What hunting rifle should I get that has the best combination of range, power, and budget friendliness?

 

What do you want to hunt.

 

I know that it already has been asked, but what do you want to hunt, how big a creature will you be shooting at, from what range will you shooting from, Do you really need a rifle, depending upon what you are shooting at, you would perhaps rather have a handgun, perhaps a .44 mag, with attacted scope. You see there are many answers for many questions!

 

if you are hunting white tail deer you could go with .240, .270. 30-30, and a few others, if you are hunting Elk, you probably want to stay in the .30 caliber ranges such .300 weatherby, .300 winchester, there are also the .7mm. such as the .7mm-08 this is also a good round for deer elk ect. My hunting buddies son uses the .7mm-08 on everything he hunts for which are deer, elk, oryx. Remember shot placement above all else. If you cant hit what you aim at it dont matter if you have a freaking cannon with right? he bought the .7mm-08 from wal-mart in weatherby, I also bought my wife the same gun and she can damn sure put those rounds where they need to be. so no matter what you get, you need to practice practice practice.

 

Years ago I shot and thought a 30.06 was all I needed. But a 270 is a really good all around caliber and real flat shooter. Ever since I got injured 15 years ago I pretty much went back to hunting with my Grandfather's 30.30 model 94 Winchester. Its light and has a lot of drop to the stock which makes it come up easy. But open sights and something as slow as a 30.30 are a bad combination if you don't have a lot of experience.

I'm not much of a believer in bigger caliber rifles. Not even the 7mm. Too much lead and power and not enough meat left to eat.

Edit: You can spend nearly as much for a rifle as you do the scope. I've had a Japanese cheap Tasco for 30 years. Rugers make good guns at fair prices.

 

I use a Remington .270 and a Marlin 30-30 for Deer and a CZ .22 for small game. Depending on the conditions (open field vs. heavily wooded) I will go to the Marlin 30-30 for the deep stuff and keep the 270 out for open areas. As some have pointed out, the .270 is a good caliber for many applications.

Hope this helps.

AK

 

[FONT=&quot]In centerfire the Savage Model 110 in 30-06 caliber with take anything from woodchucks to the largest game. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Ammunition for the 30-06 is readily available and comes in a good selection of bullet weights.
[/FONT]

 

But a tatee gun , there always fun

 

All things considered there are some realy good choices mentioned above.But we still dont know what you are planning to hunt.If your going after Alaska grizzlies you better start with .338 Winchester magnum as the low end and I would suggest the .375 H&H Magnum.Toned down with some careful hand loading the .375 can do just fine on smaller critters too...Or a good .45-70 would work well too.

 

This is a man who knows guns.

30.06 is my preference even though I have quite a few different guns. I also love my 7.62x39 rifles for plinking and my 7.62x51 is a good all around rifle. I'm saving for another in that caliber, an fn fal hopefully.

DO NOT buy a cheap scope, you'll regret it. I have a few larger caliber guns also and I don't care to shoot them much. Too much kick, even my 300 mag has too much. How often do I really need to kill a polar bear at 500 yards? lol.

Get something practical, don't get talked into any sort of .50 bmg firearm or most of the magnum calibers if you only want one gun.

 

My advice:


One shot, one kill.

 

I'm going to have to go with the .300 win mag. Lots of factory loads. Good for North America & lots of african, Pacific game. There are others just as good but that's my choice.
My wife shoots a 6.5X55 and has taken deer,moose,elk and bear no kick at all, but like others said shot placement and don't cheap out on the scope.

 

Ditto regarding the scope. Get the best optics your budget will allow.

AK

 

Unfortunately, i live in ohio, and pretty much all hunting here is done with a shotgun. so i cant help you

 

o hai!
for teh luv of all that haz teh yung and tenderz, you don't haz to shootz them! any kind of candy workz. eapecialiez teh choklitz. stuffed aminalz also do teh trikz.
kthanxbai

 

Moisin-Nagant 7.62mm m1891/30 fitted with 4x scope.

 

I bought a Remington 30-06 when I was in the eighth grade and it has served me well for several decades. I went with the 30-06 because of the variety of ammunition available and also because I could usually find ammo on sale. Also if you are up in the hills in some remote little town you are more likely to find ammo if you need it.You can get a reasonably flat trajectory if you go with a light projectile, like 150 grain. Just pick one and stick with it so you can learn how it shoots.My other suggestion would be an Official Red Ryder Carbine Action Two Hundred Shot Range Model Air Rifle with a compass in the stock......

 

I'd go for the 30-06.Its a good allrounder and you have a variety of projectiles to suit the game you are after.It has good range,power and not being an exotic calibre the ammo is cheap.

One of my personal favourites is a K98 Mauser action'd 30-06 running Speer 130g hp or 180g rn boat tails loaded with IMR3031.I fitted a Leupold 3.5-10 Varipower and Harris bipod.Those rounds cover any game here in Australia from foxes to buffalo.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twtvr4e7O2M

Ya, geez. I'm a dumb liberal and I know this. :excited:

Seeing as the time of year, you're probably going small game hunting? Quail? You want a 20-gauge shotgun. Avoid the former VP.

If I made it back to Michigan this fall, I prefer Alpine:

 

This right here, is the obvious question, no offense, but how are we supposed to tell you what gun you should buy if we don't know what caliber or range you need.