First rifle

[colin467]

i have been told to buy a 270 a 30-06 and a 7mm

but none have given me much of a reason for one over the other.

im going to be a first time hunter and would like better advice than "i use and like this one " or " its better " seems to be a huge debate

thanks

[Scott N]

Any of those will work, but the 30-06 will be most versatile in choices of ammo.

[twofifty]

If the gunstore clerk asks you if you want a 22LR rimfire with that, say yes.

[colin467]

thank you for the advice

i was getting frustrated with my friends and family

[colin467]

Originally Posted by twofifty

If the gunstore clerk asks you if you want a 22LR rimfire with that, say yes.

why is that

[Tactical Lever]

First rifle should be a .22. Do you have one of those yet? Shooting anything big gets tiresome/painful and expensive awfully quick.

If so, what do you want to hunt? What kind of terrain and at what kind of distances do you expect to shoot at? What action do you prefer? Is this going to be a "one gun" type of deal? What kind of recoil tolerance do you have? Will you reload, or just use factory ammunition? What kind of experience do you have?

[colin467]

Originally Posted by Tactical Lever

First rifle should be a .22. Do you have one of those yet? Shooting anything big gets tiresome/painful and expensive awfully quick.

If so, what do you want to hunt? What kind of terrain and at what kind of distances do you expect to shoot at? What action do you prefer? Is this going to be a "one gun" type of deal? What kind of recoil tolerance do you have? Will you reload, or just use factory ammunition? What kind of experience do you have?

new to it all taking the test on tuesday

plan on hunting deer and elk possibly moose

i live in central west alberta so prairies to mountains and forest for terrain

prefer 1 gun for a while atleast. and factory ammunition

recoil shouldnt be to bad of a problem im 25yr and 6"1 and in good shape

[colin467]

also going for a bolt action

[north american hunter]

I would go with 7mm, flat shooting, fast, good ballistics and very good on Alberta game.

[twofifty]

Originally Posted by colin467

why is that

PM sent.

Good luck on the test.

[colin467]

Thank you everyone for the advice

[catnthehat]

Any of them will be fine!
Good luck on finding one you like!
Take your time and consider each rifle you handle, do NOT buy a rifle without actually shouldering it first to see if it fits you decently.
The best, of course, is to find someone or or multiple people with the rifles you are thinking of buying and actually get to shoot them!
Cat

[Tactical Lever]

Originally Posted by colin467

new to it all taking the test on tuesday

plan on hunting deer and elk possibly moose

i live in central west alberta so prairies to mountains and forest for terrain

prefer 1 gun for a while atleast. and factory ammunition

recoil shouldnt be to bad of a problem im 25yr and 6"1 and in good shape

Get a .22 first. No one here picked up a gun for the first time and could automatically shoot competently. Many of us grew up with guns, shot tens of thousands of rounds; but if we didn't shoot for half a year, the shooting skill would go to crap.

500 rounds of .22 LR is about $28. You can comfortably shoot that in a day, any position. 500 rounds of 30-06 is about $550. After 50 rounds many seasoned riflemen will have a purple shoulder, a head ache and a flinch. They will then shoot 500 rounds of .22 to get it under control.

Never assume anything about recoil, many big guys can not handle what a female shooter will. Then again some guys can, usually by extensive shooting experience, including bigger rifles.

As far as the cartridge, I could tell you my favorites but it would not mean too much, there are trade offs for everything. It's just a collection of numbers dictated by bore size, powder charge, bullet shape and aerodynamics that I just decided meets my needs the best on that particular day. Mostly decided when I was about 12 from poring over ballistic tables in the back of old Guns & Ammo books.

Buy some books, like Hatcher's Notes, and some Gun Digests. Go shooting with friends and relatives. Decide what you are after.

[korie83]

Any of the calibers you mentioned are perfectly fine. Also consider 308win. Really marginal difference for what you want it for between any of those. Some might say the 270 is pushing it for big elk/moose.

I personally went with 30-06 for my first rifle, and its done everything I needed it too.

One thing I would suggest, stay away from magnums. You might be physically fine for the recoil, but its a great way to develop a flinch reaction since its your first rifle. Plus, unlikely you'll be doing 500yd + shots right out of the gate.

Choose whatever calibre sounds best to you, or whatever your local ammo supplier has more of on the shelf. Or flip a coin and make one side 30-06 and the other 308.

[korie83]

And oh yeah...

Like everyone else has said, buy a 22lr also. You'll end up with at least one eventually anyways. And they're great practice.

Look at Ruger 10/22 for semi; Savage and/or CZ for a bolt action.

[Flight01]

Like Cat said shoulder then gun and get a feel for how it fits you. My first gun was bought on looks and caliber(308win). Killed moose and deer. I then shot someone's Tikka T3 at the range one day in 270 win, that was a sweet little gun that fit me very well. I then decided to buy myself a tikka in 7mm rem mag. My tikka fits me well and I shoot it well. I won't say get exactly what I did or say one brand is better but definitely try some on. Family ,friends members at the range? Someone should be able to let you try out a few styles of guns and a few different chamberings as well . Anything from 270, 308, 30-06, 7mag, 300winmag would be fine for what you want.

Good luck and practice with that 22 everyone is telling you to buy

[*BigSexyHunter*]

I started out with a 30-06. Still love that caliber. But shoot a .300 WinMag now

I would stay away from the .270, Personal Preference

And X2 on the Ruger 10/22! You can have an unbelievable amount of fun with one! And a well-built, inexpensive gun!

[*BigSexyHunter*]

And one other thing,

Make sure the Ammo you use to sight in the gun, is the ammo you use. Switching ammo types is a big no-no. Each will shoot differently.
-I learned this the hard way.

