Vanguard in 7mmRemMag. A bit big for your needs but the Vanguard is affordable, accurate and durable. The nice thing about the .30-06 is you can buy rounds for it any where. Heck, the shake shop around the corner from my house has .30-06 rounds. If you decide you want to save up for an elk hunt you still have a suitable rifle.
I have a Burris Fullfield II in 3-9X40 with Ball Plex reticle. It handles all my needs just fine and doesn't cost a bunch of money.

removed by RD

You're looking for a deer gun on a budget. Might help if you specify rifle, shotgun, or ml.
Personally, I wouldn't buy the combo from cabellas. I have heard more bad than good about those rifles and you can get a decent used rifle for the same money that will out last those cheap things, esp. if you're lookin for 30-06 because lets face it, the 96 is more than likely the most popular hunting cartridge ever. So my first recommendation is to go for a used bolt action or semi auto.

My second recommendation would be to go for good used lever action in 30-30 or something bigger. again you'll have quick repeat round.

As for getting the good old NEF single shot rifles, I would recommend it. Here's why, although they're great rifles and I have had my 243 NEF single shot for years and have killed many deer with it, if you are looking for a single shot rifle for cheap then my recommendation would be to look at the inline muzzle loaders like the optimas and wolf combos. You can get one of these and hunt two seasons in most states. They're more than capable if tuned up right at taking deer at 200 yards. If you want a good deal then that would be my recommendation.

As for the 870 being highly inaccurate, your cousin is wrong. I slapped on a red dot scope on mine and its good out to 100 yards which is more than enough.

Those are my suggestions, I hope that helps.

From a 770 owner
 

Last winter I bough a 770 in the 30-06, knowing full well that I would probably be buying a better gun in a couple years. At the time, I had just retired from the military, moved to Montana, was ready to get back into hunting, but on a very tight budget. I found a rifle at Wally World that had some factory repairs & was marked down even more. The rifle performs well, getting average 1 1/2" groups at 100 yards with several loads. It seems to like the 150 gr BTSP Noslers best. The bolt feels sloppy & the plastic logo fell off the stock & is now somewhere in the woods. Although advertised as an out-of-the box ready, the trigger felt like it had 1/2 mile of pull at around 10 lbs. I fiddled with the screws on the trigger, even though everything I read said not to, & now have about 2 lbs & very little travel. The Bushnell scope is very clear, but was loose at first. I snugged it down before ever firing it and haven't had a problem yet. So to answer your question: Yes it works well, but it's not my first choice.

On a really tight budget my search would begin and end with either the Marlin 7 or the Stevens 200. Caliber wise Im pretty partial to the 270 and the 7-08. Scope wise... Nikon Pro Staff from ebay....and good ol Weaver mounts. Now you've got a budget rig that will perform much much better than anything resembling a budget rig.

Marlin XL7.. cheap price but a quality gun. IMO, DO NOT buy the 770.

what distances are you shooting?if you need to go real cheap just buy a box of federal tru ball slugs (less than 5$) and throw a fiber optic adjustable sight and open choke on the 870 (20-30$). im pretty sure your gonna kill deer out to 100 yards with that set up. if you need a rifle i would hit the used market or a package deal from the local big stores.

I really like my savage 110 with accutrigger in .270. Very good out of the box rifle and I got mine for under 400 with a sling and scope. It was a package deal from wal-mart a few years ago. Sling and scope aren't great by any means but they will do until you can afford the upgrade. Not one deer that I have aimed at seemed to mind that I shoot an inexpensive gun either. I really like the accutrigger so if you go with savage I would recommend making sure the gun you are looking at his it.

From people I know that have them I would stay away from the 770. I like the 270 because you can find lighter loads for coyotes and other smaller animals. Let us know what you decide on.

weatherby vanguard in .243, 25-06 or 7mm-08

You've gotten some sage advice thus far. Price certainly isn't everything, and shopping around will surely find you a much better rifle than the 770 you're considering.

If you CAN use a rifle (and aren't in a shotgun-only state or portion of a state) then the '06 would serve you well. Of course, so would any of the other cartridges from .25-'06 and up.
I can shoot a .30-'06 all day long without a problem. But I can shoot smaller cartridges better. That's just how it is, and I'd wager it's true for everyone. If you're hunting only deer, there's nothing a .30-'06 will do that the others won't, save for punching your shoulder more every time you press the trigger.

