Rifle newbie looking for suggestions.

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Viper99

New member
Have plenty of semi-auto guns but want to get more into rifles.
Only rifle I own right now is a Ruger takedown but want something that I can actually hunt with. Lots of deer in CT.

Want to start inexpensive until I get enough experience to know what I like better so the rifle needs to be around $500 (don't mind used) prefer magazine fed, no more than 10 rounds (CT laws), cannot be AR types as they are not allowed.

Would prefer semi-auto but for the first one bolt would work too.

A caliber that is common like 30.06 or equivalent. Wood or synthetic stock works for me too.

Saw a Remington 742 30.06 at my local FFL for $325.00 and did a quick search here and they don't have good reviews so I am open to suggestions

Thanks for your opinions.
 
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Greg500sw

New member
A Savage Axis or Ruger American in 30-06 with a Redfeild Revolution 2-7 scope. Should be under your budget if you shop around.

Mag fed, smooth actions, accurate enough for any hunting purpose, and the Redfeild scope has a lifetime warranty and is made right alongside Leupolds down in Oregon.
 
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marine6680

New member
It will be hard to find a good semi for that price.

You may be able to snag an AR based hunting rig at that price, but Not likely. Maybe find an old browning somewhere.

If you do find a decent AR hunting rig... 223 will work well on deer if you use the right bullets, but it isn't legal for hunting in all areas, so know your laws. A 300blk, 25/45, 6.8, 6.5 work well and are legal in all areas for deer... Each has strengths and weaknesses.

A 308, or other caliber using it as the parent case, are good for hunting most wildlife in the continental US.

For deer, 30-06 and its derivatives, are way more gun than you need for deer. Maybe back in the day, but modern bullet designs make the need for that much bullet obsolete.


A good bolt gun would be the best choice for that budget as a hunter. You would give up too much if you tried to cheap out on a semi for hunting.


Ruger and savage make good entry level bolt guns.
 
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ms6852

New member
At the price point you are looking at may limit you to bolt guns. There is an abundance of rifle models and brands you can choose from and most suggestions made here will be from people who have a particular brand and swear by it as I swear my the 30-06, I have in a Savage or a Tikka T-3.

As you are willing to buy used hitting Pawn Shops , gun shows and other venues may possibly land you with a nicer rifle if used. But all in all it is a very personal choice and you should handle the rifle and see how it fits to your physical specifications and most importantly do you like it. It does not matter what others like...just you.

From what I hear Mossberg has a pretty good rifle in which you could afford as a new rifle as well. Good luck in your bargain hunting. If there is no rush to purchase a gun you could save a couple of hundred dollars more in a few months and that would open more doors for the rifle you desire such as a Ruger scout which is magazine fed as well.
 
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fourbore

New member
To be practical for deer hunting a light weight, proper power, bolt with a light scope is my recommendation. The Ruger American in 243 is plenty good. If you have a little extra budget, you can get a youth model and then buy the adult stock and still have change left over. I like the 7mm-08. There you have a little extra power for larger game such as moose or just feel good to have more gun. I hunt with 7mm-08 in a model 7. Those are not quite as nice as they used to be but still a viable option.

The new 260 really appeals to me personally, but; I hesitate to pimp something to a new guy that is not fully mainstream. I say: forget the 30-06 for deer, it is way way extra heavy and excess power. There is no up side to any -06 length round. if you ever hunt Alaska, you probably have a budget for a different gun.

I recommend a Leupold ultra light 2-7x scope, keep the ounces down and excellent optics, fast and good field of view. The money saved on a practical choice like the Ruger American can go toward the optics.

I am new to the AR scene. I tell you they have a bad reputation with a lot of folks for hunting. No semi auto any kind in PA. Getting permission to hunt private land, image matters. Shave, be polite, drive (or borrow) a clean vehicle, image matters. Oh, yea, forget the 10 rounds! That is nuts. Think one shot, clean kill. You might need a follow up, not 10. Ct, sandy brook, ok - think about it. You know, I cannot even buy a box of 22lr in your state! Your lucky you can even own a gun down there.
 
