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DEER RIFLE

MN HunterMN Hunter Member Posts: 2,299 ✭✭
edited March 2004 in Ask the Experts
im new to rifle hunting, been shooting slugs my whole life. i am now looking into purchasing a rifle. if anybody can give me any info on what caliber they recommend/shoot, which companies make quality, which make crap. i greatly appreciate all help!!

Thanks!
Scott
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Comments

  • MN HunterMN Hunter Member Posts: 2,299 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Last year i bought a browning A-BOLT 270 WSM. I WAS GOING TO BUY A WINCHESTER IN THE SAME CAL. BUT WAS TALKED IN TO A BROWNING DON'T THINK I WENT WRONG ! BUT I PLAN ON GOING ON A HUNT,NOT KNOWING WHAT RANGE I WILL BE SHOOTING AT,I WAS HOPEING THAT THIS GUN WILL DO THE JOB! WILL BE USEING IT FOR BIG GAME.I AM FROM PENNSYLVANIA LAST YEAR I USED IT FOR WHITE TAIL I SHOT A REAL NICE BUCK WITH IT AT 170 YARDS USEING A 130 GR.BALISTIC SILVER TIP ROUND.DO YOU THINK THIS GUN & ROUND IS A GOOD MATCH FOR WHAT I WANT TO USE IT FOR OR SHOULD I CHANGE SOMETHING.

    thomas j. beam
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  • MN HunterMN Hunter Member Posts: 2,299 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    ooops forgot to say that it will mostly be used for deer.
    thanks again
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  • 1KYDSTR1KYDSTR Member Posts: 2,361 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Boy is this going to attract a lot of differing opinions!! I think you need to narrow things down a bit for us. How much do you want to spend? Do you hunt the woods or open country? Do you want to go scoped or open sights? Do you reload? Is ammo expense a concern? Do you like classic/old stuff or do you plan to buy a brand new rifle for the season? Do you want your gun to double as a target rifle? What kind of other rifle hunting might you consider doing (Maybe Elk, Bear or Moose?), and are you recoil sensitive? Post back, I'll be on for a while yet.

    "When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
    "Power corrupts...Absolute power corrupts absolutely"(Descartes?)
    "History is written by winners"(Patton)
    "You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(?)
    "There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)
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  • Salvage33Salvage33 Member Posts: 1,182 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Lots of choices..and you'll get recommendations on every caliber, almost, that's made. Hunting where you hunt, Minnesota, I'd say nothing smaller than 25-06. 270's, 280's, 308, 30-06, 7mm-08 would all do the trick. And that doesn't include any of the belted magnums or WSM or WSSM calibers. Heck, if you're not going to shoot over 150 yards, look at something in 30-30.

    John

    A friend will post your bail. A good friend will be sitting next to you in the cell saying, "man that was fun!"
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  • remington nutremington nut Member Posts: 961 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    wow.... the answers to this questions could go on and on ... and not too many of them would actually be a wrong answer... kydster brought up alot of good points that we dont know about your use of the deer rifle if i had to go out and buy a rifle... never really hunting with a rifle before i would have to recommend something of the 25-06 type..... (personal preferrence remington 700) if you've shot rifles, and dont mind the bang.... 7mm RUM would cover everything you wanted to hunt in MN and the rest of North America... now i know that's both ends of the spectrum as far as deer rifle's go... but just an opinion... i started out with a Win 94 30-30 then went to my Rem 700 30-06 hunted with that for about 14 yrs i now hunt with a Rem 700 BDL .264 win mag stainless synthetic.... (alot of people will tell you this gun was never made.. i'll send ya pics if ya wanna see ) i do all my own handloading to cut costs of shooting and i enjoy tuning the loads.. but to give an answer to your question... most of your american gun manufacturers make suffecient rifles for hunting deer... everyone has there preferrences mine being remington.... and as far as caliber goes... that's really all dependent on your area you hunt or others that you may hunt ...
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  • savage12bvss300wsmsavage12bvss300wsm Member Posts: 106 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Well hell. I guess I will be the first. There are a few different loads I like to use for deer. Some are overkill, but the deer dont know that. My all time favorite is the 7mm-08. This round is DEADLY out to 400yds. And loaded with a 120grn barnes x can be stretched out even more. Recoil is very mild even with the wide used 140grn bullets. You would have no problems allowing a kid to shoot this thing. Next in line is my new toy. The 280 remington. The 7-08's big brother. Just a little more umph to this one. And rounding out my list of reccomended calibers would be the 7mm Sarum and 300wsm. The 300 is a great do everything caliber that can just about do it all. Just not quite enough for the big brown bears. Heck for me a 50bmg aint big enough for them. Although it does have a little kick to it in lighter rifles. But that problem can be solved with a good aftermarket pad such as the sims limbsaver pad. The 7mmSARUM can do pretty much the same things as the 300wsm just in a tidier little package that doesnt produce as much recoil. All are very accurate and will easily take care of whitetail, mulies, elk, black bear, caribou, and moose. As for brand names, I shoot the remington 700. They are accurate and the fact that more aftermarket stuff is avaliable for the 700 than any other doesnt hurt either. While not too fond of their triggers, savage is also a good gun for the money. Ugly but accurate. Howa is also another place to look. They are good quality rifles. Howa produces the action used by weatherby in their vanguard rifles. Well there's my suggestions. No doubt there will be many more and all probably different.

