The Howa rifle is very good, made by a reputable manufacturer. The above package is about $600. Remingtons and Savages are great rifles, but they'll set you back $700 to $800 and they don't come with a scope.
Posted on 12/27/2009 7:35:20 PM PST by wheathead
My wife bought me a hunting rifle for Christmas. Actually, she gave me "permission".( haha) I already have a nice assortment of shotguns and .22's. I'm looking for a drop and stop rifle. One that will drop a deer and stop an "evil-doer". So, what should I get???
Dang. Guess that leaves the ol' Red Rider out of the picture.
OOOOOOOOOO that is one nice rifle. Good for just about any game too.
The Howa rifle is very good, made by a reputable manufacturer. The above package is about $600. Remingtons and Savages are great rifles, but they'll set you back $700 to $800 and they don't come with a scope.
Remington 700 in .30-06 or .308.
Didn’t see the budget post.
Another note, I suggest .308.
.308 is also the same as 7.62 NATO.
There is a slight difference in the cartridges, but not enough to make a difference in a modern civilian weapon.
Very common ammunition, widely available.
Ditto
A few that I use for deer hunting 270 cal Swift.and 30-06 both Remington 700 models also I do have a Marlin 45-70 which I original got for bear hunting but just love the gun
I would pick something that has available and good power ammo that is cheap (relatively cheap) military surplus ammo. For me that is .308 or 30-06.
Different tasks. In your house, the best readily available gun is a 18” mossberg or remington 870 12 or 20 gauge shotgun. A rifle is going to overpenetrate.
If you’re talking about killing deer and re-killing hordes of zombies approaching your homestead out of the darkness, then there are few better all around hunting and defense-against-zombies loads than the 30-06 or .308. AR’s are awesome, and it is possible to take deer sized game with a .223. I’ve had great luck with bushmasters and the new S&W AR platform is top notch. And you can even throw on cool upper receivers like the .50 Beowulf from Alexander Arms which will take a deer, hog, elk, and most anything else between under 200yards. About $1200-$1300. Or the .50BMG upper receiver from Watson’s weapons (complete weapon about $2000) and be able to hunt elephants as long as you have a good porter. But a 30-06 with a heavy bullet can take any animal in north america at 500 yards or under. The .308 has similar ballistics.
If you want one gun that can do both — kill deer reliably at medium distances (out to 300 yards) and serve as a defensive weapon — then an M1 Garand with a new barrel and scout scope attachment from Fulton Armory or similar, an M1A in either the full size or socom variety, or an FAL are outstanding choices. You can get the M1A under 1 MOA; I’m not so sure about the Garand or the FAL. All of these are around $1000-$1500.
If you’re looking for something cheap that is capable of taking a deer, a decent SKS will do the job while still doing backup duty as a home defense rifle. About $200-$300. A decent lever 30-30 or 35 Remington is also a good dual purpose gun at close ranges.
If you don’t want semi-auto, I am very fond of the Remington 700 platform. Extremely reliable, solid lockup. I get under half a minute of angle with my .308 with a heavy barrel. Again, rifle plus optics will run $1000-$1500.
That’s just a long way of saying that you probably need to offer more information —
What’s your budget?
Are you planning on putting optics on it? (For a good rifle, the optics necessary to take full advantage of it will cost as much as the rifle). Optics on cheaper rifles — like the SKS — are kind of a joke.
What type of hunting are you going to do? Eastern? Plains/mtns/desert? Swamps?
What animals will you conceivably hunt with this rifle?
What defensive purposes are you thinking of for the rifle? Are you in a city or the country? How likely is it that you would need a mag change if you had to use it defensively?
What will the rifle bullet hit after it misses / passes through the bad guy, your stove, wall, and plate glass window? A buddy of mine used to test various defensive rounds in a trailer-park environment for the state police. Every handgun round he fired into a trailer went through from end to end except the ones that hit fiberboard lengthwise or impacted the toilet or the water heater. Even if you don’t live in a trailer, the results will be similar in your own home. I like shotguns in the home, even though buckshot can also penetrate through a trailer.
There’s my thoughts on a late Sunday night. Hope some of it helps. You might also find the Survival and Preparedness forum on Glocktalk.com helpful — those guys have spent a lot of time thinking through questions like “if you were stranded on a desert island for the rest of your life, which rifle would you want to have with you,” or “if you wanted one best all-around rifle for survival in a SHTF situation, what would you take.” http://glocktalk.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=151 Hope it helps.
30.06 is a great round as is .308. Both are EASILY had. The 308 is slightly flatter in trajectory. But the rounds are very similar.
IF you are out west in open ranges, and intend to use it for hunting, deer, elk or moose, 7mm mag or even 300 win mag are great rounds. Not as plentiful as either 30.06 or .308
Get an Ithaca Deerslayer with a rifled barrel - it will do 2” groups at 100 yds with sabots and it will do 6’ groups with buckshot at 10 yds.
Savage 7mm Magnum isn't bad either.
Those Savages are some nice rifles.
Dropping a deer calls for a rifle, but stopping an evil-doer is situational, unless you anticipate evil-doers in wide open spaces at considerable distances.
If you’re inside, walk around with a section of broom handle the length of a rifle, like you were hunting an evil-doer, and you will start to see some of the limitations of a rifle indoors. Also remember that powerful bullets will go *through* things, like walls, windows and ceiling, and may harm someone you did not intend to harm.
And there’s a bunch of other problems. Such as illuminating a potential evil-doer enough to confirm they are indeed an evil-doer, if at all possible. And what to do if there are multiple evil-doers. And if they are likewise armed with guns with powerful bullets that can go through things.
There are a lot of variables involved, so it might be good to talk to an expert who can evaluate where as much as what.
PING
Your sound judgment might be needed over here.
I lost all mine in an unfortunate canoeing accident.
DPMS AR-10 .308
Carbine version with 16 inch barrel
You know that is what Lee Harvey Oswald hit JFK with a 7MM. And you are correct that round packs a lot of punch.
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