Suggestions from hunters for a beginners deer hunting rifle. He's 18 and not much firearm experience. He's shot bb guns and pellet rifles but not many firearms. This is most likely for hunting southeastern white tail deer. So something suitable for an 18 year high school student that's working after school to pay for it. Thanks Karl
Find him a used lever action 30-30 at the pawn shop . Reasonably mild recoil and very easy to use . Top eject if he's a lefty .
Southeastern Whitetail are relatively small but shots are occasionally long (depends on where he will be hunting). I have a lever action
30-30 and it looks really neat, but always take the scoped bolt action into the woods. Best bet would be a bolt action, .270, or .308 , 3x7 variable scope. An 18 year old should be able to handle recoil as well as an adult unless he hasn't grown yet. Big key on the recoil 1) never, ever tell them recoil hurts 2) work up the power scale gradually (22 rimfire, .223, .243, .308) 3) make sure they are holding it properly, cheek welded to the top of the stock, and butt pressed firmly to the shoulder so it pushes rather than hits youCarl
A good introduction to big-bore rifles would be a 30-30 Winchester. It has probably been the most popular deer rifle for over 100 years.
And he will cherish it the rest of his life. I noticed the basic Win 94 prices are getting back to reasonable at the gun shows. Saw a nice one for $300 last month, with not many lookers on the last day of the show. Or you could buy a new Marlin 336 for $315 on sale, used for as little as $200.
A lever action turdy turdy will do the job but a bolt action rifle is a better choice since they tend to be more accurate. A levergun is basically a 3-4 MOA rifle.
Wes
Yep. I like the 30-30 for short shots. It seems to do more damage than the faster moving 06. If you're shooting past 200 yards, the 06 or a .270 are nice choices.
I see allot of people recommending .30-30 rifles for a first deer hunting gun. If you choose to go this route buy a Marlin with a safety. Keep in mind to unload one of these you have to jack the shells out with the lever and that is an ideal time for the hammer to drop on a chambered round. I have seen this happen once. One .30-30 user hunts with us and for safety, always walks away from the group when unloading his rifle. A better choice would be a Remington bolt or pump action. Quick and safe to load and unload and available used in .270 and .30-06 for a reasonable price. Steve
What is the hunting area like? Wide open spaces or heavy brush?
In much of the Southeast..the 3030 lever action or the SKS is still the most commonly used.
Id lean towards the 3030.
Google "3030 FAQ"...something I wrote some years ago, still seems to be popular as I get 4-10 emails a month about it.
I think that year..I wrote about 15 such faqs..but this is the only one that generates much traffic, the result of the continued popularity of the 3030
Gunner
Even the Marlins (which are actually preferable to the Winchesters..IMHO) are easy for a lefty to shoot. Its not like its a M1-A spitting out hot brass at 100fps
Gunner
This has been kicking around the internet on various sites for some years now..may be of help.
Gunner
With factory ammo, and its sloppy and badly worn, Id agree.
Gunner
All assuming of course that they have removable floor plates or magazines. Not all Remintons do.
Gunner
I started all my kids on .243 . The old Remington 600 series used to be and still is an accurate (1 in 9 rifling) little bolt action rifle.
cheers T.Alan
Gunner sez go see:
Bob Swinney
Money wise, I'd say an SKS. (flame away) Money not an issue? 7mm Rem mag. Why pussy-foot?
The Savage/Stevens bolt guns have a pretty good rep and come cheap,, as new guns go. The Remington 710 apparently has enough quality control issues, that it should be avoided, with poor oven brazing of bolt handles leading the list.I would say same for the offspring of the 710, the 770. Dunno how the Remington badged Serbian made 798/799 imports are gonna fare, but at least the design has a solid hundred years of history on it.
A trip through a decent used rifle rack will turn up better for less than new prices, or at least a far higher spec rifle for the same money. A Remington or Winchester from a few years back is still a decent gun, and can be had reasonably, and cheap scopes are far better now than they were 15 years ago.
My personal recomendation on caliber is to stick to the old standards that you can count on finding ammo for anywhere, any time, stuff like the .308, 30-06, .243, and pretty much in that order, with the first two switchable at will, and the .243 fairly far down the list after them.
If recoil is an issue at the level those calibers do, perhaps bowhunting is gonna be more his style. My stepson was shooting fairly hot 180 grain loads in .308 when he was 13-14 years old, with only one experiment where he thought better of the advice to keep it snug against his shoulder. He was a fast learn!:-) 125 through 150 grain loads in the .30's will suffice for any deer around, and the 180 and up loads for moose, if he ever goes after them. The .243 is a little less flexible in the big game dept. but is able to be loaded into the varmint class pretty readilly.
Nothing wrong with a decent little carbine in 30-30 or even an SKS in
7.62x39, but they will be less flexible in the long run if he decides he likes hunting and wants to try other game or other areas. A bolt gun is a little more generic, and can be adapted to a wider variety of hunting opportunities.Just my opinion. YMMV
Cheers Trevor Jones
Keep in mind that the Army will gladly teach and give an 18 year old a machine gun or granade launcher. Or in my case, a tactical nuclear weapon.
Much depends on the training and disciple.
There's only one:
Remington 700 BDL. Caliber up to you. One of the most accurate rifles right out of the box. The Sendero was the choice of snipers in Viet Nam.
Steve
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