new to hunting

[dirrtyb]

dont know if im in the right thread but im gunna give it a shot.
im looking to purchase a rifle for my second season out here and wouldnt mind a some suggestions.
went to a local gun store to browse and came up with a remington model 700 in 30-06 and .308 both under 400, a weatherby 300 mag, and several rifles in 300 win mag.
my price range is going to be right around 500 so i doubt ill be buying anything new.
a friend of mine gave me an old 30 30 last year which worked just fine, had 3 hangin in the tree at the end of the year
but id like something a little bigger.

[Dredly]

dont know if im in the right thread but im gunna give it a shot.
im looking to purchase a rifle for my second season out here and wouldnt mind a some suggestions.
went to a local gun store to browse and came up with a remington model 700 in 30-06 and .308 both under 400, a weatherby 300 mag, and several rifles in 300 win mag.
my price range is going to be right around 500 so i doubt ill be buying anything new.
a friend of mine gave me an old 30 30 last year which worked just fine, had 3 hangin in the tree at the end of the year
but id like something with a little bigger.

in my opinion the 30.06 is probably one of the best rounds for everything in PA and the Remington 700 is an outstanding rifle.

[hornady]

Hands down, the 30 30 and 3006 are the top deer rifles in Pa, I would say if only for white tail. The 06 is about the top end for Deer. In you price range I would look at the new Savage Stevens mod. 200 for about $340.00. or the new Marlin not shore of the model. It comes in a little less. Then you still have money for a decent scope. Nikon has a nice 3x9x40 for about. $150.00. the main thing I would look at. If you do not reload. Look at Ammo availability, in the Caliber you are looking at. And the price. Some of the magnum stuff has sky rocketed in price.

[dirrtyb]

now would i be better off purchasing something new or something a little higher end thats used?
i was really starting to lean towards the R700 in the 30-06 due to the fact that theres an abundance of ammo lots of choices and the fact that the ammo is relatively inexpensive.
a couple of family members were pushing for something in a 300 magnum but i dont really feel like getting a broken nose because i was paying more attention to what i was shooting at rather then my shooting.(which i got to see last season aaahahahaha)
500 hundred is the cash limit i have the scope will be going on plastic.
haha
and on that note should i be looking for something up to 9 or maybe past as far as magnification?
anything made with a ballistic drop reticle?

[God's Country]

I think you need to decide what type of hunting you plan on doing.
There's no perfect rifle or perfect hunting situation, but you can scout and place yourself to maximize your particular rifle and hunting style.

[hornady]

The Remington 700 is an excellent rifle. I have picked up some excellent deals at gun shops and Gun shows. But you can also get burnt If barrel is shot out, Or the crown could be messed up from bad cleaning practices. And some rifles like cars are just lemon’s.. There is a reason this rifle is in a Gun shop. you can bet who ever sold it got a lot less than there asking price. As for the glass, If its only for Deer 9 power is all you will need. If hunting with my 270, 308, or 06, most times the scope is set on 5 power. I have cranked it up to 9 in field hunts. My 30 30 I only have a 4 power on it all Nikons. The great thing about the 06 is the diversity in manufactured Ammo. Oh did I mention, Gun buying can and is an obsession

[wis bang]

I have two Rem 700s, a 30-06 ADL w/ an old Tasco 4-12 and a .270 BDL w/ an old bushnell 3-9. and I never shoot them w/ the scopes turned any higher than 4 or 5. That's all you need in PA woods, growing up I remember most hunters had weaver 4x and an occasional 6x b/4 the variables took over.

The 4-12 has a lug sticking out of the variable ring that needs to be on 5 so it does not interfear w/ opening the bolt, otherwise I'd leave it on 4.

Using extream magnification narrows the field of view and magnifies and movement making it difficult to maintain accuracy. It's OK to crank them up to look at something but you need a good rest to shoot well at max power.

[keystoneman 85]

Let me recommend the 30-30 - it has taken more big game in Pa then any other rifle. Well, I'm willing to bet it has.

I would also suggest a 30.06 or 270 because of the availablity of its ammo. Go to any store and they probably have it,.

And finally if your after an all purpose PA gun get a .243 - good for deer, yotes, turkey, etc. Ohh and I have one for sale if your interested!

[NP1724]

I use a Rem 700 in .270 with a fixed 4x leopold. Its simple and basic, and it works. I also don't care if it gets a little dinged up in the woods.

Don't forget if you really want to hunt and go after better deer you will need to take advantage of other seasons such as Archery and Flintlock.

[Tomcat088]

dont know if im in the right thread but im gunna give it a shot.
im looking to purchase a rifle for my second season out here and wouldnt mind a some suggestions.
went to a local gun store to browse and came up with a remington model 700 in 30-06 and .308 both under 400, a weatherby 300 mag, and several rifles in 300 win mag.
my price range is going to be right around 500 so i doubt ill be buying anything new.
a friend of mine gave me an old 30 30 last year which worked just fine, had 3 hangin in the tree at the end of the year
but id like something a little bigger.

