First centerfire rifle

A bolt rifle is good rifle to get.

Cartridge choice will depend on what your use will be.

24 caliber (6mm) or 25 caliber rifles are a good compromise between varmint to deer size game. But, if you thinking of larger game than deer, they may be a bit light. They would be a bit heavy, noisy with heavier recoil, for shorter range varmints in less rural communities.

Discussions and difference in opinions abound on the subject.

Not an easy decision.

Since you won't be able to hunt deer with a rifle round you are left two decisions. Get a handy, pistol caliber carbine like a model 1894 in .357 or .44 mag (decent for deer, not for varmints), or get a rifle capable of hunting varmints (and not deer).

I, personally, would go with the latter. A nice bolt gun with a heavier barrel chambered in .204 Ruger or .22-250 for varmints and then use a bow for deer hunting.

From a native Hoosier: Actually the current reg's state any rifle of .35 cal or above, with a case 1.8" or less is legal. There is a cartridge, the .358 Hoosier -

http://www.guns.com/2011/11/09/a-deer-cartridge-just-for-one-state-the-358-hoosier/

that looks pretty cool, but is still a wildcat (although an easy one), which would require a reamed or custom .35 cal barrel, which isn't that big a deal if you purchased a short action Savage, which is what I would do. Also, if you found a .35 Remington in a lever action that would work as well, if you trim the cases by about 1/10" to be legal for deer, (still will work with the proper seating) and be way ahead in ballistics than a pistol cartridge.
If you're just thinking fun shooting, and varmint, well, the choices are wide open. I still gravitate towards a decent bolt gun over all else, but that's just me. I've had great fun with a .223 bolt action that is solid, accurate, easy to reload for, and just a blast to shoot.

!edit: apparently, the game guys go with what's stamped on the barrel. If you went the .35 Rem. route, I guess you'd have to get the barrel restamped??? Whatever.

Wait a minute. You cant hunt deer with deer cartridges? .243, 30-30, 30-06 are illegal? Did I read that right?

Pardon my ignorance, I have never lived anywhere near a place like that.

To Agsalaska: you read right. They only started allowing rifles at all a few years ago, and that was just for carbine/pistol rounds; .357, .44, .454, and then with OAL stipulations. I actually submitted a number of letters to the IN DNR to allow THAT, and they finally did. I mentioned that they allowed rifle calibers - 6mm and above - in "pistols" (meaning no shoulder stock only), but they wouldn't allow 'rifles' up to that time. They've gotten better now, but the regulations for a real 'rifle' pretty much limit one to what are still wildcats. Oh well...

My suggestion: MOVE

Hunter125 said:

In IN you can hunt deer with a rifle in pistol calibers, but nothing else.

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What are the bureaucrats' reasoning for that rule? So that hunters will try to stretch the shot further than they really should for the round's capability, and just wound the animal and allow him to run off and die later so nobody wins? Or is there a better reason?

So that hunters will try to stretch the shot further than they really should for the round's capability, and just wound the animal and allow him to run off and die later so nobody wins? Or is there a better reason?

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The chance of someone trying to stretch a round's capability is far higher when limiting them to pistol caliber rounds than rifle rounds...

jstein650 said:

To Agsalaska: you read right. They only started allowing rifles at all a few years ago, and that was just for carbine/pistol rounds; .357, .44, .454, and then with OAL stipulations. I actually submitted a number of letters to the IN DNR to allow THAT, and they finally did. I mentioned that they allowed rifle calibers - 6mm and above - in "pistols" (meaning no shoulder stock only), but they wouldn't allow 'rifles' up to that time. They've gotten better now, but the regulations for a real 'rifle' pretty much limit one to what are still wildcats. Oh well...

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Man thats just nuts. So I can shoot a Buck with a 38 sp out of a lever action rifle but not a 30-30. Thats brilliant. I cannot imagine the twisted justification in that logic.

Think about that for a second. The 30-06, quite possibly the best all around deer cartridge in the history of deer cartridges, cannot be used on a deer out of a rifle. But a pistol cartridge can.

Sometimes all you can do is shake your head.

Agsalaska said:

Wait a minute. You cant hunt deer with deer cartridges? .243, 30-30, 30-06 are illegal? Did I read that right?

Pardon my ignorance, I have never lived anywhere near a place like that.

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There are plenty of localities in Virginia that do not allow center fire rifles for hunting other than varmint hunting....and some of those only allow it during months of the year where only varmints are in season. Many of those localities do not allow shotgun slugs either. Some of them allow muzzle loading rifles though.

The laws are not in place from the department of game an inland fisheries though, they are placed by the localities and are placed due to fears of rifle rounds going too far.

allaroundhunter said:

The chance of someone trying to stretch a round's capability is far higher when limiting them to pistol caliber rounds than rifle rounds...

