Trying to pick a hunting rifle

When hunting around for guns my wife an I also took into account what ammo was available. This being said we picked out a .270 for her, my Dad has one and has had absolutely no complaints about it. We also looked into 30-06 but the kick might be a bit much for her.

In Texas area the 30-60, 7mm, .270 ammo are widely available while .308, .30-30, and .243 are rare
 
X Whatever number we are up to on buying used. I doubt seriously if a hunting rifle has been shot enough to considered shot out. Especially if it is in good condition. You really cannot go wrong with a 700 when you consider that vast amount of options you have in aftermarket and replacement parts. Over time you can build it out any way you want replacing something here and there and its not necessary to have a gunsmith do most of it. At least if you have any concept of working with tools and following instructions.

The Savage would be my next choice since it also has a lot of support and parts you can plug in. Plus switching a barrel out is easily done.

Not a huge fan of the American, feels cheap to me.

Hawkeye is a good gun if you are a Ruger fan. I've just never really like the feel of Ruger bolt guns but that is merely a personal opinion. Love the No.1 though.

I've owned probably 5 A-bolts over the years and have always found them to be hit or miss on accuracy. When they shoot, they are hard to beat, when they don't you'll beat your head against a tree.
 
In Texas area the 30-60, 7mm, .270 ammo are widely available while .308, .30-30, and .243 are rare
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Really? Is that because no one shoots them or because it is bought up? I would have thought .308 would be popular anywhere you went.
 
On your caliber choice, you are right on the money with the 30-06 IMO, it is fully capable of taking any big game animal on the North American continent, and ammo is among the most common around. If I had to pick one cartridge for everything it would be the 06.

Can't reallly say on the specific guns, as I have not inspected any of them, for this reason i would say go with factory new. I'm a stickler for used guns, i show up with bore lights and gauges.
 
Thanks for all the great suggestions. I'm going to go take another look at the Ruger Hawkeye and stop by one more pawnshop to see if there are any super deals there. With the ammo hoarding going on 30-06 seems to be much more available here than .308. Wal-Mart and Bi-Mart actually have pretty good supply of the venerable "ought-six" - I'm also starting to reload and will get dies for whatever caliber I end up buying.
 
Stopped by another pawn shop. There was an older Remington BDL - has a metal buttplate and plain bolt. Guessing late 60's to early 70's. Has iron sights and scope blocks. No rings or scope. Action is glass smooth. Lots of bluing wear and many small dings on the stock, but overall a nice older gun. Nice cut checkering. $469 is the asking price. Being a pawn shop he might deal a little on the price. It is in 30-06.
The Ruger Hawkeye is brand new. The store is closing them out. It isn't in 30-06 like I thought, but in .308 which is still a good choice. It is stainless and comes with rings. Stock is the plain black plastic. It is $549. That does seem like a good price for a new Hawkeye. Decisions decisions....
 
When I sold my truck I asked a good bit more than I expected to get on it. If someone wanted to pay full price I wasn't going to refuse them and if they offered too little all I had to do was say no. I said no a lot but eventually someone offered me the magic number I was looking for.

Get a book value on the gun if it's something you are interested in and offer him 15% less than that. I'm betting by the time its done you get the gun a little bit under the booked value. If not keep looking.
 
i wont by a used rifle without takeing my borescope along and i allso chek headspace i will insist on shooting the rifle first to for this i usally take a box of federal gold medal with me . I relise that this all comes out to 2x the price of the rifle but any reputall shop should allow you to pay for the rifle with the understanding that you are going to get it looked at by a good gunsmith if they balk at this dont by it
 
Savage 111 30'06 is not a bad choice. I would be thinking Savage 14 308 with a Sightron 6x scope.

That BDL sounds like a nice choice depending on the amount of bluing wear and stock wear. If it looks good to you, $469 is a good starting point. Not sure if anything you could buy new or newly used which would match up to a 60's or 70's Rem 700.

30'06 is a super hunting round. I have stepped up to a 300 WSM to launch 190 gr bullets, but my 30'06 held 7 rounds and shot 180 gr hunting bullets very well. My 30'06 is really my dad's sporterized 1917 Winchester. That silly gun will still put 5 decent rounds under 1" at 100 yards. I really want this thing back in my safe...oh yea, my point was that well sporterized 1917's are available for ~$300-$400 everyday somewhere. So it might be worth looking at one of those. With 7 round capacity, it is damn near an assault rifle!
 
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I was about 33 when I got my first deer. I was living in West Texas where long shots are much more common than they would be in wooded, hilly areas. The terrain where you hunt can be a big factor in which gun you choose.

My first deer rifle was a Browning BBR (forerunner of the A Bolts) in 7mm Mag. It was shooter right off the rack although I worked up a load that it liked best. You are right about the BOSS piece being replaceable by one that is quieter for the shooter, although you need to adjust it at the range or lose the accuracy advantage of the BOSS. I put a recoil reducer on that 7 Mag and it nearly put my ears out. That gun now wears a set of earplugs hanging from the sling swivel.

As for the risks of a used gun, I don't know many high volume target shooters who use an '06 (none, in fact). If it were a .308 or one of the 7mm or 6.5s, I'd be more concerned about a shot out barrel. Besides, no target shooter would be using that scope IMO.

The Savage is known as a 'best bang for the buck' gun when it comes to accuracy. Those plastic stocks are almost made to be replaced, though. You can get an inexpensive replacement stock from places like Boyd's or Bell & Carlson. I have a couple Savage 10 FP guns that are tack drivers - not in the same league as a true target rifle but about as good you can get off the rack.

The 30-06 cartridge is a proven round that has taken a lot of deer. The .308 will give you about 95% of the energy without kicking you around so bad. Ammo for the .308 is usually cheaper and more plentiful (maybe not in these times). In the terrain I hunt, the 7 Mag has advantages because of distance and wind. For whitetail, anything from a 270 up will do the job. In brushy areas, you see anything from a 12 ga. slug gun to the old 30-30, even some 44 Mags carbines.

Just this week I dug out a picture of that first deer. What a kid! 1984 in Reagan County, Texas. 12 points and 20 inches. Shot at 415 yards.
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