Shopping around for a good deer rifle

[Jerry H]

I would like to ask the forum for their opinions on a first deer rifle for my soon to be 17 year old son. He is a pretty big kid and has an eye for shooting out the center ring of a target at 50 yards, I'm jealous. He's never fired a big bore but I know he could handle it. I used to have a Remington 30-06 many years ago and loved it and I think thats what he wants. My question is would that be too much for deer hunting in lancaster county or the Poconos? What would you suggest? By the way he is a lefty. Any good makes and calibers for a left handed shooter? It's been a long time since I've hunted.

[Booner]

Remington, Savage, and Ruger all manufacture left handed 30.06 rifles if I'm not mistaken. If your son is an experienced shooter, I'm certain he could handle an 06 regardless of his size. My son started with a .243 at age 12, at 17 he shoots a 7mm mag. Lots of good rifles out there, new and used. Try posting a want-to-buy ad on this site and on www.huntingpa.com. I'm certain you will be offered some good left handed 30.06 rifles.

[crakkajakka15]

Savage makes a hell of a gun and I would check out a .270 cal. Or something like a .243 as above or a 30-30, 25-06.

[Tomcat088]

The .30-06 could never be considered a bad rifle, it's a great caliber. I'm a big fan of the .243 as well. Overall in terms of cost of ammunition, they're both in the pretty close ball park. You can get the cheap stuff for just under a dollar a round, although the .243 is a little cheaper on the low end, and like all ammunition for some of the more expensive stuff you can spend over $2 a round in either caliber. I would say that if your son is a pretty consistent good shot with smaller rifles and has gotten good habits he could probably handle the .30-06. Make sure that you get a scope that has plenty of eye relief and that he shoulders the rifle properly. That's the one spot where rimfire and small bore rifle shooters sometimes build a bad habit, they can barely hold into the rifle or not have a great hold and get away with it. You just don't want his first experience with the rifle to be getting scope bitten and having to get stiches or something. Just makes sure that he squares up and isn't right into the scope, and after he gets some rounds down range he'll know what to expect. I would say that if he ever intends to maybe hunt some larger game other than deer, you might as well buy the .30-06. You can get some lighter rounds for varmints and smaller animals, but you can get the heavy bullets for other applications. Do you have a particular budget? That might help us kind of narrow down which rifle might fit better in your budget, with some features that you might like.

[timbrfrmr25]

if your only gonna hunt whitetail i'd say go 30 30 or 243 25-06 but if u think you may travel to hunt something bigger....elk caribou etc go bigger like the 7mm rem mag or 300 win mag....with those calibers you've got everything in north america covered and niether really kick that much more than the 30-06

[1832]

Ditto on the 30-30, or a .35 Rem. There should be plenty of nice used lever-action Winchesters and Marlins in the local gun shops. Over the years, I would guess that those two calibers have taken more Pennsylvania White Tails than the rest of the others put together.

[EODguy]

30-'06 is an outstanding cartridge in my opinion and being a lefty myself it is one of the few calibers that you can get in an affordable left handed bolt gun. .243/.308/7mm/30-'06 are the usual lefty fare without getting expensive. Myself I shoot a right handed Win. model 70 in .264 Win Mag , I learned on right handed bolts and anything else feels.......odd.

[bert304]

I am going to step out of bounds by suggesting a Savage 11GL in 7mm-08.
The 7mm-08 is a 308 case with a 7mm bullet. It shoots very flat out to 200 yards and is great for deer and black bear. For deer I use a 120 grain bullet and for bear I use a 139 to 150 grain bullet. This caliber is very light in recoil so you can practice at the range all day with no problem. Savage is a very good gun for the money less then 500.00. The stock is walnut and the barrel is free floated. They have the Accu-trigger installed and it is easy to adjust the trigger.

[InfantrymanTemplar]

Sir:

I use a Remington 700 BDL chambered in .30-06 Springfield. I love it as a deer rifle. It is spot on (although, that is to be expected). I concur with the previous posters on this subject.

The Infantryman Templar
Those who would deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and under a just God cannot long retain it. -Abraham Lincoln

[dc dalton]

Well no offense to any of the other rifles mentioned but in my mind there is only one all around, mutli purpose deer rifle, the good old Winchester model 94 30/30. It has a special place in my heart as it was the first rifle my dad let me shoot at 15. I have had many of them over the years, with and without a scope, and every time I sell one I hate myself for it. I currently have a really nice 1976 model 94 with a decent scope on it ...

It's the only rifle I've ever seen where you can pack it full of mud, ice, snow, whatever you can think of and that damn thing will fire... and accurate as they come with either the iron sites or a scope.