Starting Caliber

[redbeardfarmer]

Hey all. Been having a great time reading through what rifle everyone shoots and it has been enlightening. But I still have a question, or rather, a series of questions.

I am just going to be starting hunting for the first time this year. I'm 23 and a pretty solidly built guy. I have had a lot of fun shooting my father-in-law's 25-06 at milk jugs and coyotes and my brother-in-laws .454 hand cannon of a revolver as well as his .257 rifle. But I have come to the decision that I would like my own rifle and something a little bit bigger than either of those. Most of what folks around here go for is deer and elk, but I would like to go for bear some day in the future.

What are some recommendations that you all have for bigger game? I have looked at 30-06 mostly, but have seen a lot of people talking about other calibers. Anything you have to contribute would be appreciated!

One final question...
What are some quality rifle manufacturers?

Thanks for the help!
Redbeard

[Bowhunters]

Congratulations on getting into hunting and welcome to the DHC forum.

The .25-06 and .257 are indeed both great for whitetail deer and smaller game, while i'm sure some people have used them to take elk most would likely agree that they are on the small side and unless the shot placement is perfect small caliber bullets can have issues with some big sized game.

Thats also why its extreemly important to use quality ammunition, regardless what caliber you are shooting in a rifle when hunting deer and large game its always important to use either (core lokt, trophy bonded, Sierra) type bullets. They are high quality bullets that won't blow up into pieces when it hits bone like some cheap ammunition will do. The quality types I mentioned the lead core is bonded to the outer copper covering and will stay in one piece and drive through even on the big animals. Some people go cheap on ammunition and it costs them in game that runs for long distances after its shot or is lost and never recovered.

Your selection of .30-06 is a good one, its one of the calibers that can do the job on most everything in North American game (deer, elk, moose, black bear) with the exceptions of perhaps Brown or Grizzly bear. The 30-06 will even kill those but it again gets into the area of it 'needs to be the perfect placed shot' to get it done. Its likely that most hunters and guides going after big bears would say 7mm Rem Mag or even 300 Magnums as the minimum for the big bears as they need big heavy bullets for that type hunting in the 180grain area.

On your brand question it depends on your tastes and your wallet, you can go to a high brow gunshop or even a Cabelas and find trophy guns in the thousands of dollars but most of the well know brands that are modestly priced that will get the job done and are good decent quality are.

Sako
Browning
Weatherby
Remington
Winchester
Savage

Those aren't all of them but probably considered the most favored here in the U.S.

[DouglasSpear]

My Remington 700 .30-06 is by far my favorite firearm in my collection. You can't go wrong with the .30-06; its the most popular big game cartridge out there and with the wide variety of available grain loads, it is a great choice of cartridge for young, middle, and old aged hunters/shooters.

As Bowhunters mentioned, the .25-06 is an interesting cartridge as well. I have yet to shoot one but my uncle loves it. Either way, I am in the tank for Remington for the type of manufacturer that I will recommend. Remington 700.

[ironhead]

OH MAN,,,,you left off one of the best,,,,RUGER!

[oldzimm]

If I only could have one rifle, there is no doubt in my mind it would be a 30-06 hands down. With the bullet selection out there on the market for the 30-06 you can kill darn near anything on this continent.

[Bowhunters]

OH MAN,,,,you left off one of the best,,,,RUGER!

Hahahaha Waaaah!

Yeah, I forgot Ruger but I did say that probably wasn't all of them. LOL

[ironhead]

Ha ha,,,post 666 for Bowhunters,,atta boy.

[Whitetail Assassin]

300Weatherby Mag. or 338mag or 338 ultra mag will kill anything thing you want.The cheap Weatherbye is a great shooter.A cheap way to start is a 303 British is a great shooter with an after market stock and scope great rifle.You can find bullets for in in 150 grains.

[Whitetail Assassin]

Another over looked caliber is the modern 4570 with a 300 grain bullet is easy 200 yard elk gun.If you get into hand loading you can really bring out guns range.I believe they make the leverloution ammo.A 444 would work for all also it folds deer right know with a well placed shot.

[jsnow1979]

get some thing that's not $40 or $60 for a box of ammo. 270,308,30-06 all great.the more you shoot the better you get!

[redbeardfarmer]

Thanks for all the help! It is looking like I will probably be going with 30.06, seems fairly economical and effective for money a round costs. As to the manufacturer, I am still debating that. I really like the look of a Remington 700, but my wallet likes the affordability of a Weatherby Vanguard in the synthetic for $399.

We will see though. I am always on the lookout for a sale on rifles in the newspaper ads. Now I just need to convince my wife to let me put some money away each month to save for a rifle.

How many of you guys reload out of curiosity? It is something that I am interested in doing and seems that it can be an important aspect of hunting and shooting.

Any advice on gear to go with the rifle? I am really pretty much clueless about it all.

Thanks,
Redbeard

[ironhead]

Ok,,,all you guys know i am a diehard fan of the 270. I would happily take it elk hunting,,black bear also,,bigger bears and moose i would go with 7mm mag. As for equipping it,,,get the BEST YOU CAN AFFORD. Optics are NOT a wise place to scrimp on a rifle,,its likely the most important piece. It can make a lower quality rifle shoot like a champ. I have used Leupold for many years and love it, i cannot afford a swarovski or i would own one of those. Redfield makes a very good affordable scope also. I would not waste your money on Simmons or Tasco unless i was putting it on a rifle like a .22 cal.

