First hunting rifle

[UcanRun]

My current tikka is a 7mm rem mag and that doesnt bother me.....

 

[chas3stix]

Any quality 30'06 rifle with good glass should meet your needs. IMO the 30'06 is the most versatile of the calibers you mentioned.

 

[MuleRyder]

Another vote for the thirty aught six. Before I handloaded, I killed everything from black bear to deer to moose with 180gr Core-Lokts out of a Ruger M77 with Nikon glass.

 

[hipoint]

voting for the .30-06 as well. Sure there are rounds out there that do things better, but a good .30-06 with the right load is plenty accurate for long shots, as well as heavy enough for light brush. Another big plus is just about any country store you walk in will have something for .30-06...

I sighted my gun in with cheap federal ammo (14 bucks a box at wal-mart), shoots better than I do and it's cheap. Maybe not a good choice for those 300 yard and up shots, but I'm not a good choice for making that shot so it fits nicely!

anyhow, the native americans killed plenty of bears with sticks and rocks, I figure a gun of any sort is an improvement over that!

 

[Kachok]

Me personaly, I could care less about the availibility of factory 30-06 ammo, I have not hunted with factory fodder in many years. But the 06 is a pretty easy case to handload, brass is everywhere, and the 30 cal bore is very flexable, not a great varmint caliber, but the 06 can be loaded to be an exellent cartrage for everything from yotes to moose. Way more versitle then the 308 or 270 win for sure.

 

[vtbluegrass]

You can pick about any rifle that you like the look of in your price range and go hunting and shoot small holes in paper. Its the glory of the age we live in. Pick the bolt rifle you like and pick a $200 3-9x40 scope and viola you have a good hunting rifle.

 

[Kachok]

You can pick about any rifle that you like the look of in your price range and go hunting and shoot small holes in paper. Its the glory of the age we live in. Pick the bolt rifle you like and pick a $200 3-9x40 scope and viola you have a good hunting rifle.

+1 Plenty of good rifles on the cheap (Savage Axis/110, Tikka T3, Marlin XS7) Nikon Prostaff is a good scope for the money. I own two

 

[Imperial Guardsman]

@Kachok

I'm not trying to push the Mosin, it's just that when I here "first hunting rifle" it reminds me of my first car, an el cheapo beater. If you start out with a clunker, you come to appriciate almost anything else.

 

[sixgunner455]

Any of those three calibers will do in any critter in North America. If you know you're going to go after elk with it, you've got the right idea about what range of calibers to go after.

IMHO, you need to pick a rifle. As long as it's in one of the calibers you're liking, you're GTG. Then base, rings, scope, and sling, and it's done. If you go used, you may find a package all ready to go that is a lot less than new. Or you can get a Savage 11/110 and a Burris Fullfield, Nikon Prostaff, or Redfield Revolution, and go to shooting and hunting.

Match the bullet you use to the game you're after - light, frangible bullets for varmints, medium-for-caliber softpoints for deer and antelope, heavier solid copper hollow point and bonded core softpoint bullets for elk, bear, moose, etc. That's probably got as much or more bearing on your eventual success as the caliber, rifle, or scope.

 

[Kachok]

@Kachok

I'm not trying to push the Mosin, it's just that when I here "first hunting rifle" it reminds me of my first car, an el cheapo beater. If you start out with a clunker, you come to appriciate almost anything else.

Ah that is true I suppose, after playing with a Mosin for a while an el-chepo Mossberg would seem like a piece of art and any real rifle would be simply amazing Where I hunt now I could get away with Mosin 2-3moa accuracy, but I would hate to have to carry it through the very thick underbrush, that is hard enough with a compact bolt gun. Heck I am thinking about a 16" barrel lever gun because even my T3 is getting hung up every step.