300 yard deer rifle?

[lrb111]

I'm really out of the loop on hunting rifles. I would like a bolt or lever gun. Accurate at least to 300 yards, maybe to 500, and capable of taking arge game.. What caliber?
The last rifle i had with any real power was a winchester lever .308. The same gun is now going for near $700 used.

Are their rifles capable of this kind of shooting in the $400 range?
all suggestions welcome.

[anygunanywhere]

I'm really out of the loop on hunting rifles. I would like a bolt or lever gun. Accurate at least to 300 yards, maybe to 500. What caliber?
The last rifle i had with any real power was a winchester lever .308. The same gun is now going for near $700 used.

Are their rifles capable of this kind of shooting in the $400 range?
all suggestions welcome.

I have a Savage Mod 11 I bought for a little over $400 in 300 WInchester Short Magnum that would do you fine. It has the Accutrigger too. Similar ballistics to the 300 MAgnum.

Bought at Academy.

Anygunanywhere

[mrvmax]

My Weatherby Vanguard in 7mm mag does fine. I think the S&W I-bolt, Thompson ICON, Rem 700 and several others would fit your needs. Do some searches, there are several guns that are reasonably priced that would work.

[RiverRat]

on the Savage 11. Got one in 30.06 . Very happy with it.

[flintknapper]

on the Savage 11. Got one in 30.06 . Very happy with it.

The Savage is an excellent value....but there are other offerings (Remington, Weatherby, etc) that have rifles in that price range also. Most modern rifles are acceptably accurate to 200 yds. and beyond for deer sized animals, so with the right ammo any of them can be sufficiently accurate at 300.

What caliber to pick is largely a personal thing....but considerations should be given to trajectory, energy figures, recoil, and availability of ammo.

The poster does not say what kind of deer he wants to hunt or where. Of course, this might help decide what type rifle and caliber he settles on. There are great differences between deer in Florida (or the Hill Country of Texas) and those in Midwestern States or Canada.

Some whitetail deer are really not much larger than a good sized dog, while others can easily top 300 lbs. (not to mention Mule Deer). Another consideration is whether or not the rifle will be called upon to do "double duty", perhaps used to take larger or smaller game.

As far as a "dedicated" deer rifle goes (out to 300 yds.), I would look for something that propels a bullet (120gr to 165gr) at about (2700fps to 3000fps) at the muzzle. This will include a large number of calibers, but all will have a suitable trajectory for longer shots...while still retaining enough energy to get the job done (assuming good shot placement).

I have nothing against the "magnums" (shot a .338 Win mag. for many years), but they are not necessary IMO. The exception being... for larger deer at extreme ranges (400-500 yds.) but these shots are rare and competent marksmen even rarer these days.

My personal favorite is a 7mm-08 (good to 500 yds.), but many other rounds (.308, .270, 25-06, 30-06 and others) have proven themselves as well.

Everyone has a favorite.

Flint.

[lrb111]

Savage model 11 with Accu-trigger it is. I was looking at the Weatherby, and the Savage was the same price with the fabled trigger.
I checked the net for .300 wsm ammo, and the pickins were slim. Checked on .308 and there are train loads.
Leupold rings and bases. They have a Nikon scope on sale, but by the time I was ready to be escorted, I had forgotten.
Mrs. lrb111 has her birthday tomorrow, and she won't tell me what she wants. I'm thinking .308 loading dies, but I bet I better pull a rabbit out of the hat.

kidding, like lots of others here, bulking up on ammo, and grabbing while the prices are low is part of her agenda, too.

[gmckinl]

Are their rifles capable of this kind of shooting in the $400 range? all suggestions welcome.

Please don't take this the wrong way.

Rifles that are capable - perhaps. But more importantly are YOU capable? I don't care how you do at the range. Can YOU take your rifle and hit a paper plate 9 times out of 10 at 300 yards under field conditions? Field conditions meaning no rest or an unstable rest (sittiing using one knee w/ that foot on a wobbly surface), thirty degrees and you are shivering, do you know the wind drift for your load, can you accurately gauge the wind all the way to the target, maybe a little sun in your eyes, add in some pressure because the deer is about to disappear into some cover, add in some pressure that this is a living breathing animal that will suffer a painful and possible fatal wound that takes days to resolve if you don't put the bullet into the proper place for ANY reason, can you accurately guess 300 yards across unknown ground (n/a if you have a rangefinder and the time to use it)? Point being, it's not at all the same as shooting at paper.

