First rifle purchase... looking for opinions

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Wow BigMikey, you opened a can of worms with this question but you asked so we'll answer:D

All three of your cartridge choices are wonderful deer killers, I would not hesitate to hunt with any of them. What I really like about your choices is that all are very popular, meaning ammunition is going to be easy to get and easier to catch on sale. If forced to pick one I'd go with the 30/06, mainly because you have a larger bullet selection using factory loads.

What I think is more important than choosing between those cartridges is which rifle you pick. You mention the Savage, and they are good rifles for the money, but please be sure to get the Accu-trigger if you get one. The one Savage without an Accu-trigger that I have shot left a sour taste in my mouth, it was about an 8 lb. pull. Before buying you may want to consider the Remington 700 SPS (with the X-Mark pro trigger) or the Weatherby Vanguard Series 2 also. Both can be purchased for about the same money as the Savage.

A lot has been written here about you getting a 22 lr to practice with and I could not agree more. You'll shoot it much more than your big game rifle and it won't take long before it pays for itself in ammunition savings.
 
Thanks for the link to the 6.5x55 , ive been wanting a modern action chamberd in that round. Also , the shooting fundamentals of a .22 long rifle and a .30 high power are not the same lol. the .22 isnt capable of even shooting at distancess that reqwire good shooting fundamentals. Any one even with bad shooting fundamentals can hit things within 100 yards. My point is at 400 yards , shooting fundimentals will determin how well you hit your target and a .22 long rifle will not shoot to 400 yards. so my question is , how are you going to lern the fundimentals to hit a target at 400 yards with a 22. Triger control and follow through as well as precison sight alighnment or even the proper use of a scope, compleaty change beatween hiting a pop can at 50 yards or hiting a milk jug at 400. when i was a youngster i shot rabits and sqwerls with a pellet gun, I was a crack shot out to 30 yards with my 177 cal air rifle but this did nothing for me when it came time to shoot a high powerd rifle. Plain and simple, it takes hundreds and then thausends of rounds to become profishiant with a .30 cal rifle. So i say why waste your time and mony playing with a toy , just get a rifle and shoot it .
 
lol "dinamicks" Id say the DYNAMICS are the same whether you're shooting a 10/22 or a .50 Barret. Same fundamentals are going to apply. Correct sight picture, sight alignment, breathing control, trigger control, and stance.

Unless you're a wealthy individual, I believe that a .22 is the perfect rifle to practice with because of the cheapness to shoot it. You can learn more from a rifle you shoot thousands of rounds with vs. the one you put a box of 20 rds through a year.

Sorry to pick on you. Just my humble opinion. Also use spell check, Jesus Christ no ones going to take you seriously. That doesn't just go for this forum but for life. "profeshional" "thausends" "profishiant" lol :D
 
lol , saying the fundamentals are the same in a .22 and a 30-06 are the same is like saying there the same in a goat cart and a 700 horse power race car lol. Yes theye do both have 4 tires and stearing wheels. Its ok , i dont think your picking on me. Maybe you should shoot a rifle some time, t will take more than 20 rounds but if you can aford it you will have a better understanding of what im talking about lol. IMHO :) Oh yes and its verry rude to use the lords name in vane , wheather poicking or not. oh yes one more thing, just wondering, if you were in the marine core , didnt theye let you shoot a real rifle or were you limited to that little plastick 223 thing. just wondering :)
 
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I know you are wanting to go with a .270, .30-06, or .243, but have you considered the .308 win? If you have never shot a rifle before, the hard kick of a .270 or .30-06 can permanently ruin your rifle shooting technique. Shooters call this a flinch. You will pull the shot off as you pull the trigger because you are expecting the kick from the gun. The .308 has way less kick than the .270 or .30-06, and is more powerful than the .243. In fact, it rivals the .30-06 in power, and do to the avalibility of mil surplus .308/7.62x51, its pretty cheap to shoot, which will be nice for shooting practice, as rifle rounds cost about a $1 apiece non-mil surplus. If you are dead set on one of these calibers, I'd go with the .243.

Although a cheap Marlin lever action in .243 may seem like the way to go, don't do it. Everyone i know that has had one hates them. Marlin's quality in recent years is just terrible.

Remington 700's are always a good deal. I picked up a .308 Win in the model 700 ADL with a scope for about $450 from Dick's. Not the best scope, but it'll do the job till I can afford a Leupold or a Prostaff.

Any Savage with the accutrigger is a great option as well, although they aren't much to look at.

Personally, I love wooden stock guns, but for a general use hunting rifel, synthetic is the only option. It is lighter, and the wood stock will just get torn up. A stainless Steel barrel and action on any good is the way to go. It won't rust, wont really scratch, easy cleaning.

After you sight in your new rifle, practice shooting unsupported because it is very unlikely that you will be able to properly rest the rifle while hunting. It would even behoove you to try a few shots left handed. I killed my first deer with a left handed shot. if you can hit an 8" circle consistently at the maximum range you intend to shoot a deer, you are ready to go hunting.

