A Good Hunting Rifle

saturnine138

saturnine138

Joined
Dec 15, 2005
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241
I'm thinking about taking up hunting, and I might be doing some work over the summer with chronic wasting disease in deer which could also involve me hunting. As of yet, all I own in the way of firearms is a few .22s including a .220 Swift, and some shotguns. I know enough to know that taking a deer with a .22 is going to be incredibly difficult, and a shotgun isnt the best way to go either. I'm looking for a relatively inexpensive rifle, preferably bolt action, that would be good for hunting most everything short of bears. Any suggestions?
 
22-250,cheap ammo very accurate,low recoil and report,devastating on deer and varmits....if you hit them in a vital spot.
 
For what your looking for, I'd suggest one of the Savage bolt-actions in 30-06.

Their about the best bang for the buck out there.
Read some of the reviews and pick the model that suits you.

I'd put a good 4X scope on it.

30-06 will do all that you want.
light-weight bullets up the the 220 grainer's that will take down the big game.

They used to use the 30-06 as a 'light' rifle in Africa.

.308 is a good caliber for medium game.
 
Old Mausers or Mosin-Nagants can be had for pretty cheap - both are accurate military surplus bolt-action rifles. Enfields can be found for pretty cheap too, I think.

I wouldn't characterize taking a deer with a .22 as incredibly difficult - it's certainly way less than optimal but shot placement is shot placement. If a .22 round is placed through one of the four chambers of the heart, the deer is not going to live. It's less than optimal because a .22 isn't likely to make it through any bone if your shot is less than perfect - but perfect shots are not incredibly difficult at close ranges.

I'm not advocating hunting deer with a .22 - but if you gave me one to hunt with, I'd be happy. Sure beats throwing a spear. :D
 
The area I'd be in allows rifles. Can you use a rifle on private property in the counties where they're not allowed?
 
.270 is a great caliber for white tail deer. flat shooting and easy to handle. Remington model 700 is built in an endless amount of calibers. Bolt action left or right hand. You will find Rifle shooters are almost as finicky as Blade collectors. many will hand load thier own shells to get exactly the performance they are looking for so if you open this can of worms in a shooting forum, plan on getting a lot of reading in. It would be a lot of fun to get that technical about it, but I just don't have time myself. Just be sure to do plenty of shooting before hunting. Learn to use your weapon well and when the time comes you'll get it done.
 
saturnine138 said:
The area I'd be in allows rifles. Can you use a rifle on private property in the counties where they're not allowed?
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Not sure about NY, but be sure to check the regs in whatever state you're hunting in. Google - the state, DNR. Generally, what is banned in a county is banned no exceptions.
 
You know, after thinking on it a bit, Have you considered muzzle loaders? Thomson Center makes a 50 cal called the omega. they also make a scope that is built specifically for that model that is pegged incermentally from 150 yards to 250 yards. what a muzzle loader can do for you is extend your season as many states have a specific muzzle loading season.
Just a thought.
 
Im not sure about New York but her in VA. it is illegal to hunt with anything that is .22 or under (i.e. 22-250, 223, 22, 220 swift basically anything with the first 2 numbers after the decimal being 2 or smaller) so check into that, I would suggest a 270 or 308 they are great rounds and very popular, they are flat shooting (especially the .270), i dont know what your price rang is or what you call inexpensive, but here are my top three choices for hunting in the order i would choose, Sako Finnlight, Browning with the BOSS system, or a Savage all in the two calibers i mentioned earlier good luck and happy hunting.
 
I'm in NY too.

NY rules state that only centerfire rifles, no rimfires may be used for deer, not including muzzelloading or shotguns. Yes this means you can legally (not ethicaly) use a 22 hornet for deer in NY.

Northern Zone, get yourself a Savage Stevens bolt action (about $300 incl. scope) in 30-06 or .308. Inexpensive, very accurate, and more than good enough for the large white tails, coyotes, black bear you may see.

In the Southern Zone, get yourself a shotgun, smooth bore with different chokes, modified/cylinder for rabbits, full for turkey and rifled for deer.
 
Get a Remington 700 BDL in .308! You wont be disappointed! Plus you can find .308 ammo very cheap because its a military round.
 
