Need a good all round rifle. Suggestions Please

[mike88]

I live in texas and go deer hunting with a friend a lot. I do not own a rifle of my own, i usually use one of my friends. I am looking for a rifle that would be effective on game on up to elk size but not too powerful to waste meat on a deer. I will also be pig hunting. I talked to a guy at the local Bass Pro Shop. He said the 300 Win Mag is too big for deer. He said 270 is typical deer rifle but i need something to drop bigger game as well. I usually shoot a 30 06. Should i go with that or should i be pushed in a different direction. I was looking at the Browning rifles. Would that be a good choice? Thanks a bunch guys

Mike

[billamj]

If you're comfortable with the 30-06 then by all means go with the 30-06. It is a great round and lots of deer, elk and hogs have been taken with it. Your big key will be knowing both your rifle and round combination to make sure that you are effective in all the circustances you may be in. I don't have a lot of experience with Browning rifles, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if it fit my needs. As long as you go with a major manufacturer, of which Browning is definitely one, you should be good to go. Welcome to the group and to the gun owning community.

[jdlv4_0]

I have to agree on Bill on this one, the '06 cartridge is basically good for everything in the country. I've been kicking around the idea of getting one of thier lever action '06s but have been having trouble finding on at a decent price, and the fact that it's almost a little too light troubles me some. However thier semi auto jobs are pretty slick, if we were allowed to use semi-auto rifles here in PA for hunting I would definately go with a Browning in 30-06.

[LorDiego01]

From what I've read, you might also want to look at .308. Its supposed that ballistics are similar (but a tad less powerfull) and if you reload it should be cheaper.

Also, .308 has a hell of a lot less kick than 30.06.

[aubie515]

If I lived in TX, I'd get a semi in 308. The DPMS LR 308 Panther comes to mind. You get the accuracy of a bolt action, but the fast follow up shots in a semi. If you hunt predators in TX, you may have the opportunity to call in a double or triple.

I would also agree that 300 Win Mag is a bit much for TX sized whitetail. Not to mention that ammo will cost a small fortune these days. I had a 270, but sold it because I prefer SA over LA. The 270 is a very nice caliber as well and have taken game up to moose sized.

Are you going to be buying factory ammo or loading? If loading, you might want to consider the 6.5 Grendel. You can go from light bullets up to heavier bullets that will take any whitetail. The ballistics on the 6.5G is actually better than the .308, but the 6.5G is basically a reloading caliber. You can buy factory ammo for it, but most Grendel owners load their own. The 6.5G is nice because you use the same AR15 lower if you already own an AR15 in .223/5.56. The platform is nice because it's light weight and recoil is light as well. It has been documented that the 6.5G will take down moose as well.

[junyo]

The 30-06 will definately work, but I'm going to sing the praises of 270 Win. It can easily take elk and moose sized game with heavier bullets and good shot placement. It'll take deer all day long. And with 100 grain bullets you can take coyotes and rabbits without blowing them to bits. It's flatter shooting than 308 or 30-06, with less recoil, and the trajectory is pretty similiar across bullet weights; for open country hunting it reduces the difficulty of 300-400 yard shots while still retaining good energy. The core problems are a)not a great selection of bullets available, and b) when you get into the heavy stuff (220 grain bullets out of the 30-06) there's no comparable 270 load. But realitically .270 will work on any non-dangerous game in North America.

But you really can't go wrong with any of them. 270, 308, and 30-06 are on Chuck Hawk's list of "all-around" single rifle hunter cartridges.
http://www.chuckhawks.com/all_around_cartridges.htm

And you always need another rifle.

[ghost]

I say go with the .30-06. While the .270 is quite capable of taking elk size game I think the .30-06 is better due to its ability to handle heavier bullets. You can get .30-06 ammunition in just about every configuration from controled recoil 125 grain loads to heavy 220 grain monsters. Browning's are good rifles. So are Savage, Winchester, Remington, Sako, CZ, Howa, Tikka and Ruger among others. My advice to you though is to buy a quality scope. A crap scope can turn a accurate rifle into an inaccurate one. Don't cheap out on glass.

[Holleta]

Welcome to the PA Forums!!! Spent a few years in the Hill Country, beautiful place and I miss it. As Aubie mentioned the DPMS would be a serious threat to anything you go after especially since semis are legal for hunting there. My DPMS 308 has shot 3.5" groups @ 300 yds prone off a bipod with surplus ammo and that was while sighting in a new scope and breaking in the bore. If you don't like the "Assault Look" any big name (Winchester, Savage, Remington, Browning, Weatherby.....did I miss any?) Bolt guns will give great accuracy and can be had for a decent price. For calibers, I would start with a minimum of a 7mm-08, from there the 270 and various 7mm Mags, 308/30-06 and 300 mags. The smaller calibers I quoted will kick less and are better for deer but acceptable for Elk. The bigger guys are more Elk suited and approaching overkill for deer. You didn't mention anticipated range. At 100 yds or less a $150 Win or Marlin 30-30 or 35 Rem lever gun may fit the bill and the bill-fold quite nicely but may not fit well with the gun snobs.

[Lougotzz]

I say go with 308 like diego said. I would recommend an M1A. You can have it for hunting(as long as TX laws allows semi to hunt with) Also a great battle rifle. If I could have only one rifle I think it would be an M1A.

308 is an all around cartridge. effective out to 800-1000 yards.

30 06 is effective from 1000-1200 yards.

double check my ballistics but i dont think you will be lacking with 308

[GRIZZLYBEAR]

The above posts contain great information!!!

But in my humble opinion don't count out the Remington 7mm Magnum. With all the different loading commerical loading for this cartridge you can hunt just about everything from Boar up to Moose. I have taken Boar, Muleys, Whitetail, Ponghorn, Elk, and even Moose with the 7mm Remington Magnum.

Have also taken all the above listed game animals with the "old solider" .45-70 Government round with the proper loadings at ranges up to 115 yards.

The choice of caliber for me would be governed by the hunting conditions. I personally think that if you hunting Elk or Muleys in Colorado where the average shot is upwards of 250 yards the 30-06, 308, 270, and .45-70 are out of their element and a little lacking. This type of hunting is where the 7mm Mags ( with 175 grain loading), 300 Mags, and my favorite two long range hunting cartridges come into play, the .338 Win Mag and .340 Weatherby.

I think if I was to own one center-fire rifle for all my hunting needs in the lower 48 states it would be the .338 Win Mag with handloaded ammunition tailored to job it was expected to do. If I was planning Alaskan Hunting I would have to jump to the .338 Win Mag as the minimum and the .375 H&H or .416 Rigby as the maximum.


grizz