Thanks - very good to know.
Man, I have so many things to buy for all of this...
I may have missed it but what game are you going to hunt? The way to figure out what ammo you want to use starts with picking the game to be hunted and the maximum range at which a shot is likely to be taken. Then one looks at bullet weight, and finally picks a cartridge that shoots that bullet weight with enough muzzle velocity to bring down the game at the max range.
Having the cartridge and bullet weight decided, the type of bullet is next.
After that it is a matter of what the rifle likes to shoot.
For deer hunting there are lots and lots of good bullets. That said, it's hard to beat the Barnes TTSX bullet. For varmints there are lots of good bullets - for me V-max and Ballistic Tip have worked the best.
Finallly there is being able to actually shoot the rifle well enough that the test shooting will yield results. If I were starting all this today, I'd start with a .22LR in a good make known for being able to shoot tiny groups, for example a CZ452 or CZ453 with a 3-9x40 scope on it, learn to shoot it well enough that I could distinguish between brands of ammo. Develope good habits. Hunt some small game with it. Then I'd move up to what ever cartridge and rifle works for the intended game.
That's how I got started decades ago - shoot a .22LR at paper targets, tin cans, rocks, and small game. Shot thousands of rounds of that at various things toting a Winchester Pump around in the woods. I also got to shoot my Dad's Winchester Model 52 sporter quite a bit. Loved that rifle. Shot lots of squirrels, rabbbits and rats with it. And one big nasty woodchuck out by the chicken coop.
There are a number of rifles that advertise shooting less than an inch with Factory ammo. That's plenty accurate enough for deer sized game to several hundred yards in the right cartridge.
My nephews have been successfully deer hunting for 16 years now. One of them has a 7mmMAG - he buys 150g Rem Cor Lokt ammo by the box. A box every three years or so and gets 10 to 15 deer per box. The other own uses 150g Core Lokt in what ever .30-06 he can borrow and gets 10 to 15 deer per box.
If deer hunting is the goal, and money is the constraint - buy a Stevens 200 in .30-06 with a 3-9x40 scope in the $200.00 porice range, a couple of boxes of Rem Core Lokt, and go get some meat. If you can shoot that will get you into the field able to shoot deer at ranges of 300 yards or less point blank range for less than $700.00 including the deer license. Work into it from there.
Given the generality of your question, that's about as specific as I can get.
Fitch