Bolt Mauser...the yugos are still kicking around...that should be plently in a cheap gun. For more money there is the wonderful Savage rifles, ten years ago I considered them to be the best kept secret of the bolt rifles. .308 is a good caliber. Also, if you are not married to the bolt idea, consider a lever action 30-30....taken more deer around here than anything else I can think of. Or, hows about a SKS? Have to get the legal mag for it though.
 
It depends on how far will be maximum range of your shots. My favroites are 25-06 (a necked down 30-06 very fast and accurate a tad small for mule deer) and 7mm magnum (good for anything on this continant) a great long range choice, 30-06 is good all purpose round butt falls way short of 7mm at long range.

Leon Pugh
 
saturnine138 said:
I'm thinking about taking up hunting, and I might be doing some work over the summer with chronic wasting disease in deer which could also involve me hunting. As of yet, all I own in the way of firearms is a few .22s including a .220 Swift, and some shotguns. I know enough to know that taking a deer with a .22 is going to be incredibly difficult, and a shotgun isnt the best way to go either. I'm looking for a relatively inexpensive rifle, preferably bolt action, that would be good for hunting most everything short of bears. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...


You don't say what kind of shotguns you have. If you have a pump like a Remington 870, you can put a Hastings barrel on it. Hastings gives you minute of angle accuracy at 100 yards, and a 12 gauge slug is .75 caliber. Thats nothing to sneeze at. If you're going to be shooting in thick woodland, a shotgun with saboted slugs will give you good accuracy with definate knockdown power. A shotgun is the most versitle single firearm you can own, and not to be underestimated.
 
Any larger caliber is capable of killing a deer. I don't recommend a .22 rimfire for large game, although I have killed feral pigs and goats with a .22 rimfire and I would not be reluctant to use it again for the same purpose if necessary. If you are fixed on the idea of using .22 rimfire, then a telescopic sight will make it much easier to place your bullet in the right spot...and this is absolutely essential. And a semi-auto .22 will help you get more lead into an animal in a short time....but this doesn't mean you shouldn't try to make a one-shot kill. A .22 is certainly economical to run, but it may be illegal for some of the things that you want to do...and being caught with one at the wrong time would not be 'economical'.

Somebody has already mentioned an SKS. These are excellent guns, but you have to constantly be aware that after you've fired a shot, another bullet is in the chamber ready to go. I would pick a bolt action gun myself for most purposes...I think they are safer. The caliber I would pick for economy (in my country anyway) would be 7.62 X 39 (Many SKS rifles use this). This is a military cartridge...the one that many AK47s would use. There is a lot of ammo around for this caliber. I have read that the ballistics are similar to some 30-30 loads. The trajectory is not marvellous after maybe 150 yards, so if you want to shoot at long distances then I suggest you get something a bit flatter shooting...and get a scope.

One caliber I've heard a bit about lately is the 7mm/08. My sister in law has one and she has had some marvellous results using the same point of aim for close shots and some very long ones. I don't know what the ammo costs though, and really the difference between this caliber and some other calibers and loads may not be significant enough to worry about.

Have a look in a gun shop and see what the various brands of ammo and guns cost.

One concern I have about big, powerful guns is that there is a lot of energy in a projectile and it can travel a long way, even after it has been through a deer sometimes. So for close shooting, especially where there may be other people around, I would go for a less powerful cartridge.

Good hunting and best wishes...Coote.
 
jackknife said:
You don't say what kind of shotguns you have. If you have a pump like a Remington 870, you can put a Hastings barrel on it. Hastings gives you minute of angle accuracy at 100 yards, and a 12 gauge slug is .75 caliber. Thats nothing to sneeze at. If you're going to be shooting in thick woodland, a shotgun with saboted slugs will give you good accuracy with definate knockdown power. A shotgun is the most versitle single firearm you can own, and not to be underestimated.
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To tell you the truth, I dont really know. They were given to my family by my uncle who used to go on safaris in africa to hunt. We had them for about a year before I went away to school, but I never had the free time to go shooting. Now that I'm in school, I'm not allowed to have them here, but I'm moving off campus this summer and since my mom hates guns, I dont think she'd mind letting me take a few.

I've used plenty of .22s before, and shoot quite well with them but I dont know if that'll carry over to other rifles. I like shooting from long ranges, but it's not as practical so that's not much of a concern. Is there a list somewhere of various calibers and what they're best used for?
 
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