If you must use a shotgun, don't fret over accuracy. Any gun that shoots under 4" at 100 yards will kill a deer, and most slug guns will do far better than that.

Most importantly, though, I'd suggest that it's not in your best interest (nor that of your quarry) to be a "sight-in and 1 shot" shooter when you're new to hunting. You'll need to do lots of shooting to find a load that your rifle likes, and to be confident of where those shots will go at different yardages. Once that's done, you'll need to practice shooting a lot from field positions (offhand, kneeling, sitting, prone...), since most hunting spots don't have benches set up.

The more shooting you do, the more accurate you'll be, and the less the chances are of your wounding & losing game. After firearm safety, this is the most important part of hunting.

FC

gun
 

I had purchased that 770 u are considering and my advice would be too leave it alone. its not worth it. I would consider other alternatives like a howa 1500

I started with a 20ga then went to the lowly model 94 30/30, then remington bdl .270, now i shoot a 7mm/08 in a savage 10 w/ accu-trigger. Look at pawn shop and swap meets

IMO any caliber will kill a deer with an accurate well placed shot... I would suggest a caliber that you can also use for other hunting adventures like woodchucks or coyotes so a caliber like the .243 would be great... or even the .223... granted that is a tad small but its travelling fast so that makes up for the loss of bullet weight... I agree with going to your local pawn shops or even gun shows in your area to find a decent deal on a used gun. If you have a sporting goods store like I do in my area you can always do a lay a way... Thats what I did with my AR-15... Check your local paper as well... Someone somewhere may need a few hundred dollars and is willing to foolishly sell their firearm to come up with the money!
Good luck in your decision and Good luck in the field!

Lots of good advice from lots of peeps here, I'll throw mine in:

If you're on a very tight budget - and depending upon the terrain? - sight in your shotgun with slugs and stick to close shots. Depending on terrain.

Check out used rifles. Look over Gunbroker.com and Auctionarms.com, and various boards' classified.

I don't know if the 770 is crappy - never handled one - but apparently many dislike it. I know that Savage makes a very good rifle (I've had two). 30-06 is the 'gold standard', as someone said, but it's more than you need for deer, and it will - as several have said - boot you pretty good, esp. if you're a new shooter. Use hearing protection (lot of muzzle blast, which contributes to flinching, too). Now, if you've been shooting slugs from an 870, the 30-06 will seem relatively mild, except for noise/muzzle blast.

Lots of good choices out there. And listen up: DO NOT overlook a 2nd-hand Marlin 336 in 30-30. It has many virtues: it is pretty. It is all the power you need to as far as most people have any business shooting a deer at - a solid 175-200 yards rifle. It is classy. For ammo price.... it is the cheapest deer-appropriate cartridge out there. It isn't all that impressive when looking at a ballistics chart, but in the real world, shooting deer... it is will do as well.

I like the NEF handi-rifle w/heavy barrel; single shots appeal to me.

to go really cheap - get a low-end muzzleloader. I bought a CVA Buckhorn for about 80 bucks on post-season sale several years ago - there in the low $100-range now - it's a fine 100 yard solution. Killed a doe with it yesterday.

Savage, Stevens or Marlin to get a quality rifle while keeping the cost down.

I would not get the 770, there are cheap guns and then there are cheaply made guns. Not that it won't work, but it won't last well and you're better of spending $50 more and getting a better value.

Or get a muzzleloader and save even more.

If you certainly won't be shooting over 100yds, you can make the shotgun work.

For economy, I also recommend a handi-rifle in .243. Lots of utility for the price.
Rossi has some inter-changeable combos that I keep peering at.
Ive never owened one, but might soon, in .243 and ?.
A good ole' Marlin 30-30 is a lot of gun for the price.

I used and still do to this day an Old Marlin Glenfield model 30A 30-30 and it has shot plenty of deer up here in these parts. A friend of mine shot his moose with one this year and he also still enjoys it. There are bigger guns out there that can do the job as well. If I was to move up to another rifle I would be seriously thinking about the line of 270s out there. But to each thier own and good luck on what you decide on getting...