    Everyone has a photographic memory. Only some have film.
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  • bnailonbnailon Member Posts: 460 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    MN Hunter, a good caliber deer rifle that comes in a wide variety of loads is a 30-06 (Accelerators to 220 grain bullets). I personally have a Browning BAR in 30-06. You can find composite stock rifles with scopes sometimes for $500 or less. Tack on a standard 3x9 scope (I personally like the Leupold VX2 with 50mm objective) and you have yourself a nice rifle. I also personally like the 165-grain BTSP in Federal Premium for white-tail. My rifle seems to like that load best.

    That's another tip. Once you find a rifle and scope, try different loads and manufacturers at the range until you find a combination that groups well on the target at your desired distance.

    A 30-06 loaded appropriately will take most anything down in North America. I took a nice buck this year in TX with it. Scored 153 7/8 and it's up on the wall now. Good luck.
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  • Lee TenoldLee Tenold Member Posts: 84 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Mn Hunter I have lived in MN all my life and have deer hunted here since I was 12 I have used a 35 marlin and 30 40 kraig and a 308 rem auto and a couple 30-06 rem autos but my favorite is my 7mm mag Browning BAR (a little heavy) but sure gets the job done at most any range and I used it in Montana and did all I wanted it to do. every one in Mn. says the 30-06 is the best all round to use here as you can get everything from 55gr to 220gr to use on the game offered in Mn and if you travel to other states you can use the same there next is what kind of rifle to use the bolt is the the most accurate but in Mn if you want a second shot look in to the pumps and autos or a lever there are all good if you stick to the major brands Rem Win Browning Marlin just not all use the calibers that you might want Good Luck and you will find that hunting spot that will purduce Lee
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  • MN HunterMN Hunter Member Posts: 2,299 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    wow!!! thanks for all the help/info i GREATLY appreciate it!!

    "Not many like us, in fact very few, and most of them are dead" LtCol Pratt - USMC
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  • 1KYDSTR1KYDSTR Member Posts: 2,361 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    As for flezxibility, I suppose you cannot go far wrong with the 30-06 for all the aforementioned reasons. Getting into anything new and quasi exotic...hard to find ammo sometimes and unless you are reloading you will likely pay an arm and a leg for ammo. Noticed the 308 winchester got left out somehow...close to 30-06 performance with quite a bit less recoil! Ammo is east to find and Mil. surplus ammo can be had for a song if you feel like practicing alot. As to the complaint about Savage triggers; compare them to a Ruger 77 and I think you'll be favorably impressedwith the Savage! The new Savages with Accutrigger are also, in my opinion very good and of course you can adjust the thing to suit your own tastes! Then there is the 35 Remington. There is still a fair amount of ammo floating around, it is still manufactured by most of the biggies and you can pick up a Marlin lever gun ( aforementioned quick follow up shots ) chambered for that nice little 'brush buster' under $400. I am ,nonetheless , pretty favorably impressed with the new ultra and short mag chamberings but when all things are taken into consideration, why not stick with something tried and true that you will virtually always be able to find ammo in at virtually any sporting goods store?!?! Have fun sorting this all out and use YOUR OWN best judgement!!

    "When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
    "Power corrupts...Absolute power corrupts absolutely"(Descartes?)
    "History is written by winners"(Patton)
    "You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
    "There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)
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  • michael minarikmichael minarik Member Posts: 478 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    You might get some cat-calls on this bit of info:

    IF 90 per cent of your shots will be under 160 yards you'd be hard pressed to find any caliber a hundred per cent better than the ole' 30-30. A 30-30 now in a Marlin stainless version with side eject for mounting a scope...it'll be tuff to beat.

    Two years ago I dropped a Mule Deer buck at 200 yards, one shot..thru my stainless Marlin 30-30, with a 4x Weaver scope. He did not get up and ask me WAS THAT A WHIMPY OLE 30-30...?

    After 40 years of Deer hunting guess what I AM BACK TO.....my Marlin stainless thutty-thutty.
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