I want to start hunting.?

Question

I am 15, 5' 9'', 140 lbs. I want to start hunting some of the whitetails near my house and by my uncles. What type of gun do you think I should get to start off. I've heard of rifles that can be turned into shotguns by swapping out the barrel. Would the Cabelas by my house be a good place to start looking?

Answer 1

What you heard is correct. There are firearms that can turn from a shotgun to a rifle just by switching the barrel. The only company I know of that makes these is Thompson/Center (http://www.tcarms.com). I believe one model is called the Contender and the other is called the Encore. I have never seen nor shot one of these so I can not tell you if they are a good gun or not.

In terms of what cartridge to start with....

It would help to know where you plan on hunting. If you are hunting in dense woods like in the northern midwest states, pretty much anything will work. If you are hunting the Praires of the Dakotas or the deserts in the south, then that eliminates many of the short range cartridges.

Someone mentioned a 243 Win. The 243 is an excellent beginners cartridge as the recoil is low, ammo is easy to find, and you can get ammo with light bullets to keep the recoil down when you are first learning to shoot. While I was shooting a 25-06 by age 7, the 243 Win was the first rifle was was "mine" at age 13. I handloaded ammo for it with 105 gr. Speer bullets and 40 grains of IMR 4350 and I have never had to take more than one shot at a deer.

If you are hunting in an area that is wooded and shots under 100 yards are expected, a 30-30 Win is another excellent rifle to use. Ammo is cheap, the guns are cheap, and recoil is light.

A 7mm-08 is a decent compromise between recoil and power. The limitation of the cartridge is pretty much limited by the shooters ability to make a good shot.

Personally, I think the best compromise between recoil and power is the 6.5x55 Swede. It is not quite as powerful as the 7mm-08, but it is very light recoil and still has enough power to take down deer sized game. The downfall to this cartridge is its lack of popularity in America. There is not a very good selection of ammo.

If you are in an area where a 30-30 Win would work, a 20 ga. shotgun with slugs will work as well. The first gun I carried was a single-shot smooth bore 20 gauge. You can probably still pick one up for under $200. Recoil is tolerable and the bing chunk of lead it puts out will put a world of hurt on anything you hit. The downfall to going the shotgun route (especially the smooth bores with slugs) is accuracy.

There are a few other rounds that are good to start out with...

The 257 Roberts is a good cartridge, but is a dinosaur and not very popular anymore. I think the only factory fun you can get chambered in the 257 Roberts is made by Ruger. This is a good round if you want something that few other people have.

The 25-06 is an excellent beginners round. Recoil is tolerable, yet it is powerful enough to take game up to elk size. Personally, I was shooting a 25-06 by age 7.

The 6mm Remington is very comperable to the 243 Winchester. The 6mm never really caught on like the 243 did.

If you are an experienced shooter, you can move right up to the big rounds. The 30-06 is the world standard in cartridges. It has enough versitility to kill anything in North America. Recoil can be a little stiff for the novice shooter.

The 308 Win is a decent round for someone with some shooting experience. A 308 Win was the second rifle that was "mine". Recoil is milder than the 30-06 but can be distracting if you are a new shooter. If you get into reloading, there is a mass quantity of military brass than can be purchased for cheap (and can be necked up or down for use in other cartridges like the 243 Win, 7mm-08, or the 358 Win).

The 300 Win Mag and the 300 WSM are great rounds, but recoil is rapidly increasing.

If I were to own only one rifle, I would choose the 35 Whelen (a 30-06 necked up to 35 caliber). The 35 Whelen packs a little more punch than the 30-06 (at the expense of reduced velocities). Recoil is beginning to be a little painful, even for the experienced shooters (with no pads or recoil dampening devices, I can shoot about 20 rounds before I call it a day).

I hope this helps. If you are new to the world of guns, you can check out the webpage http://www.chuckhawks.com. There is a guns and shooting section of the web page that talks about pretty much ever cartridge available as well as reviews on many different types of rifles. It might be work a peek.

