Recommend Deer Rifle

Status
Not open for further replies.
pwillie

pwillie

Member
Joined
May 24, 2008
Messages
603
Location
Lower Alabama
I also have a friend (Hunting club )that has a Browning 30/06 BAR,and wants to look for a new rifle.Accuracy is a must,and the yardage could be from 30 to 400 yds,for whitetail deer.He is looking for something out of the box,that will shoot 1-1/2 inch group or less.
 
That leaves for a pretty wide open field. From a $300 stevens200 to the sky.


I will say this. If you have to spend less on the rifle so you can spend more on the scope. Trust me on this. I'd much rather have a $300 rifle with a $200 scope than a $400 gun with $100 worth of optics
 
+1 Krochus....from the Stevens 200 to the Savage Model 14/114 to the Savage Model 16/116, money is the governor, a little more cash and the Remingtons come into play, the descent, if there is a descent Remington nowadays, ones anyway, and don't overlook the Tikka's and Howa built Vanguards, which leads one to wonder, why pay for the Weatherby, a Howa is a Howa.

400y is nothing for today's high powered rifle, you are the deciding factor for ranges like that!

Decide on the money you want to spend, and that will dictate the class of rifle to investigate!
 
Well, the BAR would have been my suggestion as I like semi auto's. He doesn't want to sell his BAR does he? Anyway, does he want a semi auto, bolt action, lever action, big caliber, small caliber, or what? Need more info. Also is that 1-1/2" group at the 3-400 yards or is that at 100 yards?

My suggestion if he wanted a bolt action would be the Savage model 10 or 110 depending on the caliber he wanted. One is long action calibers the other short action calibers. I'd make sure I got the one with the accu trigger.

The other bolt action I'd consider is the Browning A Bolt. The Marlin XL-7 is also known for great accuracy. The parent company of Remington now owning Marlin is the only thing that would hold me back from one of them. I haven't heard bad things about Marlin yet but the quality on Remingtons seem to have really gone downhill.

If he wanted a semi auto it pretty much is left between the BAR and the Remington 7400. The older 742 had some issues and I've not heard that many great things about the 750 either. Of those I'd pick the BAR.
 
Tell your buddy to try different brand and weight of ammo and see if the groups tight'n up . That b.a.r. should and atleast can shoot at the 1" group with a good clean bore and a pet load and is very capable of 400yard shots. If he is now shooting some 180gr bullets try some 165gr or drop down to 150 and change brand. Maybe hornady and go from there. OR maybe you get a deal on a bar.
 
The T/C Icon *guarantees* a 1 MOA rifle - not "certifies" that THEY did it - they guarantee that YOU will do it. Icon Classic in .270 Win or .30-'06 - can't go wrong. I'd probably run with .270 Win. But that's in the $900-ish range - what's the budget?
 
I'd recommend a .308 in either a Ruger or Remington rifle. You can hunt elk with a .308 and it is one of the most popular round in Africa. I'd also not hesitate to shoot a bear with one, but you've got to do it right.
 
Is his reason for not liking the BAR the group size? As for the above poster saying he should be able to get 1" groups out of his BAR. I've heard of some guys that have ones that can do this but lots of others that can only get 2" groups or so out of it. That's still plenty good for a hunting rifle though.
 
Assuming you are talking about 100 yards for your accuracy requirement. Just about any half way decent bolt action 270 Winchester will shoot 1-1/2 inch group or less with a 3-9 X scope.
 
:uhoh:

Just tell him to get a Steven's with a nice scope and some handloading equiptment for whatever caliber suits his fancy. It'll all be less than the price of a Browning and be just as, if not, more accurate.

The Savage line-up is something to look into, anything from .270 Win to 300 Win Mag will do fine for shots up to 400 yards easily. Accuracy won't be a problem either with good glass and the right ammo.
 
I have always been impressed with the Tikka T3 Hunter's. My 7mm Rem Mag and my 308 Win will both shoot MOA all day long with decent ammo. I don't handload but if you do, you can probably shrink the groups even more. For a deer rifle, 400 yards is not that far.
 
anything in between calibers from 243/6mm up to 7mm; anything by savage, t/c, or Marlin will get it done. So will the Howa or Weatherby; the Weatherby will have the best fit/finish , but will be a few bucks more.
 
My friend wants a magnum rifle,with some steam behind it. I didn't think of the Encore,but thats a good contestant.Weatherby is looking good.
 
