Best beginner rifle (Vanity)

Vanity ^ | 10-18-03 | Me

[dogbyte12]

I am about to finally leave the urban jungle of Los Angeles and move down to both Louisiana and South Carolina. While I do fish out here, I have only gone hunting a few times with borrowed equipment.

I am interested in starting to hunt, and would love for any freepers to give me recommendations on a good beginner rifle, something that isn't so pricey, but reliable, as well as any other gear that I will need as a beginner.

I am not a stranger to handguns, or to military rifles, I qualified expert on both a .45 and an M16, so I am not starting from scratch, but I am looking for a rifle for deer hunting basically that will not set me back too much money, yet still be a decent value. I plan to not spend that much money so it can be economical. I do know how to fabricate a carcass, and would love to hunt for meat, without the cost of hunting making it more expensive than going to the supermarket.

Any help in this regard, web sites, consumer reports, etc, would be much appreciated. Thanks all.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Why this one? Why two barrels? Thanks.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Why this one? Why two barrels? Thanks.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

I've seen both. You think they are equals?

[niteowl77]

I'd consider a Marlin 1985SS in .45-70 if the ranges are moderate or a Marlin 1894SS in .44 Mag if the ranges are short. They are quick and handy, relatively cheap to feed, shun the elements a bit better than blued carbon steel guns, and are (to my mind) better choices than bolt rifles or single shots if there is a chance that you might be forced to take out some trash in this oh-so-imperfect world.

Having once disturbed some fine citizens of the American counterculture while on a hunt all by myself, I consider the last point a sad but germane one. OTOH, if you also pack a handgun, then what the heck- get any good, medium length/weight stainless bolt gun in .308 with a mid-low power Leupold or Burris variable scope.

[ghostcat]

My 30-30 marlin 336 will group within an inch at 100 yards all day long. My brother-in-law in his years of hunting has taken numerous Mule deer, Elk, Black Bear, Couger,and Coyotes all with the winchester 94 in 30-30, this was in the wide open spaces of Utah. The 30-30 round has probably taken more deer in the U.S. than any other cartridge out there. If you couldn't hit with it there are only two things that could have been wrong and I'm giving the benefit of the doubt when I say it was probably a bad rifle. Bad rifles come in all calibers!

[lodwick]

I miss those days more than I can say.

Tomorrow I'll be at the local gun show,
loading up on more ammo, while I still can.

Cheers.

[lodwick]

Austin, TX has been home for nearly thirty years now.

Another plus for buying from individuals, is that the
fed/gov has no record of your transaction - though they're
busy working to change all that.

[yarddog]

I haven't been to a gun show in some time. It seems most of the dealers around here are trying to sell their guns at suggested retail and even higher. I just might go to another tomorrow afternoon.

Does anyone know if there are any in the Florida Panhandle, or South Alabama? The American Rifleman lists some but not nearly all.

[ghostcat]

I would also suggest the marlin .444 as well as the 45-70, its's basically a tretched .44 mag on steroids! anlther consideration would be a a remington 870 shotgun with 2 different barrels, a slug barrel to put on for deer and a smoothbore w/interchangeable choke tubes for turkey, duck, and various other assorted uses.

[Double Tap]

The point I'm trying to make is that there is no ballistic advantage to having the latest .300 eargosplintenloadnboomer cartridge over a 30/30 at the 100 yards or less that the majority of deer are killed at. That is fact.

Personal preference will dictate what each of us carries into the field, and was just trying to give some help to the original poster.

[Eaker]

We don't have to agree. We don't have to own the same weapons. We don't have to recommend a 30-30 when there are better choices IMHO.

I could be wrong, but I bet more deer have been taken with 30.06 than 30-30.

[Eaker]

This is why the library has lots-o-books.

So many choices so little time.

[yarddog]

The real advantage of the 30-30 is the light handy carbines for which it is chambered.

I don't know if anyone really knows the answer but I would bet on long odds that the 30-30 has taken more deer than the 30-06.

[ghostcat]

I understand, my 30-30 dosen't come out of the safe as much as it used to (it was my only rifle in my teen years but now I have more toys than I know what to do with heheheh) but I still take it on hunts with me but mostly as a back-up or a loaner.

[supercat]

And always remember, first, last, and foremost, there is never under any circumstance any such thing as a unloaded gun, "EVER".

This is the same idiocy as the zero tolerance policies. My Glocks and several other defensive weapons are loaded. My AR-15 and several other weapons are not...

When the goblins are at the door don't aim a "always loaded" weapon at them that really might be unloaded.

Bottom line is to police your weapons and know the truth.

To be most accurate, the saying should probably be "Treat every gun as though it may or may not be loaded", but for safety-related sayings brevity and prosody are usually preferable to precision. Especially when you consider that the sayings are designed to be as useful as possible to inexperienced shooters, and generally only experienced shooters should expect to be in a situation where they'll be killed if their gun doesn't go "bang" [anyone inesperienced shooter who expects to use a firearm in such a situation should try to become an experienced shooter first].

As another example, how do the rules "always know your target and backstop" and "keep your finger off the trigger until your gun is on target" fit into clay shooting? At most clay target ranges, there is no backstop. And any clay shooter who keeps his finger off the trigger until the gun is on target is virtually guaranteed to miss.

[lodwick]

Rick Stanley's website with contact information

I'm not sure if anything's hit the wires yet.

I must leave for a family event - run with it, if you think it's warranted.

Cheers.

[TexasCowboy]

The only animal I ever gave up on was an elk in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
A friend got excited when the bull elk suddenly appeared about twenty feet from where he was sitting (and if anyone thinks those huge animals can't sneak up on them, they just ain't been there!).
He wheeled and fired hitting the animal somewhere in the flank, as the signs showed later.
We tracked that animal all day, losing the blood trail a dozen times then picking it back up again.
We quit after dark and started again the next morning.
We finally lost the blood trail completely about noon and gave up.
This was a good five miles from where he was shot.
The thought of all that good meat lying out there bothered me, but up there nothing goes to waste. Either the bears or the varmints had a good feed.

[Eaker]

This is why I love this place. No caliber is unused and all good guns have a home!

Even 30-30's.

[mamelukesabre]

THAT'S EASY!

GET WHAT I'VE BEEN WANTING AND CAN'T FIND...

GET YOURSELF A SAVAGE MODEL 99 IN .308 WINCHESTER (or maybe 30-30)

I would love to get one of these. They aren't made anymore, but they are SWEEET!!! I've found good ones chambered in the odd savage rounds, but those aren't common rounds. If you ever, EVER, find a model 99 in .308, you'd better buy it right freaking now! Then put a military style sling on it and one of those small scopes that mount far out on the barrel away from your eye, and you will have absolutely the very best all around rifle there is in the world, BAR NONE!

[lodwick]

Somewhere, sometime, I either read, or dreamed that the lowly .22 hollow point was the whitetail harvesting champ.

Lot's of landowners out there that still believe that they are free to hunt what they want, when they want on their own property and take it to the grill or the freezer.

Outta here for a while.