My Brother is really wanting to get into hunting and shooting. He does not have a big budget and doesnt have alot of knowledge on the subject. He is about 6ft 150lbs and wants a gun to do it all for a few years untill his budget grows a bit. By do it all I mean hunt deer maybe elk and a little target for fun. I was thinking a .270 would be a good all around cartridge for it. What would you think as far as the gun. Not interested in the remington sps there finish is horrible i find. Thanks
A Do it all Gun for a Newbie
- Thread starter bordr69
- Start date
On a budget you cannot beat a Stevens 200 with a decent piece of glass. Think Burris Fullfield, Nikon Buckmaster, Leupold VX-1 or Bushnell 3200. As for caliber I would go with .30-06 for an all around do everything and do it well.
This all being said, I don't own a Savage or a .30-06, but my tastes are not "one gun, do everything and do it on the cheap"
This all being said, I don't own a Savage or a .30-06, but my tastes are not "one gun, do everything and do it on the cheap"
The 270 will do just fine for everything we can hunt here in Alberta. I guess what is his budget really? Stevens/Savage is a great buy and accurate, or if he has a higher budget than that maybe a Tikka? For a scope, hard to beat Leupold IMO, unless you have a hufge budget for glass.
There are some Stevens 200s out there on sale for $320-$350 or so. For chambering the .270 Win, .308 Win and .30-06 are all good choices, although the recoil might be significant for a new hunter/shooter. I like Leupold bases and rings, and think they are a good choice. As for glass, take a look at a Weaver K6 fixed 6x (around $200 new), or maybe a Leupold FX-2 6x, although those are more expensive at over $400.
I saw an RCBS reloading kit at a shop I was at yesterday - it included press, scale, manual and all the other little things needed to get started. Price was $109. The reason I say that is because you can load the .30-06 down to 2700fps with 150gr bullets for greatly reduced recoil, yet it is more than enough for deer sized game.
I saw an RCBS reloading kit at a shop I was at yesterday - it included press, scale, manual and all the other little things needed to get started. Price was $109. The reason I say that is because you can load the .30-06 down to 2700fps with 150gr bullets for greatly reduced recoil, yet it is more than enough for deer sized game.
You can't argue with advice like this. I will second the Stevens 200, 30-06 and a Bushnell 3200 3-9x40 scope. The 270 will work, but the 30-06 is more versatile and will handle heavier bullets much better than the 270.
Mark
Bang on, literally. .270/.308 also good choices, Marlin XL7/XS7 also fairly inexpensive. Great picks for glass. I prefer the Fullfield II.
A good rifle in 270, 30-06 or any other reasonable cartridge should do him fine, not only for a few years, but as long as he wishes to hunt. On a $500 budget I would say almost all the modern factory rifles are capable of reliability and accuracy. He might want to think about scrounging a couple hundred more and he will have a nicer gun to last him forever. A mid level rifle from Remington, Savage, Ruger etc. in the calibers discussed could serve him forever. Firearms are one of the most durable consumer goods around. The 3200 should work fine too, in a good set of rings and bases. I find "beginner rifles" are often difined as cheap. There is nothing more frustrating/discouraging for a beginner than having equipment which doesn't perform.
- Location
- Prince Albert, Sk
Frontier Firearms , dealer member here on CGN has some good prices on complete packages in all sorts of calibers with different scopes for different budgets, anything starting at a .260 Rem and up is a good all round choice.
I was exactly in the same boat about 10 years ago. I lucked out and got a new to me Remington Model 700 BDL deluxe in .270 for a real good price. Now a few weeks back a friend of mine asked my opinion on a gun for himself I suggested that value for money The TC Venture was it. he got it and man what a gun. I shot it and was thoroughly impressed. If I was shopping for a new gun that would be it, it may still be, who knows.
In my opinion there is no such thing as a do it all gun. The best you can do is a sorta, maybe do a bunch of things poorly gun. My recommendation is to have him list the things he wants to do in order and when he expects to want to do them. Then purchase for the top few things on the list.
Its going to make a difference if his primary use is hunting gophers vs deer vs waterfowl.
Its going to make a difference if his primary use is hunting gophers vs deer vs waterfowl.
- Location
- Prince Albert, Sk
Agree with Zner! For $200 ish a scoped, sporterized 303 can't be beat. Then there's no need to borrow anything. And it easy to sell, and not lose any $$, when funds are more available.
Clint
And yes my first rifle was a 303
Clint
And yes my first rifle was a 303
Go to this site and have a read:
h t t p://www.chuckhawks.com/index2.guns.htm
He makes several good points about calibre selection etc and provides ballistic charts as well as comparing different "quantifications" of killing potentials for bullets.
My vote though for a good all around calibre is 30-06. He'll figure something out that he likes though.
h t t p://www.chuckhawks.com/index2.guns.htm
He makes several good points about calibre selection etc and provides ballistic charts as well as comparing different "quantifications" of killing potentials for bullets.
My vote though for a good all around calibre is 30-06. He'll figure something out that he likes though.