Yeah, he should get one of those Marlin 336 magnums. Right. Just because you don't like magnums cartridges doesn't mean others don't. If you have nothing to add to the post, why do you bother. Just to piss people off? That's what it sounds like to me.

Weatherby would be my choice as well. The Vangaurd if price is an issue. They offer it in 7mm Rem Mag, .300 Win mag, as well as the short mags and I believe a couple of the Weatherby mags.
 
My friend wants a magnum rifle,with some steam behind it.
Click to expand...

Saw that one coming.... Tell your friend that if his '06 won't kill a deer at 400 yds., then neither will any of the trendy magnums. Seriously, if hunters would spend more time shooting and less time looking for "better" rifles and cartridges, they'd kill WAY more deer. Also, before buying a "better" rifle, he ought to shoot at some targets at a measured 400 yds....something like a paper plate (about the size of a deers vitals). Quite humbling.

Last season, I made my longest shot ever (on game) in 35 years of hunting; I killed a bull elk at a lasered 360 yds., and I'm here to tell you that's a LONG shot even on a 700-800 lb. animal. The math of it's easy: a rangefinder and a trajectory chart taped to my stock. The hard part is the shot: lying prone and shooting down the side of a mountain. Oh yeah...and incredibly, I killed it, even at that range with an '06 based cartridge. The difference for me has been the fact that I've been shooting High Power rifle competition since last February and it's made an immeasurable difference in my shooting skills.

But back to the original question. When I saw the subject of this post, "270 Winchester" popped into my head...and no, I don't own one, but personally I think it is the quintessental deer cartridge. I normally use a 280 or a 308.

35W
 
Last edited:
One of them new Model 70's in .270 or '06. Top it with some decent glass and your in business. Them SS ones are really slick and light if you keep scope weight down.
 
For an accurate and dependable rifle, look at the TIKKA T3 in various calibers. I have one in 6.5x55 and it's a shooter.
 
slight hijack; 35whelen, was the distance with the decline, or did you add/subtract for that? where was your point of aim , in reference to the animal? what about was the degree of declination?
 
slight hijack; 35whelen, was the distance with the decline, or did you add/subtract for that? where was your point of aim , in reference to the animal? what about was the degree of declination?
Click to expand...

Hijack? Naa....

No, the distance did not include the decline. The bull was in the bottom of a shallow basin and the downward angle was slight enough such that an adjustment to the amount of holdover wasn't necessary.

(Sidebar- As a teen and a young adult, I spent hours upon hours with the old green Sierra manual and a pencil and paper doing drop/angle calculations, adjustments for altitude/baromtric pressure/temperature, et al. I found that it takes a fairly significant angle and range to make a meaningful difference in a bullets path when shooting up or downhill. Then I grew up and found that all that pertains to less then 1% of my hunting.)

I fire a 225 gr. TSX (B.C.= .359) at 2660 fps. Sighted around 2.5" @ 100 yds., it drops around 16" @ 350 yds., a shade less at the altitude we hunt (10,000+ ft.), so I tried to hold around 6" or so over the top of his back. I hit him both shots using this hold.

Degree of declination? I was going to check it, but I left my protractor in the saddle bags some 1/2 mile away. Darn the luck!

You missed the point of my reference to shooting downhill prone; it's difficult to steady the rifle but most of all it puts your eye very close to the scope...I didn't bleed much..LOL Get out of the heated deer blind and try it sometime!:D (kidding)


Now THAT'S a hijack!!!

35W
 
One of them new Model 70's in .270 or '06. Top it with some decent glass and your in business. Them SS ones are really slick and light if you keep scope weight down.
Click to expand...

Ditto all around. 7.5 lbs. for my .30-06 EWSS with a mounted 2-7x33 VX-II.

...and leave my hot coffee pot, propane heater and warm Twinkies behind....never!
Click to expand...

LOL

Hunt from a heated deer blind! Remington needs SOMEONE to buy its hunting rifles.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

T
  • Locked
Another deer rifle question....
Replies
9
Views
1K
txgolfer45
T
S
  • Locked
Just how BAD is the 30/30 ?
2 3
Replies
61
Views
4K
LR-308Hunter
L
D
  • Locked
Good all around Colorado hunting rifle (for new hunter)
2 3
Replies
56
Views
7K
MattB
M
T
  • Locked
Deer Hunting Rifles (IOW - Here we go again)
Replies
23
Views
847
Mike Irwin
M
HB
  • Locked
  • Poll
Second Deer Rifle Time......
2
Replies
37
Views
2K
Decker
D
Back
Top