New to the sport. Advice needed

[Irishdc]

A little background on me. I have been an avid hunter and fisherman since I was a young kid. My first firearm was my grandpas old Steven Savage .22/.410 that is what i learned to hunt with. As I got older various 22's 870 and rem 1100 3' mag gun found there way in to my collection. found my myself getting more in to shotgun pursuits. Then a strange thing happened this summer I competed in the Air Rifle contest at the Nationals at Camp Perry. That hooked me big time for precision shooting.

I have never had a center fire rifle since I live in NW Ohio we can only use slug guns. However we also have Cabin in Grayling Michigan where I can use center fire rifle. So the bug is hitting time to start buying just not sure what to buy. We have a 200 acre farm that we hunt, i have taken deer, rabbit ducks and geese and pheasant off the farm. But over the past few years coyotes have had an impact in the small game numbers.

Criteria:
use on coyotes and ground hogs for sure, possibly deer in upper Michigan
plinking for the challenge of long range shooting
something that can "grow" with me as i get better I love to tinker and modify.
I am leaning towards a stevens gun due to price and after market parts.
not sure what caliber would like to be able to shoot at a reasonable cost when it comes to ammo and barrel life.

i AM OPEN TO ALL SUGGESTIONS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO OFFER

[winmag]

Well,
Id recomend anything in the 243, 260rem, various 6.5's, 270wsm......... the list could go on for a looooooooooooooong way. Are you planning more for coyotes and target, or more of a deer gun that has good barrel life, and can double as a target/varmint rifle, kinda like a 308? Theres a hundred ways from Sunday you could go and none of them wrong. Im not much of a smallbore guy,-although its a riot-, but most of my hunting is for Deer, Elk, and Bear, varmints are targets of opportunity in my case, so most of my rifles "overlap" for intended use.
Ill bet a varmint hunter, or small bore guy will jump in any second and help get you squared away.
Good luck, theres alot of great choices out there........... man, I just realised I need more guns to be a more rounded shooter..........

By the way, Welcome to L/R/H!! Hpoe you like it here

[Irishdc]

i am looking for more varmint and long range target, but occasional deer. I was leaning to .223 if only going to varmint hunt. But not sure what to go from there since .223 isn't good enough for deer.

[Buffalobob]

Id recomend anything in the 243, 260rem, various 6.5's, 270wsm.........

I would agree with that.

Being as you got into this because of precision shooting you might look at the Savage F-class rifles which can do double duty. A little heavy for hunting but managable and very competitive on the range even against custom rifles.

[Irishdc]

of the above which one would be the most economical to shoot and good for learning to hand load?

[mkg]

Originally Posted by Irishdc

of the above which one would be the most economical to shoot and good for learning to hand load?

If it were me I'd opt for a Savage model 16 or 12 ( 16 is lighter than the 12 ) Stainless and synthetic ( 16) or stainless and laminate (12) .

243 would be a great round . I shoot three different loads depending on the hunt . 70 gr. Nosler ballistic tips for coyotes and varmints . 95 grn. Bergers and 105 A-max for deer.
There is a lot of good brass available for 243 ( lapua etc.. ) and a great selction of 6mm bullets.
Varget for the lighter bullets and H-4350 for the heavier stuff.
Factory ammo is availble just about anywhere.

Mike

[Irishdc]

I am thinking more and more towards a 243 as a starting point. Now what am I gonna need when it comes to scopes and reloading?