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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 (edited )

A 22lr is a must have. Especially when introducing shooting to others.

As for rifles and hunting, figure out where and what you're hunting. 50-150 yard shots on white tail is a very different thing from 300 yard elk or moose shots.

For things like medium size game and short distances (50-150 yard shots), don't discount 30-30 or 300 blackout (pretty close ballistics). The nice thing about 300 blackout is that it gets you into an AR frame where you need only change the barrel (easy change with whole upper assembly) and you've got 5.56. Same mags and lower and trigger and so on.

If you're going after larger game, something in 30-06 or 308 is a good option. Unless you're shooting past 400 yards (I doubt, especially for hunting), you really don't need anything special. It's when you're reaching out 500-1200 yards when you need higher end gear. Optics alone gets pricey.

What is it you want to hunt and the terrain and expected shooting distances?

[–] • 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.

[–] • 1 pt

I have a AR in .450 Bushmaster will take any large game in N America under 200 yards.

[–] • 1 pt

I bet! What does that cost to pull the trigger?

[–] • 0 pt

20 rounds is like 40 bucks or so. Whats great is when we had the buying surge during the riots. Ammo was gone. Except .450 Bushmaster haha!