Rifles for new hunter

[Azshios84]

Hey, This is my first thread on this website.
So im looking at rifles for long range varmint hunting, and maybe some deer hunting. (Maybe not a ridiculous far out yardage, But something like 500ish.) My top recommendations have been the .25-06 or the 22-250. Reason being my family has reloading dies for both of these calibers. Im wanting a really good tack driving rifle. I currently have a Remington 700 SPS in .223, but looking for a slightly larger caliber. The rifles im looking at now are the Savage 111LRH in 25-06, or another Rem 700. On the Savage it has a thin barrel from what I can tell, and I was worried about that for varmint hunting. Please help. Any suggestions? Thanks for your responses. =D
-Azshios

 

[BradArnett]

Don't worry about a "thin" barrel, the interior matters far more than the exterior. don't get hung up on the "light barrels don't shoot" thing. Which twist does your 223 have? You can run them farther than you think, I've shot whitetails to 300yds and "varmints" to 600yds with the 223/223AI. It's all about the bullet.

 

[Azshios84]

I think it has a 12" barrel twist. But I really dont know. I bought it used at a Cabelas in our state. Im really not happy with this rifle. Ive taken it to gunsmiths and Sportsmens/Cabelas etc etc. Whenever I load a round into the chamber I have to really force the bolt to close all the way. Ive cleaned the inside of the chamber meticulously and the same thing has happened. Ive tried a ton of different rounds and varieties. Hand loaded and factory ammo. But my family recommends a 25-06 or a 22-250 because we do have the dies and id rather shoot hand loaded rounds vs paying a ton for factory ammo.

 

[NCBoy]

This is my opinion only, but dies are cheap. Many times you can buy them used and the cost of them should not really enter into your decision. To me, I would concentrate on what you want and worry about the dies later. I will tell you that I love my two main guns. I have a Remmington 260 and a 7MM WSM. Both are highly versatile and shoot wonderfully for long ranges. Look ahead to what you want to do and then choose the caliber that does it the best for you. If you are mainly hunting deer I would go a little bigger than the 25-06. This is just my opinion.

 

[Azshios84]

Alright thanks. Im not going to only be hunting deer. Im gonna be mostly rock chucks and target shooting. Ive been shooting my uncles 25-06 and I really liked it. Our rock chucks are just now coming out and we've been plinking them from about 500 yards with his rifle. I really, really, really liked his rifle. But ive just been really disappointed with my current rifle, and no one seems to figure out whats wrong with it. I just want a accurate flat shooting rifle. A friend recommended the Savage 111 LRH, But like I said im a little bit worried about the light barrel. Because from what ive heard its a really hot burning round and I would assume it would heat up the barrel pretty quickly.

 

[Azshios84]

And the main reason about the dies is because I cant afford factory ammo, And my family can do reloading for cheaper. But thats the main reason.

 

[ntg]

You don't indicate where you're hunting or are from, but I'd go w/ the 25-06....unless you're only going to shoot under-deer size animals. I have a 22/250 and love it but, i'd like more of a "fudge factor" than you'll get shooting deer w/ the 22/250. If you're just shooting small deer (so. whitetails) under 100lbs, you'll be fine with the 22/250 or a 223 as mentioned above. I hunt mulies, and they're a tough critter. I've seen some put up quite a fight even after a .243 with a good hit. The 25-06 gives you more punch for deer especially if you're going to reach out there a ways to "touch" them. My two bits.

 

[Fiftydriver]

If your strictly varmint hunting, if you want to stick with a factory rifle, I would take a hard look at the Savage varmint rifles in 22-250 with the 1-9 twist. This would allow you to shoot the 69 to 75 grain bullets. The 75 gr A-Max is a great varmint bullet and really boosts the long range performance of the 22 caliber rounds over conventional bullet weights.

There are much better out there for shear long range performance but in all reality, a 22-250 loaded to top pressures with a 75 gr A-max would be more impressive then any 25-06 load with conventional bullets in that chambering and do so with much less recoil and fuss.

For deer hunting, you would likely be better served with the 25-06 for sure but its alot of gun for a varmint rifle, especially a high volume varmint rifle.

For an all around rifle for varmint and deer hunting, the 243 Win would be very hard to beat. You can load up the 55-58 gr bullets to +4000 fps for amazing varmint popping. You can load up the 105 gr long range match bullets and get legit 1000 yard reach in good conditions if the rifles up to it or you can use the 80 to 100 gr big game bullets and it performs very well on deer size game out oto 400 yards or so.

Low recoil, easy to load, lots of bullet choices and relatively easy on barrels unless you get the barrels hot and keep shooting. It would be a great dual purpose choice.

In a factory rifle, you would be hard pressed to get a rifle that will shoot any better then the Savage rifles. Being a rifle manufacturer, obviously my rifles are all custom built but I have to say that on average, Savage rifles are very hard to beat accuracy wise and they are generally very cost effective compared to some of the other brands out there that offer no better accuracy. In fact most will not shoot with the Savage rifles for much more investment in the rifles.

 

[matt_3479]

There is almost no point In the 22-250 for your situation. I was in the same spot. I wanted a 600 yard varmint gun with a possibly for deer. I got the 243.win. I would normally suggest it to you but since you have a die for the 25-06 that's your better bet.

 

[Mikecr]

Someone should atleast mention to you that there is more to 'tack driving' performance than cutting a check for a rifle.
If that's all you do, probability is near nothing that you'll be doing any tack driving..

To get an idea about efforts involved take a look around here,
and here: Gun of the Week Index--Custom 6mm BR Rifles for Benchrest, F-class, 1000 yard and Varminting.

 

[Azshios84]

Thanks for the Replies All;
Ive been talking to some guys and the highly recommend the 308 or 6.5x284 or 6.5 Creedmore (I think thats the lapua round. Not sure) ... Im really leaning towards one of those so I can take down deer and pretty much any other thing I can hunt in my area (Idaho). Ive really been considering Savage rifles, Im still deciding between the Savage 10 FCP HS Precision or the Savage 10 Precision Carbine. These two are my two most recommended rifles so far... But truthfully I wont be hunting all that much except for chucks/rabbits/varmints and then target shooting. I was looking at scopes also and I was thinking about a Vortex or Leupold. People have been recommending the Vortex for the price and the great warranty. But thats just what ive gathered in the last few weeks...
Please say your ideas/opinions. =D Just trying to figure out what people think would be good. Thanks -Azsh

 

[jlamb]

The Savage LRH only has a 1 in 10" twist barrel which will limit the "tack driving" to 90 grain bullets. However, Hornady now makes the GMX monolithic 90 grain which will stablalize in the 1 in 10" twist. This would be perfect for deer.

As per coyote rounds, my favorite is my 25-06 using Speer 87 grain TNT's. They are very accurate (.4" average group) out to 300 yards. They are also very explosive (more fun!).

My dad used to load it up with 87 grain spitzers for deer and took quite a few with the load. I personally want at least 120 grain bullets for that size of an animal. Buy some H4350 or H4831 and give it a try.

 

[strombeckj]

+1 for a .243 as Fiftydriver said. Dies are cheap.

 

[Mr.Moa]

Kirby hit the nail on the head. you can't beat savage for the factory accuracy. Just my opinion but out of the guns youve said i like the 111 lrh. Haven't shot one but ive played with them. It has the extra bells and whistles like the adjustable muzzlebreak and cheekplate. I would look into the 6.5-284 Norma. Its a great caliber from what i hear. If you want go check out my forum on out of the box accuracy about 9 out of 10 are savage.