re: Deer Rifle Shopping

He ain’t wrong

.280 is great if you handload. Otherwise, factory ammo doesn’t get the most out of it. Great round that never got the attention it deserved. If a 7mm-08 is good, a 7mm-06 is great.

I have a 270 and it does the job. I have never been disappointed when I made a good shot. All the literature I have read says 30-06 is the best round for deer hunting.

All the recommendations given are awesome, EXCEPT where in the hell do you find any gun in stock right now.

Baw Pookie GOT WHAT YOU NEED.

I’ve been on there a lot looking, but I wanna actually hold some before I buy.

Savage 110 bolt action in 308 with the accutrigger. It's a great rifle.

There are tons of different calibers that will kill deer no problem. 243 and up. You don't have to have some overbore magnum for deer. I've killed all my deer with 243 or 6.5 creedmoor. What I would do personally is try to handle as many rifles that appeal to you and work the action, trigger and safety and see which ones feel better and like more. I think we (especially me) get caught up in either specific calibers or looks of a gun instead of going by what feels good when you handle and shoulder the rifle.

That said I love Tikka but be aware their twists for some reason are slow on alot of calibers. But I've never heard a Tikka that didn't shoot good. I have a hell's canyon in 6.5 prc that I haven't shot yet but man it's so smooth. If you want a wood stock a winchester model 70 is hard to beat. Savage is probably the best budget gun just make sure to get the accutrigger.

I have several rifles but my go-to’s are Browning A-Bolt’s in .280 and 30-06. They’re shooters.

If I was buying today, and depending on budget, it would be an X-Bolt Stalker, Stainless Stalker or Hell’s Canyon. If all I was going to do is deer hunt with it, caliber would probably be .308. But if you liked the .280, get it. Or a 30-06. There are enough .280 ammo options out there, so don’t be scared away by that. A lot of people say the 7mm-08 is the perfect whitetail caliber. I don’t own one, but I can see why. I will probably own one one day.

Also-make sure to get a decent scope and have it mounted by someone competent. And get some trigger time.

Don’t get a .243 or 6.5 Needmore for your first deer rifle as a grown man. You can handle adult-size recoil so buy an adult-size caliber that packs more punch and gives you more room for error.