Im new and in need of Advice.

[Boons]

Hey guys.
Im new to the site and im in need of some advice.Im in the market for "My" first rifle.Latley ive been shooting my dads 303 Lee Enfeild and personally its a bitch to shoot.It has a brass stock plate that slides out of your shoulder if its not just right,the bolt profusley jams,no scope it just has iron sights,barrels rusting and i could go on...Im realy looking at the the Weatherby Vangaurd line or Savage Hunter Series.The Weatherby looks like the most BANG for my buck with their Synthetic Package Synthetic Package | Weatherby.com.
In Alberta i got everything kind of north american game there has to offer.Mainly ill be hunting Deer (Mule,White Tail),Elk,and Moose.So my question is i want a round that will bring everything down with out busting the bank or my shoulder?

 

[Supertrucker]

Savage, Leupold 3-9x40, Talley Alloy scope mounts. Caliber? 30/06

 

[Tony 0321]

Remington 700 XCR in the 300 win mag it shoots really well and costs under 1000$ has a great recoil pad and wont rust I have one and with hand loads I can shoot under .5 moa with it I have taken everything from small caribou and black bear to a 56 inch moose... There is a wide range of bullets and they are all easy to find..
I also have a remington 700 xcr in 300 RUM and it has nothing but a muzzle break added to it and I shoot it out past 800 yds with excelent accuracy but it has a little more kick

 

[dontpokethebear]

For a first rifle I will have to second the Savage and if you are worried about recoil I don't think you could beat a 30.06 you will have plenty enough gun for anything you will shoot and ammo is half the price of many others so you will be able to pratice for a lot less money and for a first rifle that is the most important thing because without good pratice it will not matter what kind of gun or cal. you are shooting. Good Luck

 

[cdoubleu]

I would recommend the 7mm Remington Mag. It's a great long range round coupled with the right bullet. With a Berger 168gr VLD (need a 1:10" or tighter twist, HSM makes an outstanding factory round with this bullet) it's got plenty of ummmph to drop a deer or elk as far as you can accurately shoot. It's also no worse on your shoulder than a 30-06, but in nearly any factory round configuration out-performs a similarly loaded 30-06, giving the shooter a little more slop in range and wind corrections and more downrange energy. Handloading is the same for the 7mm, but I assume with a first personal rifle you're not there yet. Both the Savage and Weatherby are fine facorty rifles. The Savage's action is great if you ever want to upgrade it with a premium barrel, there are barrel makers out their that make drop-ins for it that your gunsmith could install very quickly and easily (read cheaply). Teddy Roosevelt killed pretty much everything that walked the earth from North America to Africa with a 30-06, so with that said, either is an adequate round for your desires. If you get much larger of a case powder capacity and you might have to worry about building a flinch from recoil (assuming a lack of a muzzle brake) and your accuracy and therefore your personal effective range are lessened. I'm not He-Man or macho about gun calibers, It's my opinion to get as large and efficient of bullet as you can comfortably shoot that will put the game down when it comes to a multi-purpose big game rifle. I don't like muzzle brakes for hunting because they make it (IMO) intolerable to the ear of anyone around you including yourself (I don't wear hearing protection hunting unless I am staked out on a hill side and in the prone position, then the blast of a muzzle brake throws all sorts of crap up in your face), so that effects the caliber of rifle I shoot for hunting.

 

[AJ Peacock]

I've harvested dozens of animals with the 7mm Rem Mag and it is a fine cartridge. The 30-06 is also a great round that although is a bit smaller than the 7mm, it has some benefits like tons of ammo available etc.

But, there are better cartridges out there for an all around rifle. If I had your dilemna, I'd get a Savage [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Model 11FCNS [/FONT]in 300WSM. Especially if I reloaded. If you don't reload, the 30-06 is very hard to beat.

The 300WSM is more efficient than the 30-06, it is equal if not better from an energy perspective than the 7mm Rem Mag. It is a short action, which makes the rifle a little shorter/lighter.

The model 11fcns has a box magazine and the Accutrigger. You will also have a great platform to build upon in the future if you wear the barrel out, or just want to experiment with other calibers. (you can change the barrel's on a Savage with only minimal effort and a couple cheap hand tools).

AJ

 

[BountyHunter]

+1 on the WSM and the savage

BH

 

[Boons]

Recoil isnt that big of deal to me.I Shoot skeet,and upland hunt ever year and the recoil of a 12g isnt even noticable anymore but thats about as much as i would want to go for recoil.Ive shot my brothers 300WSM and quite liked it.Im seriously thinking about 300 mag or 300WSM.