Happy Hunting

Answer 2

Besides the excellent Thompson/Center single-shot rifle already mentioned, there's the New England Firearms/Harrington and Richardson Handi-Rifle, which is also a single-shot rifle, and is available in quite a few good deer calibers. They cost around $250 brand new, and H&R has a barrel exchange program where one can send the reciever back to the factory and have rifle barrels of other calibers fitted to it (for $87 per barrel for a blued barrel,) or a shotgun barrel (about $42 per barrel.)

As far as deer calibers go, good ones are .270 Winchester and .308 Winchester. Especially the .308 WInchester, which can do almost anything the .30-06 Springfield can do, using light bullets. The .30-06 Springfield is also a good deer round, but can be a bit much for younger or inexperienced shooters.

Answer 3

You definitly have to take a hunters safety course, you need the certificate to purchase hunting license. As for the firearm if your in Rifle teritory you cant beat a .270 win or .243, and if you dont mind recoil a 30.06 is also a great choice. If your in shotgun country then a 12 ga. with slugs is your best bet. Go with the 2 3/4" slugs because you really dont gain that much with the 3" other than a lot of extra recoil.

As for your barrel swaping idea the Contender and Encore are extremly accurate and reliable made by Thompson Center.

Answer 4

Some places have restrictions on what type of rifles of shotguns you can use. So, if it's possible, I feel that one of the best rifles to start with is a .243, it's a light weight, high powered rifle. It's a fast, very accurate rifle compared to most, but it doesn't hit with the same momentum as larger rifles. I've used a .243 for years and never needed anything bigger. My brother on the other hand, uses a rifle a little larger, a .270. It's not as fast or accurate, but hits a lot harder. So if you're a good marksman I'd go with a simple .243, if you have problems in that field, a .270. 30-06's and 7mm are popular but slow and messy.

Answer 5

Go to Cabela's.
For white tail deer, you probably want a 30.06 (Thirty ot six). Those guns have killed more deer than any other. You can't swap a barel to turn a rifle into a shotgun.
You must also have a hunting license and have passed a hunter safety course. That will teach you about the different firearms. Also, you'll need proper aparell. Go to Cabela's for that. It's expensive so be prepared.
You also need to deer tags.
MAKE SURE YOU KNOW ALL THE LAWS BEFORE HUNTING!

Answer 6

I don't know where you are located, or where you would like to hunt, but I am not certain deer is the best choice of critter to begin hunting with.

Most folks start off with some smaller game, say upland game (pheasant, squirrel, rabbit, etc.) before going after deer.

Cabellas would be an excellant place to begin looking for a gun. At your age you will need someone a little older to purchase it for / with you, and as others have suggested, you will need to go through a hunter certifcation program.

Best bet would be to hook up with someone that is a bit older and has been hunting for awhile and draw upon their experiences by hunting with them a few times. Never hurts to have a new friend and hunting buddy relationships are some of the best there are.

Good luck.

Answer 7

If you want a starter rifle .270 is great gun. Long range recoil isnt bad either. Shotguns are good also, but you dotn have a lot of distance 00 buck has fantastic knock down power. Definatley take hunter safety courses. Also go to your local gun store and talk to some people there and ask about good locations to hunt. If you hunt on gamelands BE CAREFUL. Lots of people on gamelands shoot anything that moves. Blaze orange is your best friend also.

Answer 8

Yes. I wouldnt reccomend a gun that can change barrels because u only have 1 shot. For whitetails I would reccomend a good pump or bolt action rifle. A 30-06 270 or anything like that is plenty for deer. Dont get a big magnum rifle for 2 reasons. 1. They are too big for deer and 2 its nothing for a starter to use.

Answer 9

I gave my nephew a .44 Mag. rifle for his first deer rifle at 14. The .243 Winchester is probably the best starter rifle for deer, if you can handle it. But if you can handle the .243, you should be able to handle the .25-06 Remington, a stellar deer rifle. Comb guns are neat, but not really the best for a beginner. They are more of a 'survival' unit for people who have been hunting a long time. Of course, if that is what you really want, then go for it.

Take whatever hunter's/gun safety courses your State requires and never point your gun at anything you aren't willing to destroy.

Good luck.

H

Answer 10

First take a hunters safety course cause most states require this for a fisrt time hunting license and go from there. Cause some states say shotgun only and others allow high power rifles. Happy hunting!!