I wish you the best of luck, and welcome to the sport.
 
the hard kick of a .270 or .30-06 can permanently ruin your rifle shooting technique
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I guess mine is Really, Really ruined ...... :p .... I have not shot my .22 rifle in years ..... just the .270, and my kids deer rifles..... it's that dang reloadin' habit, I think...... that, and it is so much more fun to turn water jugs inside out than just to just to put holes in them.....


synthetic is the only option. It is lighter
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AHA! There's your "hard kicking" problem, right there: light guns in standard calibers will kick the hell out you.... though I fail to see how you figure, all things being equal (same stock design and barrel lenghth, etc.), a .308 kicks less than a .270: both will launch a 150 grain bullet at about the same speed, and the .270, being a long action, will weigh a bit more........


moark, my man ...... spellcheck. Or get a dictionary.... something! That is painful to read.
 
Moarkman you're right you don't have to aim with a 30-06 like you would a .22. You just have to point a .22 at a target and it will magically hit it. Yes, I was in the Marine CORPS. Yes, we had those little .223 plastic rifles, and sorry for disrespecting Jeebus.
 
marquez16 said it all. .270 Winchester in a personal bolt action choice. I just got a new Remington 700 this year and love it. But the rifle choice should be yours. I shot this all day from the bench today. Doesn't kick at all. Now my .300 Win Mag is a different story....

Here's mine btw.... :D
 

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Personally, 2 or your top 3 are on my "never buy" list so I won't go any farther on them. Personally if I were looking for a dedicated deer gun the .257 Roberts, .260 Rem, 7mm-08 and 6.5 Swede are all great choices with the 7mm coming in first for me.

But I'm gonna second (or third, or forth or whatever the count may be) the choice to go with a .22 and my choice has less to do with teaching you to use a gun (which is also a great thing about a .22) but more to do with teaching you to hunt. I know it's tempting to jump in and go deer hunting but I think it's better to start with small game and move up from there. Seasons are long giving you much more time in the woods, guns are less expensive and so is the ammo. Small game hunting will teach you things you can't learn in the short deer seasons most of us have. Yes, just about anyone can go out, buy a gun and plug a deer when things are good but to learn to hunt is much more fun than falling into a shot. It's about the why's and how's that will enable you to get game when the going gets tough. You won't learn those just hunting a few days a year.

LK
 
hey nhmarine sorry if im a smart @#$ , im verry testy about peaple making fun of the spelling lol. This thread is all over the place , thoes are usualy the ones that are better to read thoe. I love all my .22 rifles but i realy dont think that shooting them made me a better shot with my larger rifles. I say this becoause i was verry good with a 22 when i was younger but the first time i got my hands on an 06 , i realized that it was a new ball game and it did take litteraly thousends of rounds to realy become a good shot with a high powerd rifle. A friend and i would take terns firing 5 shot strings into a 4 inch black dot at 100 yards with 8mm mausers, we would then look at our groops and see who had a better cluster and declair a winner. Shooting like this, is what makes you more compfy with the recoil and muzzle blast. I just dont see how you can do this with a .22.

I understand that you can lern basich shooting on a .22 but you can also lern basic shooting on a 30-06 and if your wanting to hunt deer you need the 30-06 not the .22. so my reson for being some what controdicting," lol im shure you will have a field day with that one lol" is that i see no reson to tell a guy that wants to lern to hunt deer and shoot a high powerd rifle , to get a .22.

to the O.P. think about an origional old surplus rifle like an 8mm mauser , somthing like a yugo. Thoes rifles can be had for 200.00 bucks and surplus 8mm is still readily available for verry cheap price. oh ya ps marine whats a jeebuss lol ?
 
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The .243 is a good whitetail round the .270 is a little easier to find, however if you want to upgrade your hunting adventures in the future I'd just buy an 30-06. It will serve your purpose now and will allow for future animal upgrading, ammunition is available everywhere, loading data (if you really hit the deep end like some of us) is also everywhere in lots of flavors, the only issue is recoil if you're not used to it might be overpowering if you haven't shot in a while. The .270 is a nice calm cartridge that will kill deer all day and won't wreak your shoulder.

A cartridge you didn't list but you might want to read a little about, for future thought, is the Rem. 7mm. Very nice rifle round, I've shot my brother's multiple times and I love it. But my heart belongs to my Argentine and I'd hate to break that bond. :D ;)

Rifle companies, do your research really is all I can say. I've had best luck with Remington personally.

The other question I have for you is are your planning on a bolt or a cheap semi-auto? The bolt action is generally more accurate but recoil is sharper, the semi allows for a follow up shot in case you get a poor shot or miss, and the recoil is softer, but it's also more maintenance intensive. Just a thought to consider as well. But in your price range I'd say you're chasing a bolt action.

