I'm about to purchase my first hunting rifle and I'm a bit green to all this. My Father in law has expressed that he feels a .270 would be a fitting gun. He uses a .270 Savage himself. I know a .243 is probably the lowest I would want for Deer in the southeast (GA). I don't want to go with the lowest caliber. I also don't want overkill, but I would like the option to hunt bigger game should the opportunity arise (such as elk or bear).
At my local store I found a Mauser 7X57 with a nice scope (don't have specifics but was magnified nicely when I looked through it) for around 300 dollars.
There were several other rifles there, a Savage .243, a couple of 30x06's and some higher more expensive calibers. Right now the 7x57 (which I understand to be a .283 if you use that to measure) and a nice 30x06 are my main two contenders.
I was looking for some input.
/Xav

My first rifle was a 7x57, which I used when I lived in the northeastern US. It is a nice deer rifle for your area and would be fine on black bear. I am sure it would work for Elk too - but you would have to discipline yourself - some shots that one might take with a magnum or larger caliber ought not to be taken with a 7x57. It will have less recoil and less noise than a 30-06, which might be important in a built up area. The 7x57 is an "all round" caliber, but the premier all round caliber for North American hunting is the 30-06. Just take a look at the ammunition for sale at the store that is selling the rifles - there is far more selection in 30-06, signalling that it is the more popular caliber by far. (That is true in any gun store I have been in - but although I visited south Georgia (around Douglas) many times, I never did any shopping or hunting there, so am unable to comment on whether what I said would be true there as well.)

If you aren't planning on handloading for it, I would get a 7mm-08 instead- pretty much the same performance as the 7x57, but available in factory loads loaded to its potential.

the 7mm mauser is a sweet shooting cartridge. I take it these are all used guns you are looking at. Make sure the 7x57 is in good shape before you buy. I'm willing to bet it is a spoterized 98 military rifle. They are built like tanks, so just make sure that barrel is good. Hows the rifling? check for bulges, and buy that gun! I love those things!

How would I check the barrel and rifling? Would the store allow me to shoot rounds to test it out?

Make sure the barrel is clean. Bring a bore light with you, they cost about $5.
Remove the bolt from the rifle. put the bore light at one end and look down the other. A bore that hasn't been abused or neglected should look shiny, and the rifling should look sharp, not rounded.

If the bore looks grayish, this is ok too- it just means the bore might be fouled or slightly pitted (or frosted). If the bore looks fuzzy, bumpy, black, rusty, or the rifling looks chipped or rounded, the barrel has been neglected or has shot alot of corrosive ammo without proper cleaning- buying one of these is a crap shoot- it might shoot fine but foul up quickly, or might not shoot well at all.

If you get the 7x57, you will love it BUT. Figure on reloading. Thats the only way to bring out the best in that caliber. As someone else said if you don't reload get a 270 or 7mm-08. Or even a 308.

By reloading you mean handloading the shells? I'm not familiar with doing that. Perhaps I should get a .270 or 30-06. The Mauser is a sweet rifle though. I'll check out the other rifles there whenever I go back in a week or so.
Thanks for the advice.

The 7mm Mauser is one of the all time greats,But like everyone has said to get it full potential you need to handload. Or buy ammo made in Europe.
If the .270 is your 2nd choice you can get a Savage with scope, detachable magazine, synthetic stock for $339 at Walmart, If you don't like Walmart most gunshops can sell them for about $360.
They are very good rifles for the money.
The Savage with the detachable mag is cheaper than the other package guns but only comes in .270 and 30-06.

Good luck

Well a friend at work is going to bring his .308 so I can try it out. Basically gonna fire a round to see if I like the feel and kick. There was a .308 up there but I figured at the time it would be a bit of overkill. He has taken 8 deer with the gun and says he likes the power behind it. One was a doe through brush. He could see the rear end of the deer and aimed for the kill zone. The bullet went through the brush and dropped the deer right there. Hard to argue with that.
But if I had to say a second choice it would be the .270 or 30 06.