Cheap rifle for deer hunting?

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Sikvenum93

New member
Well I made some new friends and they want me to come deer hunting with them but they said I cant use my AR because its not ethical? Well anyways I dont mind since its just an excuse to buy another gun but I know nothing about hunt8ng or hunting guns. So my budget is around $400-500 including optic. Bolt or lever dont matter. I just need a left handed one and a caliber that is reasonably priced and easy to find like 7.62. Any ideas?
 
Ruger american left handed with a Weaver classic K 4 or 6x scope or one of their Classic V scopes should work for ya. The savage axis is also worth taking a look at, or sometimes you can find TC Venture's on sale with a rebate and get them for a little over 3 hundred which is a killer deal.
 
I would say you had tons of options till you said left handed. I'm sure lever guns will work great for you even though they might not seem as ambidextrous. My wife is a lefty and uses my Winchester 94's just fine.

It may not seem like the best option but there are also a lot of nice single shots out there.

Not sure the price of winchester levers out there but I think they make a Marlin 336w for $400 or so.

30-30 is a good 0-200 yard cartridge. But if you get a bolt action 243, 270, 308, 30-06, 7mm-08 and a few others will do fine
 
While not pretty the Savage Axis models list lefty for .243, 7-08 and .308. Pretty easy to findo in stores and seem to shoot well enough. Although my AR would argue the ethic angle, but if you are invited you play by their rules.
 
The savage 11/111xp trophy hunter packages come in south paw versions. They come with the adjustable accu trigger and a nikon 3-9x40 scope. Upgrade the bases and rings to a quality leupold set or weaver style and your good to go. The mounts that come on the guns are cheap and can be hard to get proper eye relief due to the overly long actions savage use. 308 would be a great caliber choice. Street price is around 499 in my area.
 
Big Shrek said:
Don't forget the Marlin X7 series, starts at $299.
Pillar bedded from the factory, Soft-Tech recoil pad, fluted bolt, Pro-fire trigger,
button-rifled barrel...lots to love for low bucks!!

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/centerfireBoltAction/default.asp

With the factory setup, a .243 or 7mm-08 has about the same felt recoil of your average AR in .223 :)
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[emoji1] sounds awesome! I will definitely look into it! I have good experience with marlins 22 so I like them a lot.
 
Panfisher said:
While not pretty the Savage Axis models list lefty for .243, 7-08 and .308. Pretty easy to findo in stores and seem to shoot well enough. Although my AR would argue the ethic angle, but if you are invited you play by their rules.
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I dont care about the looks. It aint like the deer will. I dont see how its unethical as im not try8ng to shoot them at .50 bmg distances but i dont have a hunting rifle so why the heck not.
 
Using an AR-15 for hunting deer, not so much unethical as forbidden under many states hunting codes, caliber is too small, also many states forbide hunting with semiautos, NJ here is a shotgun only state. Also you didn't say where you were hunting, for thick Eastern woodlands the Marlin 336 as suggested, or the Winchester 94 works fine, a really powerful scope gives no real advantage in thick cover.
 
you can also look at the used market... at any given time, there are a lot of nice bolt action guns with decent optics for sale at half the price of what an equivalent new gun would be.
 
SIGSHR said:
Using an AR-15 for hunting deer, not so much unethical as forbidden under many states hunting codes, caliber is too small, also many states forbide hunting with semiautos, NJ here is a shotgun only state. Also you didn't say where you were hunting, for thick Eastern woodlands the Marlin 336 as suggested, or the Winchester 94 works fine, a really powerful scope gives no real advantage in thick cover.
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Im located in CA. Theres some deer by Yosemite in the east and places up North to hunt for em. They honestly arent too big.

Afaik semiautos arent illegal here in CA. Although I do agree its a bit out of place.
 
A few questions.

Before I recommend anything, let me ask you what kind of terrain will you be hunting? Also, what are your friends who invited you using? If they are traditionalists, try to find something in keeping with their traditions. Buy a used rifle. I like my lever-actions without scopes. A scope is fine on a bolt rifle but 3-9x40 is the biggest scope I can stand. And walnut stocks are mandatory. I can't stand plastic stocks. But that's just me. The point is to get invited back next time. If they use wood stocked rifles, don't you show up with a Ruger American, Savage Axis or the like. The top-ejecting Winchester lever actions are 100% ambidextrous. If you feel you must scope your lever-gun, the Marlin is more accommodating.
 
If they are traditionalists, try to find something in keeping with their traditions. Buy a used rifle.
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Pathfinder45 brings up a good point and that's probably why they don't want AR style rifles. They might not be so picky when it comes to plastic vs. wood stocks as a lot of rifles now come with plastic stocks for those all weather conditions. And you can upgrade to nicer stocks by Boyd or other manufactures next year.

The host of the deer camp I went to this year asked me what I would be using to hunt with well in advance and I took that as a hint early that it was going to be a bolt action or lever camp. Showed up and I was right with the exception of the two guys who had Remington 7400 semi rifles. Pretty sure it would have been frowned on to bring my SKS.

The key here is finding a rifle that works and being invited back. Don't forget pawn shops in your search.
 
I have to agree with Pathfinder. Ask the gentlemen who invited you for some input on the terrain and what they use. All recommendations are to be taken with a grain of salt, but you will get an idea on what you may start looking into. Your going to find out what you like in calibers, manufactures, and the different models. As I get older I find out I like vastly different stuff than in my younger years. I like the Savage 10/110 and the 11/111 trophy hunter, but that's my opinion. Thompson Center, Tikka, Howa, Marlin, and Ruger make good rifles.
 
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