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Viper99

New member
Was reading about the Ruger American rifle which brings me to another question. On a hunting rifle, do you want blue or stainless? Asking because the Ruger all weather seem to be stainless.

Regards
 
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kilimanjaro

New member
Hit the pawnshops, you can often find a sportered Lee-Enfield for $100, they make great deer rifles. A sportered 1917 Enfield or Springfield in various calibers could run $350 or so. I would stick with common 30/06 or 243, 270, 308, as opposed to more esoteric calibers.
 
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fourbore

New member
Was reading about the Ruger American rifle which brings me to another question. On a hunting rifle, do you want blue or stainless? Asking because the Ruger all weather seem to be stainless.
Click to expand...

Yea, stainless is nice. That is more cost. I have been able to get away with blue steel. If I had to get a new rifle, I would prefer stainless.
 
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rtpzwms

New member
how about a nice used Winchester 30-30? lots of good used ones available and easy to shoot. good deer gun to 100 yards.
 
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P71pilot

New member
At about $500 for semi auto you are going to be limited to lower end .223 AR15s, lower end AKs, and like you stated those weird Remington automatics. I would avoid any newer manufactured Remington. They switched hands years ago and quality has gone down the toilet.you can get a 10rd mag for just about any semi auto, but I would avoid an AR in .223 because you will really be on the fence power wise, even if legal. And you must make a perfect heart shot or brain/spine shot or risk losing the deer. Although you should try for a perfect heart shot regardless of caliber (unless severely undergunned, like .22/.17/.25/.32). If you can find a decent AK with a 10rd mag, and it proves to be decently accurate with quality ammo (most AKs shoot better than people think), it would match perfectly what you are looking for. Soft points should fair well on deer. You could also get an OLDER Remington automatic in 30-06, .308. I don't know anything about them though. But like another guy said a lever action 30-30 would be an excellent option. Light, handy, points well, reliable. But I would recommend a Marlin over Winchester, as long as it is a uses, older Marlin. Marlin is now owned and made my Remington and the quality is spotty. The Marlin is supposedly more accurate and you can EASILY scope it if you wish. I hate myself every time I think about when I got rid of my Marlin 30-30 I sold. It was extremely accurate especially with hornady ammo. Iron sights I could get 1" or less 5 shot groups at 75yds. You cannot hunt deer with high powered rifles in my state so I sold it
 
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P71pilot

New member
Oh and I would suggest make sure whatever you get has iron sights. It is feasible to drop your rifle or damage your scope, and with a broken scope and no other sights you are screwed. I will not own a rifle without iron sights and I don't understand why they are getting rare on new rifles these days
 
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marine6680

New member
Blued vs stainless depends on many things.

Stainless is a softer steel than most carbon steel used in barrels. That makes it easier to cut good even rifling and a smooth chamber. So a bit less time and skill needed on average for a given quality level. That also means that the barrel will not last as long before it wears out or looses accuracy. But in a hunting rifle that is not likely to be an issue.


Stainless does not equal quality though... As a cheap poorly made stainless barrel is not going to shoot as well as a well made carbon steel barrel. It's not the material that matters, but the skill used in making the barrel bore and chamber.


Properly cared for, you don't need to really worry about a blued barrel rusting up.


Aesthetically, some prefer stainless while others blued steel. I like blued the best, but stainless works better for some rifles, or some colored stocks.


Not that it matters in this context, but I find stainless barrels lead more when shooting LRN 22lr ammo.
 
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fourbore

New member
Stainless is a softer steel than most carbon steel used in barrels. That makes it easier to cut good even rifling and a smooth chamber. So a bit less time and skill needed on average for a given quality level. That also means that the barrel will not last as long before it wears out or looses accuracy. But in a hunting rifle that is not likely to be an issue.


