TomFromTheShade

A friend of mine, who is a lifetime New Jersey shotgun hunter, and knows nothing about rifles, asked me to recommend a good deer hunting rifle for him to buy. This rifle is going to be strictly for whitetails, and I would imagine at distances inside 300 yards. I tried to think of a rifle that was easy to carry, easy to shoot, reliable, and not too terribly expensive. This is what I came up with. Any input is appreciated.

The rifle will be a Winchester model 70 classic featherweight, .270 Winchester. It has a 22 inch barrel, and at a little over seven pounds it could be one of the nicest looking rifles I have ever seen. Sitting on top of this rifle will be a matte finished Leupold VXIII 2.5-8x36mm scope with a duplex reticle. The scope will be mounted with two piece Leupold bases, and a set of low profile standard Leupold rings, and will sport a set of Butler Creek flip open scope caps. To finish up the package, I'm adding a classic Triple K military style brown leather sling with heavy duty Outdoor Connection Talon swivels to accomidate the 1 1/4" width.

After putting so much thought into this I'm tempted to get one for myself too. I know that it won't do anything that my 30-06 Springfield doesn't do just as well or better, but it looked so pretty in my head lol.

coolbrze0

LOL, I thought that was funny coming from you. You got a nice*ss rifle there. Been shooting my 700 BDL 30-06 a little bit the last several weeks and it's a sweet shooting rifle!

Alsatian

Your recommendation is entirely satisfactory, no doubt about it. But what fun would this post be if other people didn't share alternative recommendations -- even if they aren't one bit more likely to result in dead deer and hunter satisfaction?

For deer hunting, ease of carrying is not so important as on a sheep hunt where one is climbing in high country all day long, day after day. In deer hunting one often walks a minimal distance and then sits down and stays on a stand. Even if you change stands for the afternoon, you just aren't talking about too much walking and carrying of the rifle. What about a Winchester Super Grade? Looks pretty nice to me. Also, on the scope, I would personally prefer the Leupold 3.5-10x 40mm VXIII, but my hunting is a bit more open field. Maybe your hunting has more heavy woods than my hunting.

As to cartridge, certainly .270 will slay them dead, but I have a special fondness in my heart for the .25-06 and would recommend this over the .270 -- for whitetail only hunting as you have framed it. The .25-06 would come in a 24 inch barrel to get just a wee bit more muzzle velocity out of this cartridge (and the .270 may benefit from this extra 2" also). Again, that extra 2" in my open country is no disadvantage -- it may be a disadvantage in primarily heavy woods.

Again, your .270 featherweight would work marvellously. But as in any thing of beauty, are we satisfied in only contemplating one beauty?

TomFromTheShade

I used to be a fan of longer barrels too, prefering a 26" pipe on my hunting rifles, but after shooting a friends 7mm-08 with a 22" barrel I couldn't see ANY difference in performance. I like the way that the shorter barrel makes the rifle feel when I am shooting off hand too.

fillae

For real? I used to shoot my bb gun off hand, but never my rifle.

TomFromTheShade

You never shoot your rifle without a rest?

What if you have to take a shot without a rest when you're hunting?

fillae

Sorry, I misread your statement. I was thinking you were shooting from the hip. Minor brain fart.

I always try to use a rest of some sort, but have had to shoot off-hand when I get caught out of position.

DoctorDeath

7mm08 is a super all around cartrage ...not much difference in muzzle volicity of it and a 30/06 ... i took a WT deer last year that weighed 335lbs ....

Roll Tide

DD

mauser06

only one recomendation.....that scopes going to cost as much as the rifle.....not sure if cost is a problem or not.....i own a leupold myself....but a vari x III is top of the line....and costly.....but im sure its worth every penny.......good glass is always a good choice...but if cost is a factor you could step down to a vari-X II or something a little cheaper.....sounds like a nice rifle though.........

TomFromTheShade

I don't want to say that money isn't an issue, because this guy couldn't afford to spend something rediculous like $5000 on a rifle, but somewhere in the neighborhood of $1500 and down is in his budget. I'm a firm believer in quality optics, and I think that if you can afford it, you should buy the best scope you can find.