To everyone suggesting a .22, yes the idea is good. But the man stated he has a budget. Stop telling him to buy another gun to practice to get what he wants. He's not asking if it's a good idea to buy a full cartridge rifle, he's asking about calibers. Answer his real question and quit beating around.
 
We are frankly doing a nice job of telling him to start somewhere else. If someone came on here and asked how high of a cliff they should jump off to guarantee a quick death should I tell him 100 feet if going head first or 200 if going feet first? No. Bit dramatic I'll admit but I believe that starting shooting with anything but a .22lr is a bad idea and to go from zero hunting experience straight to deer hunting is also a bad idea. His deer hunting season is more than likely measured in days and his bag limit will be 1 to maybe a half dozen if he buys some doe tags. Time spent in the woods will be a few hours and shots fired, even if you include sighting in, will be few.

You'll see very few great shooters that didn't start and still regularly use a .22 and very few great hunters that didn't spend many a day in the field chasing small game and birds. Heck, you could more than likely substitute the word good for great in that statement and still be accurate.

LK
 
I never argued the fact that a .22 would be a good training rifle, I even said it in the first sentence of the last paragraph of my post. I'm just saying the guy has a $450 dollar budget. He wants to be able to deer hunt next season, so he can either buy a $450 rifle and practice with it over the coming year. Or buy a .22 for lets say $125 then he has $325 to spend on his deer rifle and may not be able to get the one he wants.

And he didn't say he planned on small game hunting, he only stated deer hunting to put meat int he freezer. And (no offense to the OP) his wife sounds like she might put him in the garage for the weekend if he went over $450 on his rifle, could you imagine the fallout if he told her he was buying a 'practice rifle'.

I'll say it again, a .22 would be an excellent starter. However, given the circumstances I'm understanding in the OP. He should just buy his rifle and practice. It's not like hes completely green to firearms.
 
I find it amusing that people will say things like: the 30 06
might be overpowering if you haven't shot in a while. The .270 is a nice calm cartridge that will kill deer all day and won't wreak your shoulder.
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And yet others will say things like, the 308 is close to the same power as a 30 06. A 270 is a 30 06 case necked down to .277. In other words the case is the same size except the neck has been reduced from .308 to .277. That is .031" or 31 thousandths of an inch. Same powder capacity. Do you really think there is that much difference in recoil? OK maybe if you are shooting a 220 gr bullet in the 06 and a 150gr bullet in the .270 but, if bullet weights are the same, recoil is going to be really similar.

Now, to the 308, a 308 is a 30 06 case that has been reduced in length from 2.494" to 2.015. That is .479 difference or nearly a half an inch shorter cartridge which means quite a bit less powder capacity. How could you get nearly the same power from a case that is nearly a half inch shorter? Yes, you could load heavy loads in the .308 to match light loads in the 06 but, talking factory ammo I have to disagree with both of those statement. A 270 is going to recoil about the same as a 30 06 with similar bullet weights and a .243 (which is a necked down .308 case) is going to recoil about the same as a 308 with similar weight bullets. So like I said in my first post, if you are at all recoil shy, go with the .243 or .308. If not, the .270 or 30 06 will be a great choice. Personally, especially if you are a reloader, the 30 06 is the best choice. It gives you so many different bullet weights and styles to choose from.
 
Same powder capacity. Do you really think there is that much difference in recoil?
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I'm judging off of shooting my old man's Rem 700 in 30-06 and a friend's Model 70 in .270. I remember the .270 being a little nicer on recoil. But like you said (and I forgot about) bullet weights may have been quite different.
 
Yes, and also the over all weight of the rifle itself. A lighter rifle will recoil harder than a heavy one when all else is equal.
 
That I'll have to take a rain check on... I know my buddy's is composite and the goofy old man's is walnut. It's been a few years so I could have all that memory misplaced by more important stuff... like lyrics to most rock songs of the late 70s and automotive specs. :D
 
I once owned a Ruger 77RL in .270 that weighed in at about 6.5lbs with scope, sling and full magazine and it was brutal to shoot, at least at paper. It was like I read someone talking about a high caliber magnum, "it killed at one end and maimed at the other". At the same time, shooting at game, you rarely ever notice recoil at all.
 
Wow! I had no idea that my question was going to set off this kind of debate. It has made for some entertaining reading, though. I think I may have found a souluton to the two guns on a small budget issue. I just found a possibility on a Mosin-Nagant 91/30 for around $150.00. From what I understand, the 7.62x54 rounds that it shoots fall somewhere in the .308 to 30-06 range for power. I'm sure that this will probably open up an even bigger hornet's nest, but does anyone have any info/opinions?
 
The only problem with the Mosin is that you are generally limited in ammo availability for the specific purpose of hunting. It's never going to be as popular as the 7.62x39 short Russian, and it has less power than several more commercial available and affordable cartridges.

Just not my idea of a first rifle, even though the guns are cheap.
 
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