Looking for a good, all around Hunting Rifle
- Thread starter thatguy67
- Start date
- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
Good point Hitzy; used quality rifles is also a good option.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
Brother, you came to the wrong place.
Action choice may be decided by the kind of hunting you do. Do you hang out in thick bush with guys driving deer past your stand? Well then a 336 might be just the ticket. Do you post up on the edge of agricultural fields and wait for deer to wander out to feed and possibly take longer shots? In that case an accurate bolt rifle might suit you better. Do you hunt in both? If so I think the answer is fairly obvious...buy both used on the EE!
To paraphrase Jim Jefferies: "If you hunt everything with one rifle then you're a boring #### and all your hunting sucks".
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
This is the absolute truth. Hell, I don't want to shoot the same thing at deer that I shoot at deer!
This is one of those times where you've asked a loaded question - probably without realizing it. If I were relatively new to firearms/hunting and didn't reload - then I would pick something as common as dirt like a 30-30, 30-06, 270, 308, etc. You need to find ammo easily and PRACTICE LOTS please!!! Kill don't wound! That means getting something you can shoot well and practicing until you can hit easily - not just off the bench, get out and walk, get your heart rate up a bit if you can and practice!
The range you can effectively hit on target (minute of pie plate) every shot is the range you should hunt at or under. For some guys it's 50 yds - for other guys it's 500+. This will also help determine the appropriate caliber for you to hunt with. If you're accurate within 75-100 yds, the 30-30 is a great option to learn on with very manageable recoil. If you can maintain accuracy out to 200,300,400 yds - then a more powerful round to maintain energy on target is more appropriate.
Also, don't cheap out on glass - a good scope makes hunting around dusk and dawn way easier. If your budget is around a grand for everything, plan on getting a $4-600 dollar rifle and spending the rest on a scope.
The range you can effectively hit on target (minute of pie plate) every shot is the range you should hunt at or under. For some guys it's 50 yds - for other guys it's 500+. This will also help determine the appropriate caliber for you to hunt with. If you're accurate within 75-100 yds, the 30-30 is a great option to learn on with very manageable recoil. If you can maintain accuracy out to 200,300,400 yds - then a more powerful round to maintain energy on target is more appropriate.
Also, don't cheap out on glass - a good scope makes hunting around dusk and dawn way easier. If your budget is around a grand for everything, plan on getting a $4-600 dollar rifle and spending the rest on a scope.
- Location
- Quebec city
I use a 6.5X55 against yotes up to moose. But a .270, 308 or 30.06 would also perfectly do the job.
buy a 7-08 and or a 308, then a 30-06 and or a 300wm, try them in different rifles, 700 cdl, m70, vanguard 2, savage 110/116 etc etc...take game with all of them and then you will see that they all work pretty much the same when it comes to hunting. Asking which is the best on here will only give you conflicting info.....for 900.00 you could buy a scoped 7-08 and a scoped 30-06 both in stainless if you're not opposed to budget rifles.
They will all kill most game animals we normally hunt in Canada....have fun
They will all kill most game animals we normally hunt in Canada....have fun
I have finally ended up with leftie Browning Xbolts for all my hunting. Have a 308 and a 30-06. Sinfully accurate and smooth action always. I have had both since they were available in Canada and they look and feel better than all the hunters I have had before. They both cost me a little over $700 when I bought them and I doubt that either of them will see shop time. They are so nicely made and they look good too. FWIW I have been hunting since 1966 and these are better than anything I have had so far. If I can see it its freezer food. I like guns I can trust.
There is no substantial difference between hunting cartridge for deer and black bear with good bullets and reasonable distances. Some are more available at any store, like the do-it-all 30-06.
I lean toward a bolt action rifle with a good scope.
Buy better rather than cheaper. You will have a lifetime tool that you can hand down to the next generation.
I lean toward a bolt action rifle with a good scope.
Buy better rather than cheaper. You will have a lifetime tool that you can hand down to the next generation.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Its difficult to answer your question since we don't know how new you are to the shooting game. At one time I'd have said you needed a .30/06, probably the ultimate "all around" cartridge for the North American rifleman, but that advice doesn't do you any service if you're intimidated by the blast and recoil from an '06. Secondly, Ontario is a pretty big place, and it has some steep, thick, country, where a light, short, rifle is an advantage. The traditional lever action rifle shines in difficult conditions due to its light weight, and thin, easy to carry profile. But the lever action isn't the best choice for a 250 yard shot along a cutline, out on that rocky point in the lake, or across a burn or a slough. A short, light, bolt action rifle, topped with a low power variable scope is probably the correct rifle, and a cartridge that produces 2500-3000 fps with a medium weight for caliber bullet is probably the right cartridge.
To my mind, general purpose cartridges begin with the 6.5s. This tends to annoy the quarter bore guys, who argue that a .007" in bullet diameter between a .257 and a .264 is insignificant, which is probably correct, but the fact of the matter is, most .257 gr bullets weigh less than 120 grs, whereas .264/140s are common. Cartridges in the 6.5X55 class are mild mannered on the shooter's end, but have the terminal performance necessary to produce quick humane kills on game up to the size of moose.
I'd advise you to avoid surplus military rifles. Although some shoot very well, a modern sporter like the 1600 series Husqvarnas that can be found on the Tradex site, has refinements that a hunter can appreciate, not the least of which is the ease of mounting an optic. Down the road, these rifles are an excellent basis for customizing, if that idea appeals to you.
Good all round hunting rifle....Winchester model 70, Remington 700 cdl or bdl, weatherby vanguard 2, tikka t3. All are very good, you just need to handle as many as possible to see which feels best. Then the hard part......which cartridge?!?!
- Location
- The Sausage.
Browning BAR or Tikka T3
And you can use the same caliber for different animals, all you need to look at is the magical 30-06.
And you can use the same caliber for different animals, all you need to look at is the magical 30-06.
they are very good, they are very nice, I have a few, but they dunt have the HDM!
why SuperCub, I thought you would know what it is!
It's the Hunter's Delight Magazine! It's removeable in a hurry, if conditions should suddenly occur!
The M77's are all they can be in every way, but sadly they are lacking this fine feature!
why SuperCub, I thought you would know what it is!
It's the Hunter's Delight Magazine! It's removeable in a hurry, if conditions should suddenly occur!
The M77's are all they can be in every way, but sadly they are lacking this fine feature!
I'd like them even better if they had a blind magazine... that's my favourite.
I guess because I load and unload only once a day
