Need a new deer rifle.

O

okiewita40

New member
Like the title says I need a new deer rifle. Why? Because a buddy of mine just bought 20 acres of land that is mostly pasture. I currently us an SKS but the area I normally hunt is steep hills with dense woods.

I am leaning towards a savage 11 or stevens 200 in .308. I want to stay away from a 30-06 since I don't like the extra recoil. I may be able to be talked into some other calibers.

I want to be able to scope whatever I get as I am getting middleaged and I require reading glasses now. Action is up in the air but will most likely be a bolt action. If I could swing the money I would get an AR-15 in 6.8spc. But funds are tight right now.

So what say my fellow hunters and riflemen here on TFL?
 
i picked up a Tikka t3 lite SS in .270 about 5 months ago and could not be happier with it!! the gun weighs just over 6 lbs without anything on it so its very light weight. my first thought about it was " with a rifle this light its going to kick pretty hard" and i was right but after buying a limbsaver recoil pad for 30 bucks i can shoot it all day long. i would at least look into a tikka if i were you i picked mine up for $649 and they have blued ones for $599 i believe and i dont no if you have every felt the action on these things but they are the smoothest i have every felt..... oh ya and there are MOA guaranteed!!!
 
Yeah, the recoil of a .30-06 is mot much worse than a .308 so that may not be the best idea.

Get yourself a .243 or a lever action .30-30 and practice.

I have found that even though I have a .308 and a .270 WSM, I keep pulling out my .243 or my .30-30 to get the job done.... I just enjoy shooting them more.
 
Thanks so far. I may look into getting a .243 I was also thinking about possibly 7mm-08 not sure if the recoil would be much less than a .308.
 
I used to think that the 243 was a varmint round, not suitable for deer. Then years ago a buddy got a Remington 788 in 243 and harvested both whitetails and mulies with it. He went to Wyoming and got an antelope at 300 yards, one shot. That convinced me the little 243 is good deer medicine.

I have a Winchester featherweight in 243 and it's my favorite centerfire rifle. Low recoil, flat shooter.
 
IMO, the most perfect whitetail round is 7mm-08. It is only a tad more recoil than a .243 but uses a much heavier bullet.
 
IMO, the most perfect whitetail round is 7mm-08. It is only a tad more recoil than a .243 but uses a much heavier bullet.
Click to expand...

This. I handload 150grn booo-lits in mine, have yet to have one take more than a few steps. Light recoil too.
 
You ought to consider where a bullet goes after passing through a deer, 20 acres is not very much space for providing a backstop. So, if the area is safe enough for a high power round, a 6.5x55 offers plenty of punch for Oklahoma white tails. Or maybe a 7x57.
 
I got my first 243 Winchester a couple years ago and I can't say enough about this "little" cartridge. Versatile, very low recoil, accurate (or at least my rifle is), and easy to reload for. It is a cartridge I highly recommend for deer sized and smaller animals.
 
Hunting 20 acres you will not beat a 30-30 winchester. And you should shoot from an elevated position (a tree stand). IMHO
 
If you are looking for only a 20 acre gun - something that is more apt to drop the deer quickly and a bullet that won't go flying off onto the neighbors property after passing through (yes, shooting from an elevated stand would greatly help with that), a 45-70 sounds perfect except for your other requirement for low recoil.
 
20 acres is a pretty small patch of dirt. Rectangular, it's 220 yards by 440. Square, it's 311 yards on a side. Any likely shot will pretty much be a "gimme".

No reason not to hit the hockshops for a good used .243. I started killing deer with mine about forty years ago.
 
I agree with Art and others. Under the circumstances (and most others) a .243 is near on ideal. I also agree that a 7mm-08 is nearly the perfect deer round, right up there with the .243. The 7-08 does have a fair bit more recoil than a .243 but considerably less than a .308, typically. IIRC, typical loads run 15-20% less recoil in the 7 than the 308, all else being equal.

A Savage would be an excellent choice.
 
Now a days, there are so many choice in that range, all good deer calibers, you can split the difference easily. You might consider 6.5x55 or .260 Rem a balance between the .243 & 7mm-08.

FWIW...

...bug
 
I say go for the .243. I own a Kimber Montana that's just over mid 5#... Probably one of the lightest ones in production, running 95 g bullets at around 2850 fps the recoil is negligible.

Sure ppl might say its not enough for deer ( I hear it all the time). But the fact is, the moderate recoil of the round allows normal Joes like ourselves to concentrate more on making the shot and not anticipating recoil. Being able to effectively squeeze the trigger and put a round in the right spot down range to me is far more important than some over kill round.

I also own a 30-06, and yes it does thump, again it is a very light rifle as well... About 20-30 rounds and you're done... The .243 you could shoot all day.
 
I must agree with eldermike, 30-30 is perfect for your situation. And I would use an elevated blind so that a passthru or miss won't travel too far.
 
I think you can pick any answer here, so far, and do fine. All good options. However, let me add some other considerations:

A ruger 77 hawkeye chambered for .257 roberts. There is also a uncataloged run of new Ruger No 1-B, single shots chambered for .257 roberts. If you can find one, a 6.5 creedmoor would also work.
 
Another vote for the 7mm-08

Mild recoil and has a larger margin for error than the .243

If you could find something in .260 it would be even better.

Savage, BTW, makes an awesome rifle.
 
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