Any recommendations for a good hunting rifle?

Question

I'm leaning a lot towards either a .30-06 or a .308/7.62mm, and I was wondering if anyone had a rifle in mind that's both affordable and reliable in these calibers? I've had my eye on a Garand for a while, but all the ones I see around here go for well over a grand. I'd prefer a bolt-action, too, with the Garand being one exception, but that's less important to me than the other things I mentioned.

Thanks ahead of time

As far as range goes, I'd go with 400-500 yards or more. The way I see it, a long-range rifle will do better at close range than a close-range rifle at long range by a lot, so I might as well go long now so I won't have to buy a second rifle later.

I'm mostly thinking whitetail, but we've got moose and black bears up here as well, hence the .308/.30-06. It'd be a hard time trying to take one of those down with a .22 deer rifle.

Answer 1

Bound's hubby here:

First, be aware of the hunting laws where you plan to hunt. For example, Pennsylvania prohibits the use of semi-automatic rifles, hence the Garand would be useless.

You do not identify the conditions you will be hunting under. That will have a big bearing on your choice. Personally, I would recommend the .308 over the .30-06. In an average shooter's hands, both can be expected to drop game to 500 yards. Performance wise, they are near equals.

With respect to rifles, you get what you pay for. Of readily available bolt rifles, I would lean towards the Remington 700 line. Personally, I would suggest the 700 Varmint in .308, but for hunting alone a 700 BDL or a Model Seven in .308 would be quite sufficient.

EDITED TO ADD:

A point to consider ... Remington's 700 Varmint is the chasis for the U.S.M.C.'s M40 series sniper rifles. I built my 700 Varmint as a 1000 yard target rifle. I can place 20 shots at 1000 yards in under 14". With appropriate ammo, the round has sufficient terminal velocity to drop deer or similar sized game (Marine's have dropped untold number of men at this range). I know hunting deer at 1000 yards is irresponsible ... I just included this statement to show that it could be done! I do hunt with this rifle.

As an aside, if you are an American citizen, and meet the qualifications, you can purchase an M1 Garand from the Civilian Marksmanship Program (link below) starting at $300 and averaging $450, depending upon receiver manufacturer and grade!

Good luck and good hunting.

Answer 2

This is a question I am asking myself right now. I have a Savage 12BVSS which shoots 300WSM into about 1/2" at 100 yards with any old factory load, it's even comfortable to shoot, but it's also very heavy and not suited to hunting situations, so I'm looking for something in the .30 caliber which I can carry for hours and which will deliver enough energy to a target at a range I can shoot reliably.

So that means around 250-300 yards. At those ranges a 308 is very comparable to a 30-06 but there's more ammo choice, at least in my experience, and I can use a short action which saves a little bit of weight. The 308s are also slightly more accurate, but in a hunting situation that is going to be a small difference compared to the inaccuracy I introduce.

So my current favorites are the Sako, Tikka and Brno rifles. I looked at Remington and Browning already, I didn't like the feel of the Remington and the Browning seemed like a lot of extra cash for no improvement over the first three. My experience with the Savage has been that they are complete tack drivers and the accutrigger is a marvel, but as an engineer I like to have different things, so I won't buy two of the same. Still, you'd probably be surprised how good the Savage is.

I'll have a look at Brno again, but when I handled the Tikka I was impressed, there's a picture of a synthetic one and a review of a 308 below.

Answer 3

Whats A Good Hunting Rifle

Answer 4

You've got more overall ammo options with the .30-06. The .308 is a fine round that takes a ton of deer every year but the shorter design of the .308 keeps it lagging a bit behind the .30-06 in almost every single ballistic and performance category. I have a Rem. 7400 in -06 and an old Enfield P1917 chambered in it as well. Depending on the quarry you're after, I'd look at all the available calibers from .243 all the way up to .300 Mag or even the .35 Rem or Whelen if you only deer hunt in wooded areas. Getting married to a certain cartridge does not a gun collector make.

Answer 5

For the money, you can't beat a Savage chambered in .30-06. Savage makes a really fine shooting rifle at an extremely reasonable price. The .30-06 round is probably one of the most versatile rounds you can have. You can take anything on the North American Continent with it. As for the range that you are talking about, unless you are a trained sniper you'd better hunt a bit closer to your stand. I wouldn't recommend shots at ranges much over 200 yards for the average hunter that gets in a bit of practice at the range every month or so and can put his shots where he aims with a good degree of regularity. Taking shots at those long ranges requires a LOT of practice and an excellent understanding of mirage, ballistics and doping the wind.

Answer 6

It depends on your hunting conditions, close range a remington pump or autoloader in .308, browing makes a lever and a semi-auto too in .308 or .30/06.

The .308 is more compact for close range and their are good rifles chambered in them. Browning a-bolt, remington 700, winchester 70, ruger rifles and more, all of those are great, but pricey except for ruger.

For long range and in most situations I recommend the .30/06 because you can fit more powder in and slower burning powder and load the cartridge pretty well, if you don't reload it is still nice with availability of ammo.

I recommend the Remington 710 as it is cheap and accurate and only in .30/06 or .270 or the Savage 110 which is in the same and has a good trigger. My dad uses a 710 and really likes it, I use a U.S. enfield from WWI sporterized in .30/06 and we both take game at 300-400 yards in Arizona, the deer are long ways and so are antelope and mule deer. They also perform well on deer at close range and elk. My dad shot his elk at 300 and my elk was at 80 yards. The .308 was designed to perform like the .30/06 but make a shorter action so the semi-autos wouldn't have a long stroke. But it is full of powder and problems can come in loading powders and stuff. I like the Browning BAR Mk. II safari, it is very accurate and has the Browning muzzle brake that makes the bullet more accurate depending on weight of bullet. It is a bit more expensive though.

Answer 7

I'd go with the .30-06, however, the caliber is more to your liking and also what you are going to be hunting. The Garand is a "military service style" rifle, and they will be expensive FOREVER! Now if you had multiple uses in mind, such as NRA Rifle Competitions, then the Garand would be a good all around weapon, although I personally wouldn't use such an expensive gun to go climbing into a tree stand with. The .30-06's I've seen are more affordable, and will still take down some decent size meat for food!

Answer 8

I've owned and fired a lot of rifles and can find good things to say about almost all of them. However, as you describe what you are looking for, one of my rifles clearly stands out as something I think you might be very interested in. Go find a CZ (Ceska Zbrojovka) dealer in your area. You can probably locate one by going to the CZ-USA website to search for dealer locations. Go to the dealer and ask to see a CZ 550 Varmint Rifle in .308. It is bolt action, has a bull barrel and set trigger and is an excellent shooting rifle of fine craftsmanship for the money. I highly recommend it as I am quite pleased with mine.

Answer 9

Ruger M77 stainless steel is an excellent rifle and a bit cheaper than the remington 700. I would go with the 30-06

Answer 10

It really depends on what you are hunting. I would do some serious inquiring before you make a decision though, the new trend is WSM's Winchester Short Magnums, there are alot of different calibers out there already.
With the shorter, fatter shell cases you get better, faster powder burn with improved accuracy, and a shorter bolt throw.
I believe WSM's are the only way to go.
Check out this info www.shootingtimes.com/ammunition/st_0201/winchester/