First deer rifle

[p89cajun]

I'm in the market for my first deer rifle and came across this ( http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2684987 .) It won't get shot much just to hunt with and check the scope every year. Now I know it is a cheap scope and I can change that later but is this an O.K. gun to get me started. I have heard that it is the perfect combination between quality and price. My father is not a hunter so I have no handme downs and have to start fresh. I am trying to get everything to get started on a budget and then upgrade to nice stuff over the next few seasons.

 

[Legionnaire]

The Savage is a good gun for the money. But for an occasional deer rifle, I wouldn't buy a .300 win mag. You'd probably be better suited with any one of the following cartridges: .243, .270, .308, or .30-06. The .300 Win Mag is expensive, kicks hard, and is more than necessary for even large deer.

Any gun you get you need to shoot enough to get comfortable with. If it ain't comfortable, you won't shoot it. Plenty of deer have fallen to the cartridges listed above.

 

[Frog48]

My first centerfire rifle is a Savage 110 in .30-06 Springfield. You could go with a smaller caliber so that there is less felt recoil, but with Remington's "Managed Recoil" line of cartridges, a .30-06 doesnt feel much different than a .243 Win.

Also, I LOVE my Savage. The AccuTrigger is an amazing invention. I love being able to adjust the trigger pull without taking it to a gunsmith.

I actually bought my Savage at Walmart, too. The one in the link you posted is very nice, but I would not go with a .300 Win Mag as a first rifle.

 

['Card]

Legionnaire nailed it. I don't think there's anything wrong with the rifle, but I don't think a .300WinMag is a good caliber choice for a new deer hunter. I have one, but I only use it in fairly rare and specific circumstances. My personal favorite (and most frequently used) is a .30-06, but .270 and .308 are both solid choices too.

 

[p89cajun]

I am set on the 300 mag. If i'm gonna get one rifle why not get the big boy. I am not new to guns or kick just to rifles. I shot a winchester model 70 in 300 mag and it wasn't bad. If a v-8 and four cylender are the same price you are going to buy the v-8 eventhough a four would get you from point a to point b for cheaper. Pretty good analogy huh?

 

[Thefabulousfink]

.308 and .30-06 can be loaded to perform near the level of .300 mag. To really get all the benefits out of .300 mag you will probably need to upgrade your rifle quite a bit. People have been using .30-06 to take bear and elk for years and I've made accurate shots with my '06 out past 250 yards. Plus .308 and .30-06 can be had in lighter loads that kick less and are cheaper to shoot.

If you really want a .300 mag, go ahead; but it will kick harder and cost more without many noticable improvements. My advice is to get the rifle in .270, .308, or .30-06 and hunt and shoot with it for a few years. Then, when you are confident in your abilities and feel the need to take 300+ yard shots at mountain goats, buy another rifle in a "hot rod" caliber like .300 mag or .338.

But that's just my advice, worth every penny that you paid for it.

 

[md7]

p89cajun, i don't own a savage, but my friend hunts with one in 30-06 and he swears by his. i think savage makes a pretty good rifle. If you absolutely have your heart set on .300 mag, then get that caliber. it certainly would have no problem killing deer. or elk or moose or insert animal here ______.
i am a .270 Win man most days and a 30-06 man on others, but in Mississippi, both of those calibers work well on the animals being hunted and the distances they are being taken. let us know what you go with.

 

[ArmedBear]

Why would you avoid getting an expensive high-recoil cartridge that offers no advantage for your application, combined with a cheap scope?

You'll find out.

 

[de]

Well, it would appear that he wants someone to agree that he is doing the right thing, as advice on lower caliburs has been rejected. Being new to the art, I think a cheap scope and a hard kickin 300 win mag would be a good start on lessons learned first hand. Wouldn't some of you guys agree?:banghead:

 

[fal 4 me]

I have a Savage much like the one you're looking at, only chambered in 30-06. I replaced the scope before my first deer season with it. The stock is flimsy and will be replaced in the not too distant future. The lightweight stock also increases felt recoil compared to other 30-06's I've shot, an M-1 Garand, an Enfield sporter and a commercial Mauser variant. I can only imagine the Savage .300 Magnum will recoil noticably more than the Winchester that you shot.

Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy with the accuracy of the rifle, the recoil isn't prohibitive, and the rifle is a good deer rifle right out of the box. It's just as a gain experience, I find that there are changes I want to make. I added a second deer rifle since I bought the Savage, a Marlin 336 30-30. As it turned out, in most of the deer hunting I do, the power and range of the 30-06 aren't needed. What are the conditions you'll be hunting in?

And btw, with rifles bigger isn't always better and doesn't always win. It's all about how accurately you can put bullets downrange.

 

[Ol` Joe]

Well, it would appear that he wants someone to agree that he is doing the right thing, as advice on lower caliburs has been rejected. Being new to the art, I think a cheap scope and a hard kickin 300 win mag would be a good start on lessons learned first hand. Wouldn't some of you guys agree?

 

[Frog48]

I am set on the 300 mag. If i'm gonna get one rifle why not get the big boy. I am not new to guns or kick just to rifles.

Why not? Because you said yourself, right there, that you're new to rifles. If you start out with the .300 Win Mag, you WILL develop a flinch. And as a result, you wont be able to hit "the broad side of a barn."

Killing a deer dead in its tracks with a smaller caliber is much more impressive than making a bigger boom when you pull the trigger, but end up totally missing the target.

Just something to consider.

 

[Legionnaire]

I am set on the 300 mag.

Then by all means proceed. I have one (a heavy-barreled Remington) and like it. But I don't hunt deer with it.

 

[Hazzard]

I'd have to give a +1 on the savage. They are very good utility rifles and I don't think that you will be disapointed. As for 300mag for whitetail deer, you may be disapointed. They can be expensive to shoot, will kick like a mule with the straight factory stock on the savage, and really wont be any more effective than a 30-06, 308, or 30-30 on medium sized game. Just an opinion.

 

[el44vaquero]

I personally started out with a Winchester Model 70 in .30-06. Hunting the area that I do and the line of work I'm in, I've since developed an appreciation for the Marlin 336 in .30-30 with just the standard iron sights.

 

[p89cajun]

I took all that you had to say into consideration but today i bought the .300 mag. I just don't see a problem with it. I have shot the round before and was dead on at 100 yards. Thank you for your input about the gun though. I will pick it up next week. (hopefully before friday because I leave then to hunt mississippi.)

 

[md7]

There is supposed to be a cold front settling in mississippi this weekend. should be a good opening week for rifle season. which part of mississippi you gonna be hunting cajun?

 

[Mr Weebles]

I bought that package in .308.

The scope was a Simmons 3-9X40 and had an adjustment problem. I replaced it with a Nikon.

 

[p89cajun]

private land between starkville and west point

 

[Frog48]

The scope was a Simmons 3-9X40 and had an adjustment problem.

I guess I'm not the only one that is not a big fan of the Simmons that comes packaged with Savages. Once its zeroed, it isnt half bad... but it takes quite a while to get zeroed. I'm gonna replace mine one of these days.

 

[mustanger98]

What I'd like to know... my variable power scopes are Simmons 3-9x32 and 3-9x40 and they're good scopes. I haven't bought the Savage package deal so I don't know the difference between my Simmons scopes and the Simmons's Savage is selling. If they're as bad as ya'll make it sound like, I don't want to find out firsthand.

 

[rangerruck]

great rifle, though a little stout. i'd go 270 or 30.06 for a first timer, especially the 06, since ammo is cheap and everywhere. Academy sells it for 6. to 8 bucks a box.