Which came first the bullet or the gun?

I still find amusement when hunters discuss the cost of fine ammunition.
Once you invest in a fine rifle,
and then you invest in a fine scope,
and then you invest in tuning both your scope and shooting skills,
then you shoot one bullet a year.
At least that is what I have done.
My last box of twenty Winchester Ballistic Silvertips is over ten years old.
I have hunted with that box for the last 8 years.
I still have 12 rounds in the box....freezers full...as always...
Cost issues? HUH??
 
NHunter said:
I still find amusement when hunters discuss the cost of fine ammunition.
Once you invest in a fine rifle,
and then you invest in a fine scope,
and then you invest in tuning both your scope and shooting skills,
then you shoot one bullet a year.
At least that is what I have done.
My last box of twenty Winchester Ballistic Silvertips is over ten years old.
I have hunted with that box for the last 8 years.
I still have 12 rounds in the box....freezers full...as always...
Cost issues? HUH??
Click to expand...

Where does one get shooting skills? By shooting the rifle. What do you need to shoot the rifle? Ammo.

Some people grew up with guns, and have decades of experience, had dads or uncles or grandpas to pass on their years of wisdom and places to hunt and effective methods, and only need to fire a few shoots a year at most to fill their freezer, and need to spend very little on ammo. Others have to start from scratch in their 20s or 30s or later, figure it all out on their own, and spend many years and hundreds if not thousands of dollars figuring it all out over half a decade or more, and fire hundreds of shots in practice to get decent.

Considering the OP is asking about a first hunting rifle caliber, I'm thinking hes more of the second kind, at which point ammo cost is critical, especially if the OP isn't sure about whether he wants to go down the rabbit hole of reloading or not.
 
Suther said:
And I'm sure you became an expert hunter in one weekend, and an expert marksman in one box of ammo?
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Sir ... I am certain that the depression of the rain and clouds of residing in BC are a challenge however a verbal feud is not my goal.
Once a scope and rifle are mated, a target is then perched at a known range, then anything more than ten rounds to achieve a Zero is well, fun.
I never used the term Expert as they are few. And I expect you are not and Expert since you would not have used the term so loosely.
I respect this forum and the wonderful members here. So please - lets take the positive from comments posted.
Merry Christmas!
 
Some ppl like to shoot a lot and practice at various ranges from various positions. A fun day at the range or weekend in the back forty can run thru a few hundred rounds easy for me
But I enjoy shooting
 
Starting out, I would go for the rifle with my favorite features in a common caliber like .243 or .308
Who knows what the future will bring?
May be a Stack-On Cabinet with a few choice hunting, and target guns, or may be multiple gun safes in a fully stocked reloading room.
 
NHunter said:
A few hundred quality hunting rounds....and just how hot do you like your premium barrel....?? Bent, warped, twisted,,,,??

And most importantly, if proving a hunting set up, why "a few hundred rounds"......??
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My 270 has seen at least 400 rounds in the last 3 and a bit years. Its my main hunting rifle, target rifle, 'chootin' stuff rifle... I have since bought a more dedicated range rifle (a cheap 243 for less recoil) but I still like my 270 and it will continue to see a fair amount of use.

Also, nobody said "hundreds of rounds" through their hunting rifle in a day. My 270 only sees 20-40 rounds each range trip, 'cause even my reloads aren't all that cheap. But I can easily hit a few hundred rounds in a range trip if I also bring the 22 rifle or the SKS, the 9mm or 22lr handgun.... A few hundred rounds is not at all uncommon when you're talking handguns, 22lr, or cheap surplus ammo.
 
Pick the brand rifle you want for the basic features you like. Don't get a barrel that's too long or too short to start with.

Stick with .308 to start. If you MUST go long action (which you don't need to start with) go with 30'06.

Get a decent basic optic (Leupold VX2 or 3) with a basic duplex reticle and get some Talley lightweight rings. Find a decent sling and pickup a couple boxes of .308 Federal blue box 150 grain. A good torque wrench setup for INCH pounds is something you're gonna use forever so get a good one out of the way.

Do a little research on how to confirm centre of reticle in the scope first then learn how to level the scope to the bore. All easy stuff and readily available information.

Forget these laser bore-sighter, waste of money. Remove the bolt, get right down straight BEHIND the rifle (as in your head is not even on the stock) and look through the actual barrel (point it at a target on the wall or a red thumb tack or whatever ....). Now slightly raise your head to see where the centre of reticle is in relation to the "target).

Make note of EXACTLY how many "clicks" and what direction you have to move elevation & windage.

Look up the most basic fundamentals of shooting and practice a but in different positions (safely unloaded of course), then get out on target at say 25 meters. Get the rounds centered and hitting about an inch or so ABOVE target centre. Now move target out to 50 meters and keep the rounds entered to target. Get it out 25 meters at a time until you're dead centre on the target at 200 meters.

If you can do that consistently with basic techniques supporting the rifle you can hit basically hit what you need to at typical hunting ranges. Practice this out to say 300 meters and stay within whatever limit you feel honestly comfortable hitting consistently. Make note of how much the round drops from target centre at 300 meters.

If your rig really doesn't like Federal Blue box try Remington Corelokt. If not try XWY. Make sure it's the ammo/rifle combo and not you causing the inaccuracy.

Ask more solid questions along the way cuz there's lots of good generous cats here with a world of information willing to help.

