first deer rifle?

pollert77

wanting to buy my first rifle other than .22 for deer,and the like.
what should I consider??? I shoot a 20ga shotgun currently.

makindu

7mm-08. Relatively light recoil. Plenty of knockdown power on white-tails. Guns to consider would be Ruger 77, Savage 110, Remington 700, or Browning Hunter.

stevenrayspeck

243, flat shooting, light recoil, and plenty of power for any sized deer.

iluvguns

Another vote for the 7mm/08. Great round! If budget is a concern, look at a NEF Handi-Rifle. Great little gun for around or a little under $200. Son shoots one, and I am going to buy one for myself this summer! They are that good! Good luck!

pollert77

Thank you guys for the info.

iwannausername

Like asking what girl you should marry... Fortunately, you can have more than one deer rifle

What action do you want? Single shot, bolt, semi, pump, lever? Once you know that, what would a long range shot for you - territory and skill - be? What kind of recoil do you want to deal with? Do you plan to shoot a lot or a little? Reload? And how big do the deer get where you are? Any legal limitations where you live and hunt? How much do you want to spend?

1KYDSTR

The 7mm Mauser is a GREAT, and I do mean GREAT roound. For a wimpy little .284 bullet, it really gets the job done and then some. Light recoil, commercially available and likely not to dissapear soon as 3 to 4 million military rifles were made for that round. "Karamojo" Bell used the 7mm Mauser almost EXCLUSIVly for 3 decades in Africa. He took something like 1000 elephant using it, and lived to be a faily old Dude. The 7mm Mauser just may be one of the most neglected/underrated rounds ever devised, and as far as Mauser chamberings go, is considered the most efficient of the bunch. Just a little wrinkle for your selection process.

luv_the_huskers

I would tend to lean toward a 6.55x55 in a Ruger. Relatively inexpensive, very accurate, low recoil, and great knock down power. This is a highly underrated round.

sandwarrior

pollert77,

I like what 1KYDSTER says about the 7mm Mauser. It's a great round. If that is not readily available in a rifle you like I would then consider the 7mm-08. For lighter calibers for someone that has never shot deer before I would also consider a .243 Win., 6mm Rem, .257 Rbts(my personal fav)25-06 Rem, .260 Rem and 6.5x55 A lot of these older and still very viable calibers have shown back up on the market scope. And, each has obtainable ammo.

Since you indicated you shoot a 20 guage I don't think you will have any problem with recoil. You won't exceed 20 guage recoil until you shoot a 270 Win or 30-06. But, that also depends on the rifle.

-Good luck with your choice and let us know what you got.

Bert H.

quote:Originally posted by 1KYDSTR
The 7mm Mauser is a GREAT, and I do mean GREAT roound. For a wimpy little .284 bullet, it really gets the job done and then some. Light recoil, commercially available and likely not to dissapear soon as 3 to 4 million military rifles were made for that round. "Karamojo" Bell used the 7mm Mauser almost EXCLUSIVly for 3 decades in Africa. He took something like 1000 elephant using it, and lived to be a faily old Dude. The 7mm Mauser just may be one of the most neglected/underrated rounds ever devised, and as far as Mauser chamberings go, is considered the most efficient of the bunch. Just a little wrinkle for your selection process.


My favorite Blacktail rifle is my Springfield 03A3 Sporter in 7x57mm. It sports a 24-inch Douglas ultra-light rapid taper barrel, and is twisted for the 175 grain bullets (though I prefer my 140 grain handloads) It is topped with an old Leupold Vari-X II 2x7[^].











And yes, I know it isn't a Winchester[:0][:D] Truth be told, I own (3) old Springfields... a Model 1892 30/40 Krag, a Model 1903 30-06, and this 03A3 in 7x57mm). I also own three Remington bolt guns... a Model 722 in 222 Rem Mag, a Model 700 BDL VS in 222 Rem Mag, and my Elk rifle, a Model 700 BDL in 7mm Rem Mag. The only hi-power Winchester bolt rifle I own is a 1927 vintage Model 54 in 30-06.

1KYDSTR

BERT: Now that piece bespeaks an earlier, BETTER time! Beautiful,simple lines and devoid of overembellishment. I'm a little shocked you would own anything non-Winchester, BERT, but I'm really glad to see you like the 7mm too. The 6.5 x 55 is perhaps my second favorite smaller bore high power rifle, but because of Bell and his ilk the 7 took on a mystique all its' own. I really wish I had something resembling a bench gun to play with the round in...I wonder "what if". All I have is 4 military rifles in 7mm Mauser (one of which, a Brazilian '08 is very, very accurate) to play with, but they give me joy all the same even with their lousy sights (and my lousy eyes). I would bet the 7mm MAuser is around for a long, long time to come.