New hunter needs some advice on rifles
 

Hello all!

I'm in need of some general advise on getting a hunting rifle. I'm looking at getting my first rifle and am leading towards bolt action. The guys I hunt with all use Remington's so they aren't the most unbiased group.

Basically, I'm looking at what manufacturer tends to make the best bolt action rifle. For me, best means which manufacturer makes a rifle that will last the longest without having to go above and beyond the regular maintenance and cleaning. I don't mind having to take some time to sight it in, so "out of the box" accuracy isn't a number one priority. I'm treating this as an investment, so I'm looking for a rifle that will perform at a high quality for a long time.

Feel free to add your opinions and any advice you might have!

Thanks.

No pun intended but that's a "loaded" question. There are many very good choices currently. A lot depends on your budget, the type of hunting you will be doing and how the rifle physically fits you. For general purpose bolt action rifles I'd look at Winchester model 70's, Rem model 700's, Savages and Ruger's. For lever actions I'd look at Marlin's. For single shots either TC or H&R will do the trick. BTW, welcome!

Gives us your budget and include what you expect to use this bolt gun for ?

Do you have a additional budget for a scope ?

......and welcome !

Well if you don't mind spending the money go for either a Remington 700 or a tikka t3 they both are accurate and require little maintnance. Put a good leupold or nikon on it and you'll be set. As for callibor 270 30-06 7mm-08 308 25-06 all would work just fine.

Don't forget to check what you are allowed to hunt with. It would suck to spend money on something you can't use.

Thompson Center Icon Classic or Venture, depends on your budget!

You want to be one of the guys right? Fit in with your group? You say most of them shoot Remingtons? I wonder why--Let's see, you are leaning toward a bolt action, Remington makes some of the best--good all around caliber? Ok, good dependable all around caliber--well the thirty 's are a good place to start--so let's say 30-06 in a Remington 700, priced from $400 and up. There you go, problem solved------Ok, that would be a first choice for me, but in all honesty, a Weatherby Vanguard would also be a good choice, or a Tika, possibly a Ruger, very strong and dependable, but a little pricy and let's also mention Browning----any of these will last a lifetime, are relatively low maintenance and can be very accurate--------John

First, Welcome to the forum.

Out of the box accuracy refers to a gun shooting very small groups without bedding the action, free floating the barrel, recrowning the barrel, or adjusting the trigger. Sighting in a rifle means you are moving the sights to match the bullet's impact.

As the others have stated, let us know your budget, and we can recommend rifles in the price range.

Thanks for all the responses so far! I would mostly be using this rifle for deer hunting. My budget is $1000 for rifle and scope...at least right now. If that won't work, I guess I will have to save some more! Thanks again!

I'm also in the market for my first and probably only big game rifle. I've always bowhunted, but want to try gun hunting and also plan a moose hunting trip to Alaska.

After a lot of reading up, I'm probably going to go with a Tikka T3 Stainless 30-06 with a Zeiss Conquest scope on top. Right around $1k and there isn't anything you can't do with a 30-06!