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I didn't make it clear, but that's what I was sarcastically saying -- that limiting deer hunting to low power rounds dramatically increases the chances of mortally wounding the animal but not being able to harvest it. But like HOOfan noted, the rule is probably due to other reasoning, and not based upon what would be best for the hunter and humane for the animal.

Lots of different, and sometimes conflicting, options available to you.

I could get into varmint hunting someday, but for now I'll probably just be hunting deer.

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Some people might recommend the .223 Rem for a varmint/deer cartridge. While its great for varmints, many people (including me) consider it marginal for deer. I'd suggest bumping up to the .243 Win. Still a relativly flat shooting, light recoiling choice for varmints, but with enough power for deer size game.

In IN you can hunt deer with a rifle in pistol calibers, but nothing else. Other than that, it would be for fun and HD purposes.

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Now, in this case, you choices are really .357 mag, .44 mag and .45 colt. Personally, I'd go with the .44 mag for more power although when hand loaded the .45 can be just as good. Its still a short range deer rifle (around 100 yards) but works pretty well in that role. If you want a bolt action, Ruger does make one in .357 mag and .44 mag (the 77/357 and 77/44 rifles), although most people seem to prefer lever action long guns if you are talking pistol calibers. Marlin, Henry and Rossi are all popular lever action choices.

I was pretty set on a bolt .308, probably a Savage Hog Hunter. Now with my change in situation I'm not so sure. What would you all suggest, type of rifle, caliber, etc?

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If you want to use it for deer, I'd go with the Rossi M92 in .44 mag. If you want to pick something up for varmints and target practice, a Savage Model 25 in .223 would be a good choice. If you want the bigger .308 for target or hunting (where legal), the Savage Model 11 FCNS or the Model 11 Hog Hunter are worth a look.

Think about that for a second. The 30-06, quite possibly the best all around deer cartridge in the history of deer cartridges, cannot be used on a deer out of a rifle. But a pistol cartridge can.

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I would imagine its the same thinking that limits some states to shotguns for deer hunting. They are worried (correctly or not) about high powered rifle cartridges carrying beyond sight in relativly densely populate areas.

Hope that helps!

For hunting deer I would just get a 12 gauge with a rifled barrel and hunt deer with slugs. That is legal up there, isn't it? A lot better than trying to make do with an underpowered pistol caliber rifle IMO. For your first center fire, I'd get an AR-15.

Agsalaska said:

Wait a minute. You cant hunt deer with deer cartridges? .243, 30-30, 30-06 are illegal? Did I read that right?

Pardon my ignorance, I have never lived anywhere near a place like that.

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No you cannot. It's like that in the mid-midwest lots of places. You need to see the "terrain" in Indiana to appreciate. A farmhouse about every 1000 yards minimum in any direction from where you're standing, cows everywhere, flat as a pancake just about everywhere, with out even trees to stop a bullet. Indiana ain't Alaska man! It's not even Wyoming. We feel lucky! Until about 5 years ago the only thing you could hunt deer with was a shotgun shooting slugs or a bow and arrow or a muzzle-loader. We just got the pistol cartridge rifle thing here. That's why they can't keep .44 magnum lever action rifles on the shelves here all of a sudden.

Sure, slugs are legal. After trying many (and expensive) slugs from a scoped 870 Deer Special (heavy, rifled barrel) I think a slug gun that can actually group well at 100 yds. is a fairly uncommon thing. Anyway, in my first response to the OP, I shouldn't have assumed he was into reloading. It's just my first assumption when talking about shooting (I can't imagine shooting on any kind of regular basis, running out and buying factory ammo)
Additionally, what I said about the DNR guys going with what's stamped on the barrel is controversial. Legally they have to abide by what the limitations are as stated by law, and that is the ammo you have and are using. That said, if the budget is an issue, I think a .35 Rem Marlin - there are a few on GB now for a good price - would be a good option for a fun gun, fun shooting, and deer legal. (That does assume one would be willing to do some reloading and trim the brass to 1.8")

HoosierQ said:

No you cannot. It's like that in the mid-midwest lots of places. You need to see the "terrain" in Indiana to appreciate. A farmhouse about every 1000 yards minimum in any direction from where you're standing, cows everywhere, flat as a pancake just about everywhere, with out even trees to stop a bullet. Indiana ain't Alaska man! It's not even Wyoming. We feel lucky! Until about 5 years ago the only thing you could hunt deer with was a shotgun shooting slugs or a bow and arrow or a muzzle-loader. We just got the pistol cartridge rifle thing here. That's why they can't keep .44 magnum lever action rifles on the shelves here all of a sudden.

