RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Probably the best advice I' ve seen in this debate.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Ah yes the glorious .30/06 a jack of all trades and master of none;)

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

I want just the gun for 350 then i will spend the additional money on the leupold.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Go look around. You should be able to find a Savage for $350 or less. If you aren' t opposed to used you should be able to find an even better deal.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Way back in the beginning.....
7mmRemMag

You won' t out grow it.

Ammo is everywhere.

If you like 270' s or 7mm-08' s and such, then just reload it with reduced loads and you' re all set.

When you go for the " big time" in Montana' s " Big Sky" Country for antelope or you decide to get aggressive and go for elk, caribou, or moose then load it back " up" and you are all set.

You can always go bigger in cartridge and load down.
You can' t go smaller in cartridge and then try to load up, well you can try but it just don' t work too well.

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM

[Deleted]
 

[Deleted by Admins]

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

If I were you this is what I would do:

Go to a couple of gun shows and find yourself a used Savage. They don' t hold their value real well. This is an advantage if you are willing to look at a used one. You should be able to get a good used 111 model for about $250 or a 116 model for around $325. You could then take the remaining money and put it towards either the Leupold scope you want or a Bushnell Elite 3200. I don' t want to ruffle any Leupold fans, but the Elite 3200 is a lot more scope for the money ($180).

Most of the used Savage rifles you will find will be long action rifles in either .270 or .30-06. The older ones will have a plastic buttpad and are not very comfortable to shoot (heavy felt recoil).

Both the 7mm/08 and .270 Winchester are great cartridges. A handloader can get more performance out of the .270 as the 7mm/08 has considerably less case capacity. 2900 to 3000 fps is attainable in the .270 Winchester with 150g Ballistic Tips. The .270 is more cartridge, but the differences don' t amount to a whole lot in the field.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

I beg to differ. Even handloaded the 7mm-08 Rem has the edge on the 270 Win. It is a small edge, but an edge just the same. I shoot both cartridges and reload for both. I actually prefer the 7mm-08.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Ok, I will play the game - how on earth does a 7mm/08 have an edge over a much larger cartridge?

IMR book:
7mm/08 - 139g - top velocity 2835 fps
7mm/08 - 162g - top velocity 2625 fps

.270 Winchester - 130g - top velocity 3140 fps
.270 Winchester - 150g - top velocity 2985 fps

Alliant Powder
7mm/08 - 139g - top velocity 2850 fps
7mm/08 - 150g - top velocity 2760 fps

.270 Winchester - 130g - 3160 fps
.270 Winchester - 150g - 3010 fps.

I' m sure there are plenty of other data sources out there to look at, but those are the powders I use the most. I looked at several other books and the results were more or less the same as what I have posted. The .270 Winchester absolutely rocks with IMR 7828 and Alliant RL22. I have heard H1000 works very well for it too, but I have not tried it. Those powders won' t ever show up in factory loaded .270 ammo because they would be pretty rough on gas system of the Remington 7400 rifles chambered in .270 Win.

The .270 has a case capacity of 67.4g of water while the 7mm/08 has 52.23g. At the same pressure, it just is not possible for the 7mm/08 to make up for 15.17g of difference in case capacity. I am not distrespecting the 7mm/08 at all, it' s a great cartridge - but you just are not going to make up for 29% less case capacity without greatly increasing pressure.

Contrary to some opinion, there isn' t any real ballistic coefficent difference between the two either

Hornady 139g 7mm - 0.453
Hornady 140g .277 - 0.486

Nosler BT 150g 7mm - 0.491
Nosler BT 150g .277 - 0.493

Sierra SBT 140g 7mm - .488
Sierra SBT 140g .270 - .479

Sierra SBT 150g 7mm - .504
Sierra SBT 150g .277 - .515

Now if you just like the 7mm/08 better, that' s cool. There are many nice short action rifles that come in 7mm.08 that handle like a dream. However, I have tried but just cannot come up with a ballistic advantage the 7mm/08 would have over a similarly loaded .270 Win.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Take your time and have fun choosing your rifle. There' s so much information out there. This is a great time.

I bought my first rifle this past spring. I came here for advice, and got responses ranging from a .25-06 to a .30-06 and everything in between.

I, too, had narrowed my choices down to a 7mm08 and a .270 (along with a .308). I finally decided on a .270. If I had it to do all over again, I' d stick with the .270, yet I might have chosen the 7mm08 or .260 in something like a Remington 700, but not likely. There' ll be time for that, later.

I, too, wanted to spend around $500, yet soon found out that to do things right, I' d need to spend a bit more, especially on the glass. I opted for a Browning Synthetic Stalker with a VXII 3-9X40. All total, I spent $700-$800.

I love my setup. I' m sure that you' ll love your' s.