I am in the market for a new deer rifle, and looking for some ideas.

I am not set on caliber yet but I am leaning towards a 25-06 or 270 since for texas hunting either of those should be plenty of take down power

I am not a rich guy with tons of money to spend on this but in the perfect world I dont want a plastic gun(not against it either but not my first choice although upgradeable later) and would love a bull barrel but those are not easy to find.

Any suggestions for a budget gun that is good bang for the buck without having to upgrade parts right off the bat. I am looking at new and used and really only for the rifle I have a scope to put on it. Also if new any good places to find them at? I am in the dfw area but am in the tyler/palestine area often too.

FYI, There is a Ruger M77 in .270 with what looks like a Tasco scope in the trading forum for $450. Looks clean/almost new condition and that's a good price. I would buy it if I didn't already have the same one.

Encore is a great place to start and add barrels later. Usually some on this site.

25-06.....as you posted, 7mm-08 would be my choice though.

280 is a 7mm bullet in an 06 case . Just another idea.

Ruger M77 in 270. Buy it used and save some money.

As far as a do all caliber for Texas sized critters I chose the 270 WCF in 1969 over a 243 and 25/06 that I also owned at the time and have enjoyed the "ride" ever since.

You can find 270 ammo anywhere in a wide range of price points and bullet quality's, along with 30'06 & 30/30...and mebbe a 243 too nowdays. Not to say that there aren't other good "deer" calibers...just not another do all caliber like a 270 for under 400lb thin skinned non dangerous critters , and I currently shoot 3 other calibers at deer/hog sized critters as well just for funsies...but I will all ways own a 270.

270 has been around long enough and is popular enough that the ammo mfg'ers have developed many choices in bullets specifically for the 270WCF that work reliably and do not have to be shared with other calibers like the 30 calibers & 7mm calibers do with their wide disparity in bullet velocities.

Even though I love to reload and have since the late '60's when factory ammo was not what it is today, 270 is a rarity in that you do not need to learn how to reload to get the very best bullet performance available as the mfg'ers have already done that.

As far a rifle and scope setup...buy the best you can afford that fits you the most comfortably. Do not be influenced by what your buddies or family owns but make your own decisions based on YOUR research.

Lots of good choices in guns & scopes but I favor Tikka T3's & Burris FF II's at about $800 for the package as a once a lifetime investment as both products are 1st quality and guaranteed to perform to MOA expectations IF you can shoot straight.

JMHO an I bin doin' this for over 40 years with 13 of those years as a gun distributor & a gun mfg'ers Reg'l rep...and chose to own 2 Tikka's, a 25 year old Winchester M70 Classic Grade and a CZ 550 Mauser...that ALL shoot better than I can at under MOA's...even with my reloads done on 40 year old equipment...buy 1st rate quality equipment to start with and you will not need to replace it or alter it to be successful.
Ron

i would look at that one looks like a real nice gun.

6.5 x 284,6.5 Grendel,Rem. 260,6.5 x 55. should be just right. Can you tell I have a thing for .264 bullets?

i would second the tikkas. they are awesome rifles made in finland by sako. i have a t-3 in 270 wsm and love it. best rifle i have ever owned. super accurate,amazing trigger,smooth as glass action,even comes with bases and rings.

I have a Remington 700 in 7mm mag
With tasco 3x9x40
Low rd count
$350

CZ and Ruger make great rifles for the money. 270 or 25-06 are great choices, but I would lean towards 270 if you want an "all-arounder".

I mite get in trouble but I have a marlin lx7 in 270 and love it. It is a great budget gun. For a little more you can pick up a weatherby vanguard.

forget those calibers, if you wany a shooter right out of the box go with the .308, get in the CZ 550 varmint with kevlar stock, you wont get a finer shooting gun anywhere. Not a budget gun though, for that go with a weatherby vanguard in 308 or 7-08

12 year ago I bought a ruger M77mkII stainless .270win and put a leupold Vari-XIII 3.5-10X40 and could not be happier.

I later put a Hogue stock and now finally got it back with a timney trigger and its ready to go.

you cant go wrong with a good .270win

Another good rifle would be a Winchester extreme weather stainless in .270

I'm not to concerned about ammo considering I may go through a box a year after sighting it in.

Tikka t3 hunter in .25-06. Got mine last year and love it.

I have looked at the tikka and like those, same goes for a lot of other guns but since you cant try them before you buy them I was hoping someone might have tried a few out that could steer me to one or another

I would consider a Tikka T3 Hunter. They are on the lower end of price but are excellent shooting rifles. I love mine in 7mm Rem Mag and had one in 308 Win. They are both tack drivers.