Stainless does not equal quality though... As a cheap poorly made stainless barrel is not going to shoot as well as a well made carbon steel barrel. It's not the material that matters, but the skill used in making the barrel bore and chamber.


Properly cared for, you don't need to really worry about a blued barrel rusting up.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree on the properties of stainless. It is tougher than the plain carbon steel used in blued guns. It is harder to machine. A stainless barrel will significantly out last blue steel. I think this post was a case of bad memory reversing the facts. The down side is that stainless is harder to machine so either the cost goes up or the quality goes down. That is true, but not much of a concern today. Lucky for us, modern machinery has become better.

The best grade match barrels are always stainless.The hot rounds like 220 swift or 22-250 more often found in stainless because they hold accuracy longer. Stainless was desirable for its superior qualities long before it became affordable in field grade guns. Modern machining capabilities have made this advancement available to all.

I do some machining and I know what I am talking about here. I guess google is your friend for any required fact checking.

As for quality, no doubt at all that a well machined blue steel gun is better than a poorly made stainless example. That is obvious. A poorly made anything is worse than a quality example of anything else.

I hunted with blue steel guns most of my life and they are fine. I got my 30/30 rusted up and it happened very fast. And my Model 7 is like new. Taking care of the firearm is spot on and that applies to any material. I learned that lesson the hard way.
 
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fourbore

New member
This is a nice gun, blue or stainless but the length of pull is for youth, smaller adult male or woman. I got friend (2) who purchase this gun in blue steel and ordered a replacement longer stock. Short and light is the key. The stainless is more money. I would try and hold the line at 6 pounds for the bare gun and ideally not much over 6.5 with scope. Ruger Compact:

http://www.ruger.com/products/americanRifleAllWeatherCompact/specSheets/6938.html

If cost was no object these are nice. I only handled one of these. Maybe someday. At 4 3/4 pounds, kevlar, stainess, 3lb trigger. The numbers are one thing, then go pick one up. Ok, so; you got a life time, to step up. There are plenty of good choices in your budget. Kimber adirondack:

http://www.kimberamerica.com/adirondack

I never had Savage, but; if I were shopping around, I would look at this. Stainless, synthetic, accutriger, 5.65 pounds. Seems better suited to NE deer than the 6.5 pound axis. Either 7mm08 or 243 would work. Savage lightweight hunter:

http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/model/16LWH

Someone mention a lever and while I would get something like the above if I could only have one gun. I always take two guns if I go down to PA. The 2nd gun is for bad weather & short range and is either a marlin 44 mag or a shotgun.The primary gun is a light, accurate, handy bolt with a low power scope.
 
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marine6680

New member
It should be noted that when I say carbon steel... I am talking about modern steels used in barrel making. (Ex 4140) and carbon steel isn't exactly the best term, as chrome moly would be better.

Stainless is harder than typical carbon steels, like those used in knife blades. (Excluding some of the new specialty engineered steels used in high end knives) It is softer than typical barrel steels.
 
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Viper99

New member
AR or AK types are banned in CT so I cannot buy any of those.
Ruger Mini-14 are allowed but they are over the $500 I want to spend now. From what I have read on them there seems to be an accuracy problem?
 
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marine6680

New member
They can be accurate with work, new ones are said to be better out of the box.


There are options, but not under $500 most likely. The Ares lower that is 50 state legal and uses AR uppers will cost more than that.

Most semis are going to be more expensive due to the added complexity over a bolt gun.
 
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Chaz88

New member
On the used market a Howa 1500 with scope should be in your range. They are bolt guns though. For hunting I tend to believe that auto loaders just let you miss follow up shots faster. S&W and Weatherby also have some very good guns built on the Howa action that should be in your range on the used market.

I am sure you can find some people that had bad luck with Howa but most tend to be more impressed than they thought they would be. Never had a problem with a bolt gun in the field. I can not say the same for auto loaders.
 
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