Budget deer rifle?

As a first rifle I say AVOID an Enfield, unless it is a P17 (30.06) or a Mauser 98. Even then one has to be sure it was sportered properly and can mount a scope, unless one has the metal working skills.
 
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nowarningshot said:
I got a combo at a Gun show, new from a LGS booth. POS scope, plastic and cheap throughout, horrible trigger...nothing good to say about it except the price. I sold it on the EE, and the guy i sold it too....has sold it also. The inspiration for my Sig line.

Another fellow had a post about getting one, changing stock, scope...and being into it for over $600. That buys a lot of rifle on the EE.

If the OP, is buying one rifle and done...my choice 30-06. If a specific, one purpose deer rifle, and the first hunting rifle of many, something like 7-08 or 270 sounds good.
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I think that's a little harsh but I partly agree. I went this route. Axis .243, boyds stock, played with the trigger and now find myself looking at Vangaurds, and X bolts etc. Only problem is this ####ty Axis shoots so damn well I'm doubtful the more expensive rifle will match it for accuracy...
The Axis is a great inexpensive gun that's makes a good truck gun, cabin gun etc, Also I bet these cheap package rifle have gotten a lot more people into the sport due to price and convenience. Sure they may upgrade later but that’s what it's all about.
 
thepolinator said:
If money is a big player for you, there is nothing wrong with picking up a sporterised Lee Enfield or a Mosin Nagant for your deer hunting pleasure
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Sure...Nothing wrong with learning about double feed, sloppy chambers and how bubba can destroy barrel harmonics. It will help one appreciate the modern hunting rifle that you eventually replace it with, lol. ;)
 
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Lee Enfield and Mosin Nagant?! While we are at it, I hear some older muskets shoot pretty good! :D Hey, can you mount a scope on a musket?

Poor OP must be flabbergasted! :confused:
 
I have a .270 Marlin XL-7 and it shoots great, its light weight , stock is good and stiff , good recoil pad and adjustable trigger with the floating bolt head , good sized extractor and barrel nut if you want to change it in the future. For the price its a darn good rifle and I certainly recommend one.
 
my first hunting rifle was a older 6.5x55 Mauser it had a old 3x9 tasco scope. I took moose black bear elk and many deer with that gun for under $350 bucks I got a rifle that put over twenty kills in the freezer.
 
Calum said:
As a first rifle I say AVOID an Enfield, unless it is a P17 (30.06) or a Mauser 98. Even then one has to be sure it was sportered properly and can mount a scope, unless one has the metal working skills.
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Sporter Lee Enfields have probably harvested more deer in Canada than all other calibers combined.
 
In all fairness, a local in my hunt area shoots his Enfield off hand with jaw dropping accuracy. Both are over 80 years old and held together by generous applications of duct tape!

I also saw a documentary once about indigenous hunters in Siberia, who where hunting big game with Mosins. More or less, same as the above.

Beware the man with one gun, for he probably knows how to use it. I am not one of them. :(
 
Pine said:
Sporter Lee Enfields have probably harvested more deer in Canada than all other calibers combined.
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..... and untold 1000s upon 1000s of those were sold post WWII at dirt cheap prices at a time when there wasn't a lot of money for gun toys. Every house had one.

The surplus 303 was perfect for that day, but there are too many better alternatives these days to go that route as a first gun.
 
Pine said:
Sporter Lee Enfields have probably harvested more deer in Canada than all other calibers combined.
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So have the front grills of many a pick-up truck...but I digress. :D

At one time Enfields where bought stacked on pallets for scrap and their barrels used as rebar for shop floors.

If it's all you got then find work with it but given many of these once $15 surplus rifles are being priced on the EE for almost the price of a modern budget shooter in a modern caliber, I say I would sooner put money on a Savage Axis then a bubba Enfield.

YMMV. ;)
 
Just figured I would make an update. Thanks for everybody's advise but I kind of went away from the budget aspect and bought a slightly used browning X bolt hunter in .300wsm with a bushnell 3200 elite firefly. Just couldn't resist lol.
 
Jeff Stevenson said:
Just figured I would make an update. Thanks for everybody's advise but I kind of went away from the budget aspect and bought a slightly used browning X bolt hunter in .300wsm with a bushnell 3200 elite firefly. Just couldn't resist lol.
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Congrats and thanks for the update.
Sounds like a fun rifle.
 
As for Enfields. It all depends, I managed to find a bubba that shoots incredibly well. Hornady 150 gr sp, 55 gr BLC-2 and CCI br 2 gets me under an inch at 200 m.
Paid $125 for the rifle (was built in 1945) put an ati stock on it and had a 3-9 X 40 Monarch kicking around. (I know the glass is worth many times the rifle, but it works so well)
Have taken many a whitetail with this old bird. Even a bison.
Also have a 1953 model 94. Great bush gun, really good when a scope is impractical.
 
Sounds like a great score and a real nice starter, well beyond most of the starter combos listed here.

As a old .303 guy, I love them and will hunt with mine 'till the day I can't hunt any more. My favourite hunting rifle may have been the worst bubba job in history that I rebuilt as a scout. It will harvest game as well as anything on the market today. But I will agree that for the new hunter something of modern design with a modern cartridge will probably be a far better option as a first gun for 99% of that demographic.
 
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