What is a good first rifle to start out with ?

Ghost Tyler

Ghost Tyler

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I'm looking to get into some target shooting at the range . I want to get a rifle that I can take to the range and shoot a lot and not break the bank . I was looking at a .270 Weatherby vanguard but ammo being 25 bucks for 20 bullets can get expensive quickly although it's a great rifle for deer I don't believe it's for me at this point in time . A co worker of mine suggested a Remington 700 tactical on .223 . Still could do some hunting with the rifle and won't hurt the wallet .
Any input is appreciated
Thanks guys cheers
 
Remington 700, savage 10/12, or even the new line of savage axis with heavy barrels in oddball calibers are all great choices.

As for caliber choices, small round, small game. If you only intend on popping a maximum of deer, then 223 is fine. I'd stick to 243 rem, or even 308 win. Not expensive to feed, and better power.

In the end, have fun with it!
 
R700 is a good choice with lots of aftermarket parts. The 783 appears to be a solid up and comer however (see Jerry's/Mystic Precision's thread in this forum).

223 isn't a terrible choice, but 308 is the de facto "all-round" cartridge, and if you reload, can be reasonably priced.
 
N0M4D said:
Remington 700, savage 10/12, or even the new line of savage axis with heavy barrels in oddball calibers are all great choices.

As for caliber choices, small round, small game. If you only intend on popping a maximum of deer, then 223 is fine. I'd stick to 243 rem, or even 308 win. Not expensive to feed, and better power.

In the end, have fun with it!
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Careful how small you go. Depending on your Province a .223 May mot even be of legal size to hunt deer with. In BC 6mm is the smallest caliber allowed to hunt big game animals with.

Jon
 
If you think 270 ammo would be a financial "hold back" to shooting as much as you like, forget the 243 suggestion, it would cost just as much.

With 308 you could shoot some of the surplus stuff, at least for paper punching and that would reduce ammo costs a bit.

223 would still be more economical to shoot.

But if you just want to shoot a lot and worry about hunting later, get yourself a 22LR and pop to your hearts content.

In factory rolled stuff you get 100 "pops" with a 22LR for about 10 bucks - even shooting surplus 223 you wouldn't even get 20 bangs for that same 10 bucks.

Hunting rifles aren't really meant for shooting 100's of rounds at the range and "economical" paper punchers are not typically med/large game guns.

If you try for the "one gun does it all" you have to give up something in the process and if you want it to do for larger game it's usually the cost of ammo that's going to be what gives..
 
I love my .243 bolt gun, great round IMO. about $22-$25 a box of ammo. .223 will be your best bet if you don't want to get a .22. In my opinion, what I did when I first started was grabbed a .243 bolt action, .22 semi, 22 lever and a SKS. I started out with all that so I could shoot a few boxes with my .243 then head over and use the other guns to lower ammo costs..
 
Reloading is the way to go. A good match barrel and quality ammo are great places to start. The action the bbl is mounted on doesn't 'matter' too much. Savage's are easier, with the bbl nut and floating bolt head. But, that said, a surgeon action is very nice. Stay away from 'synthetic' stocks. McMillan's are nice (I get mine pillar bedded), Manners, Bell and Carlson, and laminate (pillar bedded). Laminate is by far the cheapest way to go ($100 from boyd's), but then you add in smith prices for a bedding and pillar job. If you have a good smith that's cheap, rock on.

The key is to make sure your action is really tight. That's why I get mcmillan and laminate's pillar bedded. Can't crush aluminum with an inch-lb torque wrench, but you can crush fiberglass and laminate wood. Chassis systems are different (like bell and carlson as well) in that they do not need bedding because the aluminum bedding block can be torqued down without crushing fibreglass or laminate. But price becomes a factor.
 
Remington or Savage will do the trick. As far as calibre choice? 243win seems to fit the bill for you. You have a large range in projectile choice in the 6mm department.
 
Tikka 308.
It's a better action and a good foundation for a semi custom build in the future.
Stay away from .260,.243, etc. if you plan to shoot a lot.
Make plans to start reloading for it as soon as possible. You can never have a truly accurate setup without reloading for it.
 
ntm said:
Tikka 308.
It's a better action and a good foundation for a semi custom build in the future.
Stay away from .260,.243, etc. if you plan to shoot a lot.
Make plans to start reloading for it as soon as possible. You can never have a truly accurate setup without reloading for it.
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Listen to this man! A tikka action is much better than a M700 or Savage action. I have my M700 custom and it is great but the T3 is a great action. The whole after market support argument does not really work anymore. You can make up a Tikka just like a Remmy or Savage these days.
 
.243 Rem 700 sps Varmit
Twist rate is 1-9 1/8 Mine will stablize 105A-Max or Berger 105 VLDS this will out perform Most .308s for long range
Add a trigger and a Stock mine will shoot cosistantly .5moa or better with 105 Amax
with a rifle basix trigger and a Choate stock that Wolverine sells.
 
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