[Tracy Ohrt]

Hi all!

I have never bought a big-bore rifle before and am looking for advice on what I should have on my "checklist" to ensure I am not getting screwed or can identify a steal of a deal.

I have narrowed the calibres down to .308 or 30-06, in any action type. I don't know if either are known to cause problems or not.

Any advice is very appreciated!

[dakotasin]

there was a thread on this same subject a week or so ago...

anyway, here's my take, and it applies only to bolt-guns as the rest of the action types don't excite me...

unless the gun looks to have been beaten into the ground for use as a tomato stake, chances are it will be fine - especially a sporter weight 30-06 or 308 (i'd go 308, fwiw).

pull the bolt from the rifle, make sure there's rifling in the bore and that the bore looks bright. now look at the crown and verify that there are no dings. next, peruse the stock, looking for cracks. if you are buying a wood-stocked savage, i highly reccomend pulling the barrelled action from the stock and inspecting for cracks that haven't made it to the outside, yet (around the trigger area seems to be common for this).

myself, i've looked at enough used rifles that the only thing i look at anymore are the rifling and the crown.

next step, plunk some money down, and start scheming on a scope and mods for the rifle!

[Art Eatman]

Yeah, dakotasin nailed it. I'd recommend the .308, unless you're planning to get into handloading your own ammo.

"Ready-rolled" .308 is widely available at a lot less cost than the store-bought .30-'06 stuff. Lets you do a lot more practicing for a given amount of money.

And for all practical hunting purposes, the .308 will do just fine, also...

:), Art

[Tracy Ohrt]

Thanks for your help! Will let you know how the search goes hopefully!

I did try searching threads for "buying used" and variations of with little success, so thank you for the reply!
-oops, found it: April 4, 2003!

Thanks,
Tracy

[COHIBA]

30 cal. is BIG BORE?
stay away from marlintalk w/ that info.

[Tracy Ohrt]

COHIBA,
quote:
" 30 cal. is BIG BORE? stay away from marlintalk w/ that info."

lol. When the biggest rifle you have owned goes ‘plink’ instead of ‘boom’, anything over .22 is big bore. No offense to the Marlin crew. Have noticed they tend to like the .45 and up...

[Warner]

I'll have to admit that Marlin didn't come to mind first, or otherwise, when Tracy Ohrt first said "big bore rifle".