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Buying recommendations

I am in the market for a couple rifles: one for my boy and one for me.

For background and context: I have little hunting experience and currently own a shotgun only used for occasional trap shooting. We will be practicing for a while at a range and have plans to hunt deer later this year. After a little reading, i chose a Savage AXIS II XP Compact (243) and a Browning AB3 Composite Stalker (30-06). However, once i tried pricing them out, I found very limited availability online.

Primarily, I would like recommendations for places to shop. I would also appreciate any comments or suggestions for both my gun and round selections. Any other suggestions are more than welcome (I will be buying all sorts of gear for this camping/fishing/hunting trip). I am just starting to plan this, so even the destination (currently VA federal forest) is subject to change.

After writing this, I now wonder if it is worth buying a 22lr rifle for the range to save on ammo cost.

Thank you.

Edit: All but one capital letter was replaced as lower case.

I am in the market for a couple rifles: one for my boy and one for me. For background and context: I have little hunting experience and currently own a shotgun only used for occasional trap shooting. We will be practicing for a while at a range and have plans to hunt deer later this year. After a little reading, i chose a Savage AXIS II XP Compact (243) and a Browning AB3 Composite Stalker (30-06). However, once i tried pricing them out, I found very limited availability online. Primarily, I would like recommendations for places to shop. I would also appreciate any comments or suggestions for both my gun and round selections. Any other suggestions are more than welcome (I will be buying all sorts of gear for this camping/fishing/hunting trip). I am just starting to plan this, so even the destination (currently VA federal forest) is subject to change. After writing this, I now wonder if it is worth buying a 22lr rifle for the range to save on ammo cost. Thank you. Edit: All but one capital letter was replaced as lower case.

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[–] • 1 pt

Thanks for the info. I knew jumping into this, I had a lot to learn and consider. I only glanced at the AR platform to see prices around $1500, though I love the flexibility. I will take a closer look at the options.

At this point and for the next couple years, a >200 yard shot is highly unlikely, so for hunting (deer or smaller for now) I could just pick up a 20 gauge for my son and 22s for target practice. I suppose I was looking for something that we could use for target practice and hunting and settled on those two guns.

I am still learning about when to use the different ammo. I read some articles about using the 243 for small-medium game like coyotes/deer and the 30-06 didn't seem much bigger, so I figured we would have our bases covered between the two.

[–] • 1 pt

For that type of hunting, something like 300 blackout or 30-30 are great options. My brother deer and hog hunts with 300 blkout. Longest is around 120 yards. No problems. And that will get you into an AR frame.

A 30-30 lever will get you a cheaper entry and is equally effective at these ranges. A nice 4x or 6x is plenty, if you want optics.

Use the 22lr for practice and skill development. Something like a marlin 795 (iirc) for out of box accuracy or 10/22 if you plan to customize or go fancy.

Pretty easy to dress most things up.

https://www.boydsgunstocks.com

Imoho, shotguns with 00 or slug are great when dinner on the table depends on it. It is old school for a reason. Otherwise use a rifle and develop those skills.