I personally use Hornady Superformance
Pros- Fantastic Speed/Accuracy, Great overall quality, Even better bullet Retention
Cons- A bit pricy at $50 for a box of 20.

Happy shooting

[PartTimeHunter]

Originally Posted by colin467

new to it all taking the test on tuesday

plan on hunting deer and elk possibly moose

i live in central west alberta so prairies to mountains and forest for terrain

prefer 1 gun for a while atleast. and factory ammunition

recoil shouldnt be to bad of a problem im 25yr and 6"1 and in good shape

Here's an article that may help... http://www.chuckhawks.com/hard_kicking_cartridges.htm
There was another article comparing recoil numbers on several of the more popular cartridges from the .24's and up but I can't find it right now. Likely a can't see the forest for the trees thing but I don't see it

[Tactical Lever]

You may want to consider hunting small game first, some people are a lot more squeamish than they think they'll be.

When you are elbows deep in entrails, then is not the time to decide it's not for you.

[Ice Fishing Maniac]

Find some friends with a selection of calibers, goto the range and shoot them. See what you can shoot comfortably and accurately. No sense in over-caliber and you develop a flinch when you pull the trigger.

Goto the hunting stores and handle / shoulder up a few different rifle manufacturers and see what FITS you BEST. Then decide on the cosmetic stuff after. Everyone has their favorites in calibers and brands. (Me, Sako m75 and Tikka T3 rifles).

As for calibers, all will do their job IF you do yours! Shot placement is key, me, I prefer premium bullets for when hunting larger big game.

My 2 young nephews have taken bull elk with their 243 with 95gr bullets within past 2 years with their Savage Youth models. SHOT placement. One bull took 2 shots..both were double lung and dropped (shots were around 130 metres), the other bull was a single shot with lung and heart, dropped about 30 steps away. Shot was about 110 metres. So with my nephews, they proved me wrong in that a 243 could take an elk.

As for calibers, nothing wrong with starting with a 270, 7mm-08, or maybe a 6.5x55. The first 2 easy to find factory ammo on many small-town store shelves.

30-06 with 180gr bullets and you are set as well.

Maybe start on the smaller calibers, and then add another rifle/larger caliber to your gunsafe in a few years.

Have fun!

[colin467]

Originally Posted by Tactical Lever

You may want to consider hunting small game first, some people are a lot more squeamish than they think they'll be.

When you are elbows deep in entrails, then is not the time to decide it's not for you.

im not squeamish blood and guts dont bother me

[CptnBlues63]

All the above advice is excellent.

I just wanted to add, 30-06 or .308 would be my recommendation and the reason being (the reason I bothered adding my two cents) is you're going to be buying factory ammo to start and those two calibers will give you the widest variety of choices which also means better prices. While you're in sporting goods stores comparing firearms, compare ammo and prices too. Take a look at what 300 win mag or 7mm mag costs as compared to 30-06/308 and you'll see what I mean. There's a cost variance within each caliber too.

Definitely get a .22 They're fun to shoot and cheap to feed.

[Okotokian]

With regard to what you want to use it for, and keeping a lid on recoil, I think any of the following would work effectively. Differences in real world performance between them are subtle, or sometimes undetectable. You wouldn't go wrong or be seriously under-gunned with one over the other. Those with a * are particularly popular and have a wide array of ammo choices, but you can get ammo (and likely a fair number of choices) for all these in just about any store that sells a cartridge:

.270 winchester*
.280 remington
7mm-08 remington
.308 winchester*
.30-06 springfield*

Older cartridges like the .30-30 and .303 have been around for ages and can do the job (if somebody gives you one or you can pick one up for a song, use it!), but ammo availability is limited and performance is not to the standard of the previously listed choices. Still can be good starters.

Magnums and short magnums? Lots of folks here use them very effectively and can handle the recoil. I would just reccomend you not buy one BEFORE shooting someone else's in that caliber a fair bit so you know for sure that you are comfortable with it. You can't return it if you don't like it.

[colin467]

Thanks. I think I going to go with the 30-06 but gonna go fire my aunts to get a feel of it . Looked up the ammo and I see what you mean price wise

Thank you all

[missingtwo]

Originally Posted by colin467

Thanks. I think I going to go with the 30-06 but gonna go fire my aunts to get a feel of it . Looked up the ammo and I see what you mean price wise

Thank you all

The design of the stock will have more to do with felt recoil than the cartridge, to a point.
My suggestion is go with 30-06 for reasons mentioned, then go shoulder some guns to see which fit best.

[twofifty]

I wish there was a way to explain to Colin what a well fitting rifle feels like, esp. since gun store rifles don't have scopes on them. Shouldering a sightless rifle does not adequately test cheek weld & ease of getting the eye instantly lined up with the scope...

Anyone care to give it a try?

[Flatlandliver]

Originally Posted by twofifty

I wish there was a way to explain to Colin what a well fitting rifle feels like, esp. since gun store rifles don't have scopes on them. Shouldering a sightless rifle does not adequately test cheek weld & ease of getting the eye instantly lined up with the scope...

Anyone care to give it a try?

Lots of good advise here. I always throw in buy the rifle you will want to keep forever too. As far as fit, you sure know when it doesn't feel right but your point is a good one, balance without the scope is different as well. Places like the shooting center in Calgary do have scoped rifles to try though.

[colin467]

Thanks and there are a few places around here that sell riffles with scopes already on them
I'll be sure to see how it feels

[Flatlandliver]

Originally Posted by colin467

Thanks and there are a few places around here that sell riffles with scopes already on them
I'll be sure to see how it feels

Avoid the cheaper package deals like the plague though.
After you find the rifle you want, I would check out the buy and sell here.
There are some very good deals there on experienced rifles.