This is the voice of experience talking. My normal TX deer stand has a measured shooting distance of just over 320 yards down a fence line. I've only lost one deer in forty years of hunting; it was right around or just under the 300 yd mark. I found blood/bone and we spent hours looking. That is the sickest feeling you can imagine. Something to consider.

Levers are out IMO. Mainstream bores/calibers in bolt or single shots should be fine: 25-06, 270, 280, 7x57, 7mm-08, 7mm Mag, 308, 30-06, 300 Mags, etc.

Can you get one for $400? Doubtful, even used. The $400 figure gets you a good scope (maybe, and just barely); you want a good one for this. Suggestion - price out a new Rem 700 in 270/30-06, Leupold 2-7 or 3-9 scope, bases, and rings; figure out what you would sell this rig for after having bought it new and used it for 5-10 years. That's a pretty mainstream combo.

Good luck and good hunting

[gmckinl]

A quick search through Midway...

Leupold VX-II Rifle Scope 2-7x 33mm Duplex Reticle Matte
Product #: 237915
Our Price: $299.99

Leupold VX-II Rifle Scope 3-9x 40mm Duplex Reticle Matte
Product #: 549804
Our Price: $299.99

Leupold VX-III Rifle Scope 2.5-8x 36mm Duplex Reticle Gloss
Product #: 132768
Our Price: $399.99

Don't forget to budget funds for the scope. You got lots of good suggestions on $400 rifles, but you still have to add the scope (excepting a few package deals). I would have some reservations about those scopes in the package deals.

[lrb111]

I got the rifle last night. Going to shoot a little today with a cheap scope, just to hear it go bang. We have plenty of yardage at our range.

The .308 I had 35 years ago had Leupold on it. I gave a $100 for it back then. Loved it.
Thanks for the Midway links. Optics are just incredible quality now compared to 30 years ago.

ETA: fwiw, the rifle was $469 + tax = $500. scope bases rings and a 100 rounds, totaled $692.

[gmckinl]

I got the rifle last night. Going to shoot a little today with a cheap scope, just to hear it go bang. We have plenty of yardage at our range.

Well, it's Sunday night. How 'bout a range report?

[lrb111]

Overall I'm pleased with the gun itself. The scope on the other hand, is junk. It would not respond to any degree of correction via the dials.

The gun repeated 3 shot firings with no more than a half inch spread on the groups at 100 yards. It is a black synthetic stock, and comes with a very soft recoil pad installed. So, there is noticable recoil, but not objectionable.
I didn't notice a lot of variance in shot placement as the barrel heated through 20 rounds. I believe it is a free floating barrel. It was just that the scope adjustment would not work. So, all shots were 3 inches right, and 6 inches low.
Sweet trigger pull out of the box.
A couple fellows there had the Nikon BDC scopes on their ARs. They let me try them and they were suitable to the 200yd sighting range we were using. Nikon 6320, $159 @ Academy.

I stopped by Academy for a sling, and the Nikon scope. I can laser bore sight it here at the house, and get back to the range next week. I'll move over to the high power range. We have longer yardages there, as well as intermediate distances.

[WarHawk-AVG]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34RqMoyMZmI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Any/all rifles should be able to shoot 300 yards..you want enough energy downrange to kill the deer instead of wound it and have it run off and die and rot in some brush

Even a beat up POS Mosin Nagant with good handloaded or Match ammo can hit out really far

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDIypxgwzXs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

These milsurp old school rifles you see shooting lousy groups...its because they are shooting OOOOOOLD milsurp handloaded stuff from 40-50 years ago

Get a handfull of brass, some good powder and primers, some decent bullets, handload and see how well they shoot!

Heck check this out
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/edu63.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Out of a beat up POS Mosin Nagant 91/30
50 yard grouping with poor mans cork barrel bedding with almost 60 year old milsurp ammo!!!

My buddy hand loaded some .223 from his old milsurp brass..his groups went from almost 2MOA (2" groups at 100 yards) to 1/4"MOA (all 5 shots were within 1/4" on his target at 100 yards) your ammo is one of the biggest accuracy keys there is

You want to punch holes in paper..get milsurp and make smoke..you want to shoot massive tight groups..handload!