Weatherby is a very fine rifle, will last you many many years, i do recommend that you go check check out the gun catalog at your local Wal-Mart and check into having them custom order a weapon for you. It will save you a considerable amount of cash.

As far as caliber,,its a personal choice that should be made on your shooting habits and (honest) abilities.

[Bowhunters]

I'm along with Ironhead on most all he said.

He hit the nail on the head in going to a Walmart, they buy in large quantity to stock all their stores and shipping warehouses so they get a discount from the weapon manufacturers and they pass that savings on in cheaper prices to the consumer. Walmart is certainly worth checking out to at least compair the price on your rifle before you buy it elsewhere and what they don't carry at the store they can still get because they keep just about all models of hunting rifles stored at their warehouses.

The one minor disagreement we have is his dislike for Simmons scopes, I have two of them on my hunting rifles ( the same model scope on both) and they have a 44mm objective which helps pull in light for shooting on cloudy days or at twilight when the sun is low. I've shot quite a few rounds over the years with the scopes (especially on the 7mmRemMag) and they both still hold their zero so for the money Simmons are good enough quality to be worthy of consideration.

My 7MM Rem Mag is a Browning A-Bolt composite stalker.
My .270 is a Browning Bar Lightweight composite stalker.

I do reload, more so on shotgun shells than for rifle or pistol, you can save money over the long haul of shooting for many years by making your own ammo but the original money spent buying a loader, die sets, brass tumbler, dial or digital caliper, powder scales, brass trimmer, powders, primers, bullets can run into some serious money.

If you are an avid target or clays shooter and you shoot a lot (a few times each month) it could save you serious money by reloading your own ammo but if you only shoot a few times a year including prior and during hunting season it won't be worth the effort and money IMO.

[ironhead]

Bowhunter,,,is that the Simmons 44 MAG scope,,,my lens popped out on the very first shot from a Winchester model 100 308 cal. I could never keep them zeroed in,,,i went from them straight to Leupold and will never look back.

[Bowhunters]

Bowhunter,,,is that the Simmons 44 MAG scope,,,my lens popped out on the very first shot from a Winchester model 100 308 cal. I could never keep them zeroed in,,,i went from them straight to Leupold and will never look back.

Yes, both of mine are the 44Mag with 44mm objective lens, the only Simmons i've ever owned and both have been great.

It sounds like you got a defective one or it was damaged somehow and it popped the tube case, regardless whether we are talking scopes or automobiles all manufacturers occasionaly make a lemon. I will happen with any brand and anything you care to name but it doesn't mean all of them are bad.

I've had my A-bolt in 7mm Rem Mag for several years (bought it new when the A-bolt first came out) and put the Simmons on it soon afterwards so i've had it for years and shot literally boxes of ammo and beat it through the woods and brush shooting many deer with it and never had an issue with it keeping zero at all.

The only thing I've ever have go wrong with that first Simmons scope was actually my fault, I lost the rubber eye cup piece off of it 'snagged it on brush or a limb or something in the woods' while deer hunting and I emailed Simmons support and once I gave them the serial number off the scope to prove I owned one (I didnt need my receipt) they sent me a new rubber eye piece free of charge, got it in the mail in about 3 days.

I can't argue with their support at all.

My Browning Bar in .270win and my second Simmons 44Mag scope are both a lot newer, (aprox 3yrs old) and I bought another 44Mag at Walmart for it right after I bought the rifle, i've shot a few boxes of ammo with it and killed two deer with no issues with the rifle or scope at all and it keeps its zero just as well.

Simmons scopes use multicoated lenses and the tube is nitrogen filled just like your Leupold or other brand name scope and because of the 44mm objective lense they suck in a ton of light and are crystal clear viewing.

For your lens to pop out something happened and it lost its Nitrogen and seal so you probably should have seen some moisture inside it also or fogging of the lenses, whether it was a manufacture defect or it got dropped on the floor and popped the case or ran over by a truck, etc, something damaged it internally in the tube to pop a lense like that.

[kdog8173]

30 06

[cjg]

30-06 is going to do anything you will need it to do unless you're talking about brown bear, and that would probably be a 1 time trip. Not really necessary to have anything bigger for the rest of the animals you would commonly shoot.
As far as what gun to buy, it depends on your wallet and how you hunt. I hunt mostly thick woods in the northeast and use either a semi auto 30-06 carbine with a 1.75x5 power scope or a 30-06 carbine pump with peep sights, if I hunt in an area with longer shot potential I have a Browning A-bolt in 30-06 with a 2.5x8 power scope. You can find a few different new bolt guns for $400 to $500 and spend another $300 on a good scope. Or you could look around for a good used setup, plenty to choose from, lots of times 30-06 will be cheaper because people are getting rid of them for the new hot short magnums. I picked up a synthetic Browning a-bolt in 30-06 for around $400 used and couldn't be happier.

[ironhead]

SURPRISE SURPRISE SURPRISE
I am planning on going to Colorado to Elk hunt next year,,and am looking at another rifle for the son to take,,i am very seriously considering the 270 Winchester Short Mag...Shoots just a bit flatter,,according to Winchesters online balistics tester,,,there is not much that shoots flatter as concerned to larger game bullets. Check it out,,its a pretty cool tool.