Best first rifle for hunting

[ChrisS]

I have never been hunting before but would like to this up coming fall. I'm looking for my first rifle. I would like to stay under $500 so that I will be able to afford it before the season starts and get in at least a few weeks practice. Any other advice or links would be greatly appreciated as well.

[Rob]

Remington 700

[Slim]

Remington 700

This!

Short of hunting large African game, you can get a Rem 700 in the right caliber for anything you want to hunt.

Speaking of which, what do you want to hunt?

[DooLittle]

Grew up with my family elk hunting, no clue what they used. Hubby got me a gun for bird hunting, (again, not exactly sure what), that I haven't had time to use. Love to shoot though. About the time I started getting good at hitting the clay pigeons we would run out. I have fond memories of hunting with my family as a child though. Hope some people chime in with ideas though...

[youbeyouibei]

Remington 700's aren't the finest weapons ever made but they're pretty utilitarian and will function just fine for most any animal you could hunt in North America that you'd need a rifle for. Are you going bird hunting (upland/waterfowl) or deer or prairie dog or...? Depending on what you're hunting, that would dictate what kind of weapon you'd want, lol!

I'd say look at used weapons; you can pick up some pretty nice guns cheap, if you know what you're looking for or can find someone who will go with you to help you pick one out. Don't jump in with both feet and buy top of the line until you know that you're going to enjoy it...once that sale is complete, even if you never fire the weapon or even leave the store with it, it's considered used. BATF regs and stores both will considered it a "used" weapon once you complete the purchase. Anyway, hope that helps and doesn't confuse the issue, lol! Let us know what you decide and be safe and have fun!

[Trackstrong83]

My first rifle was a Remington model 7 243. It's not the most powerful rifle, but it will drop a mule deer in its tracks. Being the model 7 it is meant to carry up mountains, hills, etc, so it is SUPER light. I've had it for 16 years and it's never let me down through the rain, mud, snow, and blazing heat.

[cmack91]

What are you hunting?

Have you been shooting/ how good of a shot are you?

How much recoil can you handle?

For someone thats never even shot, and assuming your deer hunting, I would suggest a .30-06. You can get heavy rounds that are still high velocity, and as long as you can hit somewhere in center mass, whatever you shoot is going down pretty quick.

And a very important thing to keep in mind, is to use the same ammo during practice and sighting in as you are going to use while hunting, that way you have the same trajectory out in the field.

Also, hollowpoints are your friend

[AK907]

What are you hunting?

Have you been shooting/ how good of a shot are you?

How much recoil can you handle?

For someone thats never even shot, and assuming your deer hunting, I would suggest a .30-06. You can get heavy rounds that are still high velocity, and as long as you can hit somewhere in center mass, whatever you shoot is going down pretty quick.

And a very important thing to keep in mind, is to use the same ammo during practice and sighting in as you are going to use while hunting, that way you have the same trajectory out in the field.

Also, hollowpoints are your friend

Good suggestions and questions, but I would NOT recommend standard hollowpoints for hunting at all! Most standard factory hollowpoints are designed to expand rapidly and not penetrate. Basically they are cheaply made bullets with a cool name. These can cause a lot of blood shot meat and/or inadequate penetration resulting in a wounded animal. This might be ok if you're hunting varmints like prairie dogs or groundhogs where you're just out to watch them splatter, but for big game you'll want a bullet that provides a controlled expansion and good weight retention. I swear by Barnes X bullets. Nosler Partitions and Failsafes are great as well and I have used both before. These were designed for hunting and most manufacturers offer loads like these designed specifically for hunting big game. Most standard bullets were designed for paper targets.

Another question:

What kind of terrain are you going to be hunting in? Seeing as the OP has NC as their location, I'm going to assume they will be hunting in mostly wooded areas, generally at close range (under 200 yards). If that is the case and this will be for hunting whitetail and similar stuff, a .30-30 might be a good choice and they can usually be handled by even smaller/inexperienced shooters. Marlin 336 comes in .30-30 and are great, lightweight little brush guns that are perfect for hunting deer sized stuff in heavy brush.

[cmack91]

Good points, I guess I could have specified which hollowpoints too. Sometimes I forget about all the crappy ammo out there lol.

[pigfat]

It really depends on what you're wanting to hunt. A lot of people use a .223 for smaller game like hogs and what not. It packs a pretty good punch and not hardly any recoil. I hog hunt with my AR15....plus it's a blast to shoot!!! You can get a flat top DPMS for about $600...I know it's a little outside your goal but just food for thought!


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