You definitely got this in the right place, although it would probably work just as well in rifles. Since it pertains to hunting, might be better here, no worries.

I love the Remington 700's, they're fine rifles. My custom is built on a Reimgton 700 is how much I love the actions. With that said, Savage's with the accutriggers are also very fine and extremely accurate rifles as well. You can sometimes find them for pretty cheap. It sounds like you've found some pretty good deals on Remington 700's, sothat choice will be up to you. You should realize that should you ever want to sell the rifle, the Remington 700 will have a higher resale value, if you don't ever intend on selling it, it doesn't matter.

For what you are hunting, there's no point in going to the magnums. I love the magnums, and my custom is in .300 WSM; although the rifle was built primarily as a beyond 1K yards rifle. For hunting deer, you don't need the magnums, even for hunting elk you don't necessarily need the magnums. I think that a .308, 30-06, or .243 would serve you just fine. I much prefer the .243 to the .308, but that's been stated in lots of other threads that I've discussed, lol. The .30-06 is plenty for deer, and will allow you to be able to hunt other game like Moose, Elk, etc, should you ever get the opportunity or desire to.

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with buying used. I would look over the crown of the barrel and make sure it's not too dinged up, a magnifying glass will help you greatly in this deparment. If you don't know what to look for, we will be happy to go over that for you. As far as "barrels being shout out" on used rifles, I have NEVER seen a hunting rifle that has been shot out. Even the magnums will take well over 1,000 rounds to shoot out a barrel.With a .308, you're looking at over 3,000 rounds. At over $1 a round for even the cheap stuff (for the magnums), I doubt a used rifle you found somewhere has over $1,000 worth of ammunition through it. Most people can't hardly stand to put a box of 20 rounds through a .300 win mag in one sitting. Most people take their hunting rifle out once or twice a year, zero it, then go kill a deer with it. The rest of the time it usually sits in the safe or closet. I'm not saying this is what someone should do, I think that's BS, but that's what usually happens. Your main worry is if the rifle is damaged on the crown, and if the firing pin and trigger work properly. You're not going to see rifles with shot out barrels, it's very uncommon.

Now in terms of glass, there's 2 recommendations I would make to you. I would go with Bushnell Elite glass (3200, or 4200 if you can afford it), or go with a Nikon Buckmaster. Both of these glass manufacturers make quality glass, with good lifetime warranties. They're very bright, reliable and are durable and repeatable. Now in terms of magnification, it's a personal thing. I prefer to have more magnification than I need, so that I can dial down. I prefer to have extra magnification and not have to use it, than to want it or need it, and not have it; but that's just my personal opinion. This will all vary on the distances that you're shooting, lighting conditions, and how steady the shooter can stay. I have NEVER had any kind of problem even shooting 100 yards at 10-16x from an imrpovised rest. Then again, I am steadier than many shooters, because I shoot long range. Even at 1500 yards, I can keep a 12"x12" target in the crosshairs at 25x, from prone. This is not the norm, but I'm just saying that even at high magnification an acceptable sight picture can be obtained. Realize that high magnification is NOT necessary to shoot deer even at 300 yards. Using the chest and shoulder as a target, you can get hits at those distances with 4x and 6x fixed power scopes.

Don't let people fool you, just because a scope has lower power, does NOT mean that it will be less prone to fail or that it will be brighter; that is based on lots of other factors. If a scope has a fixed power, it will be more prone to fail than a fixed power scope. This is because it has several different lenses inside of it. A 3-9x may be just as prone to failure as a 4-16x. Realize that lower magnification doesn't mean that a scope has more lenses (sometimes it does), it just depends on how many lenses and sizes that the manufacturer wanted to use. It is true that fixed power scopes are less prone to failure, but you're stuck with 1 magnification. It is also true that lense for lense, their quality is usually more clear, because you're only looking through 2 lenses, as opposed to 3-5, etc. They have their trade offs. With the requirements ya'll have about points on a deer, I would probably use my scope as another way to verify that he has enough points, although you may prefer to use fine binoculars for that. I can keep a rifle more steady on a rest than I can holding the binoculars with 2 hands. I am NOT saying use your rifle scope to ID the target as a deer, person, etc. I'm saying maybe use some not as high quality binoculars to know it's a deer, and then use your scope to see his rack. Brightness of the scope is related to the tube size (more so to adjustment, but has some effect on brightness), objective size, and exit pupil diamter (very important). It is true to some extent that lower magnifications can have a larger exit pupil, but especially at scopes that are less than $300, this is not always the case. Either way, magnification is related to the type of shoot you do, lighting conditions, distances, glass you can afford, and pererence.

I hope that this helps you to understand part of this. Please continue to ask questions if we can help you more. Oh and something you might consider is spending less on a rifle, as in buy the same rifle you were interested in new, but used, or buy something like a good Savage 10 or 110. Then use that money on the scope, or so that you don't have to put as much money down on plastic. I hate plastic, lol, but that's just something else to think about. Hope this helps.