Keep it fun and don't get too discouraged when you have a bad shooting day here and there.

Now go buy a .308 Remington 700, or Howa 1500 or Ruger or Savage or .... and get movin' !!!
 
As everyone has said, for a new hunter, stick to a common caliber. You can get a cheaper end rifle and a fairly good scope ( a 3-9 is pretty standard) and have plenty of ammo to practice. The 6.5 is a fairly specialized caliber more for LR shooting than hunting.

A .308 or 30-06 will do everything you ask of it in BC. Grain up or down for everything from deer to bear and moose. Remember to sight in for different weights and brands.

Once you really get into hunting, then you will learn what works for you and you will know enough then from experience and talking to others to decide if another caliber is right for you.
 
The "cool kids" shoot the 6.5 creed and you can get a Savage Axis or Mossberg Patriot in 6.5 - can't get much more entry level than that from a price point.

Some things to consider with the 6.5 or 7.08, which both have been mentioned (and I own both). The "on the shelf" factory ammo choices can be limited and more expensive then more "common" calibers.

A 308 or 30.06 is as close to a "do everything" rifle that you will find. No, not new/cool calibers but the ammo is loaded by every ammo mfg, it's relatively inexpensive and if you need to find some at the hardware store at the corner of middle and nowhere streets, 308/30.06 might be the only thing on the shelf.

If you suspect you might be recoil sensitive then as others suggested, don't overlook the 243. I use it as my Whitetail rifle but it has also taken many (incidental) black bears over the time I have used it. It is also far more common to see 243 on the shelf then 6.5 or 7.08.
 
Hornady now does the American Whitetail load in a 6.5 Creedmore for 33.99 a box. Nosler does it in a ballistic tip for 39.99. Ballistic tip is not the same as Accubond. Ammo is starting to be more readily available as the 6.5 Creedmore is taking off in popularity. Browning, Ruger, Tikka, and now even Remington is jumping on the 6.5 Creedmore bandwagon and Remington refused to do it because they were pushing their very similar 260Rem instead. The only entry level rifle that might do a 6.5 Creedmore is the Ruger America. They do the gun in stupid calibers like .300 Blackout so I’d imagine they might do a 6.5 Creedmore. Shooting factory at first is probably okay but I’d begin to invest into reloading components.
 
I chose the cartridge, then the rifle. I wanted a 270WSM as it was fast, relatively flat shooting, launched a good size bullet that was more than capable of taking everything from coyotes to bull elk, had a mild recoil, and fit into a short action rifle. I spent a considerable amount of time ripping through ballistics tables and charts, comparing bullet weights and velocities, and the performance of various bullets on game. So cartridge came first for me.

Next was the rifle. I like building on Rem700s but they do not handle the WSMs very well. Feeding and extraction with the WSM in a rem 700 sucks. Second choice was a Win70 CRF but I could not find a reasonable price on a donor action. While I was planning this build, a buddy of mine had been following my research on the 270WSM and bought a Sako 85 Finnlight in 270WSM. He complained about the recoil and poor accuracy. I have only ever encountered a couple of rifles with poor accuracy as most issues are with the shooter so I told my buddy I would remount his scope and try a few different loads at the range. It cycled well, I found the recoil very mild, the rifle was very comfortable for my geometry, and the accuracy was subMOA. End result, I bought a Finnlight 7-08 for my buddy and kept his 270WSM.

Cartridge first, then rifle.
 
Still alive said:
As everyone has said, for a new hunter, stick to a common caliber. You can get a cheaper end rifle and a fairly good scope ( a 3-9 is pretty standard) and have plenty of ammo to practice. The 6.5 is a fairly specialized caliber more for LR shooting than hunting.

A .308 or 30-06 will do everything you ask of it in BC. Grain up or down for everything from deer to bear and moose. Remember to sight in for different weights and brands.

Once you really get into hunting, then you will learn what works for you and you will know enough then from experience and talking to others to decide if another caliber is right for you.
Click to expand...

With 308, I wouldn't even bother fiddling with changing bullet weights to meet game size. Find a good 165gr loading and call it a day. Or go up to 180gr if you can't find 165s. 150s are good for deer, but if the box costs the same for 180s why deal with all the effort of switching back and forth, adjusting scope, ect?
 
Suther said:
With 308, I wouldn't even bother fiddling with changing bullet weights to meet game size. Find a good 165gr loading and call it a day. Or go up to 180gr if you can't find 165s. 150s are good for deer, but if the box costs the same for 180s why deal with all the effort of switching back and forth, adjusting scope, ect?
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I don't fiddle with my hunting loads. I use the same for whatever I go for. It was just a suggestion for the OP. Didn't know what he was planning for game.
 
Suther said:
With 308, I wouldn't even bother fiddling with changing bullet weights to meet game size. Find a good 165gr loading and call it a day. Or go up to 180gr if you can't find 165s. 150s are good for deer, but if the box costs the same for 180s why deal with all the effort of switching back and forth, adjusting scope, ect?
Click to expand...

Agreed, i worked up a good load for 165 grain Partitions for mine.
 
First a 308 will do everything you want. A 150-165 bullet works well. Buy a gun that fits! This will make shooting more accurate, more fun, and less recoil. A range shoulder pad like Pass will make range sessions easy. Practice with your rifle and use a 22 lots. Good shooting & hunting.
 
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