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Deer rifle for a novice hunter

I think the 30-06 is one of the most versatile rounds there is, capable of taking any game in North America




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The reason I asked about your rifle experience is that standard rifle calibers can take getting used to. 30.30 will not kick a lot, but 308 30.06 types bark pretty hard for the unitiated.
 
I like to shoot with a sling. I remember pressing on a plastic rifle stock at the store, with very little pressure, it flexed. This was on the barrel end of the stock.

Maybe someone who knows can indicate if a flexie stock works ok with a sling. Maybe the maker took sling shooting into account with the flexie stock design.
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
I would probably like to have a sling. I have shot for a few years now. Not much rifle shooting though.
 
What is the most intense rifle caliber that you have shot? If you find it punishing it can mess up your accuracy.

I used shotguns from the time I was a youngster in grade school. I was ~25 years old when I bought a rifle. I overestimated how well I could accept recoil from a standard rifle (308 win).

I only hit one deer with it, at about maybe about 5 or 10 yards. I have not seen many that were outside of shotgun range. That is due to the terrain where I have hunted.
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
.223 I guess. Have shot a 16 gauge shotgun which was nothing IMO.
 
Like so many have said for your area, A Marlin in 30-30, although I prefer the 35 Remington cartridge,probably because that's what dad had. A Marlin in 44 mag would be ok also. The last few years I had been playing with a relative newcomer of a cartridge in some homebuilt AR 15 types, the 6.5 Grendel, and finally got a pretty little bolt action sporter in that caliber, It has even less recoil than the 30-30 and will reach out much further. I have been reading on some forums where folks up north and out west have been using it for elk and moose with success. The 6.5mm bullets seem to perform very well on larger size game as shown by the Swedes with their old military cartridge dating back to the late 1800's.
That brought back some memories. Had a Marlin in .35 Remington. Was a nice rifle in the NY heavy forest.
 
I'd say look at where you going to be hunting and see if it's going to be a lot of ground cover, brush and trees or open Fields with long shots. A 30-30 or something like that would have pretty good knock down power and be a brush gun. If you want to reach out and shoot them across the field you might want to look at a Remington 270 , or larger 30-06 for a longer range and knock down power the way I see it. Sometimes there's different stock grades along with different pricing of the same gun, basically
I killed one with a 9 millimeter one time, it ran off and I went and ate my breakfast and came back and found it.
If you got any hunting buddies go out and shoot some guns buy some ammo and shoot there's one day could be a lot of fun, and kind of get your feet wet at it.
Buddy whatever you do don't have the barrel pointed at anybody at any time loaded or not loaded the very safe. Example, when I was in high school the principal and vice principal went deer hunting here in Missouri. They were getting in the pickup and one of them accidentally shot the other one as they were getting back into pickup. Growing up a guy set his gun on the fence or something and shot his self crossing the fence, always watch your barrel direction, ALWAYS!
 

nortac

"Can't Raise an Eyebrow"
Unless you are in a box stand with a ready rest available, I think a sling is paramount. I took my first deer with a Swedish Mauser in 6.5 x 55 and had practiced extensively with it using a sling. I took a young buck at a paced off 215 yards, standing offhand, using a "hasty sling".
 
Do the inexpensive plastic stocked guns change point of impact with sling pressure?

I pressed on one at the store once and the stock flexed near the barrel, which did not instil confidence.
 
I was in the market for a rifle a few years ago. My shots are typically inside of 100 yards which is what I sight in for. I purchased a Browning 30 06, love the gun, but it is a bit much. I also have a Marlin 30 30 which is not my favorite. I was looking at Sako and Kimber in 243 for the goto rifle. A good friend and avid hunter told me to not waste the $$, buy a Savage with an acutrigger. He has many expensive nice guns to choose from and said the Savage is a nail driver. I took his advice and purchased a .243 Savage, I think it was around $200 at the time. I absolutely love that gun! It is accurate as hell (at 100 yards, consistantly inside of 4" group), comfortable to shoot and I don't worry about it in the field.

IMO, you can't go wrong with a Savage! Awesome rifle!
 

nortac

"Can't Raise an Eyebrow"
I was in the market for a rifle a few years ago. My shots are typically inside of 100 yards which is what I sight in for. I purchased a Browning 30 06, love the gun, but it is a bit much. I also have a Marlin 30 30 which is not my favorite. I was looking at Sako and Kimber in 243 for the goto rifle. A good friend and avid hunter told me to not waste the $$, buy a Savage with an acutrigger. He has many expensive nice guns to choose from and said the Savage is a nail driver. I took his advice and purchased a .243 Savage, I think it was around $200 at the time. I absolutely love that gun! It is accurate as hell (at 100 yards, consistantly inside of 4" group), comfortable to shoot and I don't worry about it in the field.

IMO, you can't go wrong with a Savage! Awesome rifle!

Did you mean 1/4 " group? Savage is a great gun for the money and are usually way more accurate than 4 in. at 100 yds.
 
I was in the market for a rifle a few years ago. My shots are typically inside of 100 yards which is what I sight in for. I purchased a Browning 30 06, love the gun, but it is a bit much. I also have a Marlin 30 30 which is not my favorite. I was looking at Sako and Kimber in 243 for the goto rifle. A good friend and avid hunter told me to not waste the $$, buy a Savage with an acutrigger. He has many expensive nice guns to choose from and said the Savage is a nail driver. I took his advice and purchased a .243 Savage, I think it was around $200 at the time. I absolutely love that gun! It is accurate as hell (at 100 yards, consistantly inside of 4" group), comfortable to shoot and I don't worry about it in the field.

IMO, you can't go wrong with a Savage! Awesome rifle!
Not been around Savage much put the small caliber I was around was really nice.
 
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