You have a fun delima on your hands right now and I' m sure you will get a lot of enjoyment out of your new rifle no matter what chambering you choose, I would offer this advice though. I know its boring as heck and not new or glamorous at all, but the 3006 is still the most versatile cartridge thats commonly available in factory offerings. If you ever plan on getting into reloading you will be able to come up with alot more different types of loads easier than with any other cartridge. Ammunition is cheap and easy to find too. Have fun deciding on your new gun.

Here' s another vote for the 25-06

I would take a trip to Wally World and have a look at the Winchester package gun that they have there. I got my son one in 2 years ago. It is a 270 with the plastic stock and a Simmons 8-point scope on it. I brought it home adjusted 99% of the free travel out of the trigger and lighted it just a little. I loaded a few differant loads and we took it to the range. Had it sighted in in just a few shots picked the best load. He took his first Whitetail with it this year with a shot of about 175yds. Money well spent in my Opinion. This rifle will last him a lifetime if he so chooses. The cost THEN including tax was just under $400. Good Luck and enjoy.

.30-06. just because there are so many diffent choices of loads that will cover every aspect of N. American game, from varmits to Moose

Savage makes a fine gun, I doubt you' ll be disappointed with it. All the chamberings you stated will work fine. If I was to pick one right now it' ll be the 7mm-08 only because I have the other two.

So will a whole host of others including the 7mm-08 Rem and 270 Win. What fun is it to use one rifle for everything anyways? Since thenuge15 is talking deer rifles, he has listed probably the two best deer cartridges available with the exclusion of the 260 Rem/ 6.5 X 55mm. No need for anything more. I was at the range today shooting my 270. There was a guy beside me shooting a 30-06. The recoil of the 06 got to the guy about half way though a box of ammo and his groups went to pot. The 30-06 is not what most would consider light recoiling. Especially for a first deer rifle. Beats the tar out of a 30-30 Win though.

Do it the easy way. Buy one of each caliber LOL. The 7mm 08 and .270 Win are both great deer cartridges.I' ve used a 270 for quite awhile now.Last year I used a Ruger M77 in 7mm Rem Mag and it didn' t do any better then the 270 has in years past. This year I' m going to be using a Browning BAR" Stalker" in.270.If I had to choose one cartridge strickly for deer it would be a .270.Or possibly the the trusty Ol' e 30-06.
Ruger Redhawk

I like that kind of reasoning!That would solve a lot of these which gun should I buy dilemas and giveyou a lot more toys to play with,and you can never have too many toys Well said Ruger.

woods

Thanks for all of your help. I think i am probably going to go with the 7mm-08. Also i was wondering if there is any good new guns out there for under 350. Can i get a new savage for this price? Because i want to spend under 5 or 6 hundred including the glass, and i really want it to be a new gun. Thanks-Sam

Good choice on the 7mm-08, though the .270 would have been just as good.

For your price target of $350, take a look at the Savage lineup. Wal-Mart usually has a few Savages that come with an inexpensive scope about that price range. The scope won' t be up to the Vari-X II standard, but you can always swap it out. Who knows, maybe it' ll be good enough to get you through a few seasons.

For a little bit more, take a look at the Tikka line. A few weeks ago my will-power failed me and I couldn' t pass up an opportunity on a Tikka Whitetail Hunter in 7mm-08 for $465. Sighting it in over the weekend I had a couple of " cloverleaf" groupings (from the benchrest of course, I' m not that good!). All that right out of the box, no trigger work, bedding, etc. I think its a good gun, better perhaps than Remington and/or Winchester, for several hundred less. Worth a look anyway.

One closing thought - if you find a rifle that you like, for the right price, but its a .270, take it anyway. The difference between those two is not all that great. Certainly not worth passing up a good deal for.