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Easily remedied just as it is in some localities in Virginia. Stipulate that to use a rifle you must be in an elevated stand. In that case you are shooting from 15 or so feet of the ground at an object that is no more than 4 or 5 feet off the ground.

HOOfan1: "Easily remedied just as it is in some localities in Virginia. Stipulate that to use a rifle you must be in an elevated stand. In that case you are shooting from 15 or so feet of the ground at an object that is no more than 4 or 5 feet off the ground."

Convince the MAN of that. I'd think it would be pretty hard to enforce. Not that it's a bad idea. Most folks are pretty responsible, but I don't think the state is going to trust BillyBob with his 300 Win mag. shooting over the ridge a hundred yards away. (it's not ALL flat as a pancake, by any means)

Given a choice I would get a good lever gun in .44 Magnum. That or look around for an old Ruger 44 Carbine. Between the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum my choice would be the .44 Magnum.

I live in Ohio where no rifle is permitted, I wish Ohio would adopt that rule. I can hunt deer with handgun or a shotgun with slug. That is as good as it gets and why I would go to West Virginia for deer season.

Ron

Everybody who's ever had to shoot slugs hate them. I am not defending this Indiana law. It goes way, way back...probably to before the Second World War I would guess. The problem is that a) the farming lobby was way stronger than any outdoor sporting lobby in Indiana and they didn't want their farmers knocked off of their tractors by stray bullets, and b) Indiana was almost complete devoid of any kind of game back in the 1930s, all of it having been shot and killed by 100 years of market hunters. Thus the term "buck" for a dollar. People shot deer by the thousands just for the hide for which they were paid a dollar each in good condition. The carcass was left to rot with maybe only the tongue cut out maybe. Just like the buffalo.

Those old laws were put in place in a very different political and for that matter environmental climate here...and done so a long time ago. In fact, it was the outdoors sports lobby, such as it was, that colluded with the farm lobby to limit the use of centerfire rifles so as to promote the return of game. Along with it came game seasons and the whole host of conservation laws that are common everywhere now. Today, Indiana is full of game. I suspect we'll get full-fledge rifle hunting back too. They never lost it in places like Michigan and Wisconsin but those places never lost their forests either...we lost ours to the ax and the plow.

Interesting bit of history. I lived there most my life and never really thought about how such things came about. Just always (begrudgingly) accepted it for the stated 'safety' reasons.

"They never lost it in places like Michigan and Wisconsin but those places never lost their forests either..." actually, and you may be aware of this, MI is shotgun only up to about a rough horizontal line at about Grand Rapids. Above that rifle OK.

I'd like to see common rifle calibers make a full return to IN too. I'd accept some limitations, but certainly the common calibers out there. As I alluded to before, the framework they're using currently allows for some pretty hot numbers anyway. There are a bunch of guys using a .35 based on a necked up WSSM! It's legal, if not overkill for whitetail, IMO, but still legal!

In Michigan, south of M-57 is shotgun only. Glad I hunt north of there.

For a rifle, I would suggest a .243 Win and use it for varmints. It is also a dandy deer cartridge to 350 yards if you go out of state. Come on up to central Michigan.

Geno

The concern is danger fans. People actually live in Indiana. Some would prefer that the once a year shooters not have rifle caliber guns that shoot twice as far as pistol caliber guns. Same reasons some areas only allow shotguns and smooth bore at that.

Not that hard to reason out.

The op also meantioned HD and lets face it a bolt action hunting rifle has issues for that.

Get a decent lever gun in .357, .44, or even .45Colt and call it happiness.

Were it me I would hunt up a .357 Magnum lever action, fit it with sights I like, figure out what loads it likes and call it macaroni.

-kBob

read the IN hunting regulations first, if your looking for a deer hunting rifle in this state it wouldn't hurt to call DNR and ask them about a specific setup. if I wanted to go huntin for deer id look at a 20ga so I could use it for squirrel and rabbit also. by the way, its not illegal to use a 22-250 on squirrel

I am familiar with the type of laws you have in Indiana bc I live in Ohio.
Only you guys have the "luxury" of using rifles in pistol legal caliber. *with case length restriction of course* in Ohio we have no restriction on case length but they do have to be strait wall cartridges in 357 or larger for deer.
I have thought many times about how it would be nice if we could at least use rifles in pistol legal caliber. I think it's stupid that we can't:banghead:
If I had your oprotunity my list of rifles would be a pre-Freedom Group Marlin 1894 in 44 magnum, a Ruger Deerfield 44 mag, or an AR-15 in 450 Bushmaster or 50 Beowulf!
I would LOVE to have an AR in 44 mag that would be my primary all around gun!