New Deer Rifle

Hey Guys, would like some opinions: I've always hunted with Grampa's guns, which I have since inherited. They are good guns and I cherish them. The 30-30 is not sighted in correctly and the 30-06, while sighted fine, has a scope which is foggy, so I only trust it under 40 yards. I would like some input on a good new deer rifle that wont break the bank. I am a meat hunter who hunts on 40 acres of river bottom. I take one deer a year, two max. I dont take 200 yard shots. 100 and under. And Im thinking of a smaller caliber than a 30/30, but may still stick with a 30/30, but I would like a versatile gun that can be used for hogs, varmits and other smaller game than a deer. What say ye? Thanks in advance for any input..

If you are truly under 100 yards at all times then sight in that .30-30 and you have the best rifle made for your stated purposes. JMHO.

Good hunting!

Buy a quality scope for your '06.

Exactly.

Load it down if you like. Load it big and heavy if you like.
Practice with the .30-30, they are terrific in the thick woods. You may find it is just right for your purposes.

Thnks for your replies. Forgot to mention that with the season starting soon - I wont have time to sight in the 30/30 before I make it out to the place. Was hoping to go buy a gun this week and have it sighted for me. Not a bad idea though to maybe just take one or both of the guns somewhere and get them fitted with new scopes. Any rec's on good new scopes? (again, that wont break my bank)

Look at the Nikon and Redfeild scopes.

Depends on your budget. Lots of decent scopes for not much money.

What part of the world are you in? If you're close enough to my range, I'll help you mount the scope and get it zeroed in less than an hour.

So you're going to have time to buy a rifle and scope, and then trust someone to get it sighted in correctly?

I'd take the 30-30 and sight it in, and kill deer.

PM booradley on here, he'll help you out choosing and mounting them. He does it everyday.

I would get a 1X4 to 1.75x5 variable mounted on the 30/06. Leupold has the VX-Hog 1x4 which has a lifetime warranty which sells for about $229. You really need to spend in the neighborood of $180 plus to get a reliable scope. If you buy the scope at Cabelas, they'll mount and bore sight it, then you should need 30 minutes or less on the range to fine tune it.

I know guys who have, but I wouldn't trust a boresighted scope to be on target enough to hunt with. Bore sighting will usually get it on paper, but that could be as much as 8-10" off. By the time you get to a store, buy a rifle, wait for the background check, pick out a scope, have it mounted, have it boresighted, pay, and drive home, you could have gone to a range and sighted in the 30/30. Have spent $500 less dollars, and be ready to go opening morning, plus, have put a few rounds down range to shake the cobwebs off.

I appreciate all of your feedback and welcome any more. The 30/30 is at the ranch and I may not be able to get there until the night before the season. Was planning on purchasing a new gun somewhere close to where I am now. But the consensus is that I should just sight in that 30/30 myself and I may just have to find a way to go and do that before the season. Definitely the cheapest route for sure.

I would look at my mounts too...they are just as important as your scope...

I like the DNZ mounts, easy to install and pretty bomb proof, for 90% of the hunting.

Mounts and scope for under $250
..lot to like....



http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-ProStaff-Bla...rds=Nikon+scope

http://www.amazon.com/Game-Reaper-Savage...nz+scope+mounts

Ed

The original poster stated, he hunts a 40 acre bottom land parcel, all shots are less than 100 yds. Why are you recommending a 4x12 in thick cover? you'd just be handicapping him.

Is your 30-30 a Marlin or a Winchester? If a Marlin I would scope it but I have 56 year old eyes. If a Winchester I'd hunt with iron sights.

I sell a lot of scopes and mount them every week. Opinions will vary wildly but my favorite scope that doesn't break the bank is the Burris Fullfield II 2-7x35 for around $170.00 or the 3-9x40 for $200.00. At the stated distance you will be shooting I would get a 2-7.

Here's the 2-7 Burris for $140 STYD.

Burris

Academy has a Savage Axis (get in .243) on sale for $209 after rebate, and a nikon scope on sale for $149.
That will fit 'in between' other guns you have, be VERY fun to shoot on critters and pigs, accurate, and will handily take down any deer in Texas. Factory trigger is s bit stiff, but can easily (& safely) be 'tuned' in a few minutes (google).
Phooey on just buying a new scope - Never pass on a chance to buy a new gun !!

Don't really feel like I am. I have shot a lot of game under 100 yards with a 4.5x14 scope. Set on 4.5 power. A 3x9 or 4x12 are very versatile and popular for that reason. Being popular you can usually buy more quality for less money-because scale of production...ie better glass and internals...maybe more features. Low power scopes are great,but just maybe in the future our friend here gets invited on another hog our deer hunt and he his hunting a wheat/oats field where ranges get over 200 yards, or gets to go on a mule deer hunt out west...I don't know. Heck maybe you want to shoot out long range....i don't know...it is not like I suggested a 5x20 tac scope. Heck most people cant shoot irons for crap anyway. The last animal I shot with irons was a Cape buffalo with my double. Frontal shot at 40 yards in brush was a challenge, that is a big animal, compared to a whitetail..

Ed

Yep....decent scopes too...

For Shooting big game, a 4x is plenty out to 300 yards, all my scopes range from 1x4 to 2x7. It's only on the range, or for small game and varmits, that I might go go to a 4x12 or similar. When I buy a dedicated long range small bore it will likely wear such a scope.

Are you suggesting he forego a scope and just use iron sights on the 30-30? If his eyes are good enough that is a viable option. You are correct about boresighting. All it is guaranteed to do is get a rifle on paper at 25 yards. You said you know of someone that went hunting with a rifle that was not sighted in, just boresighted. That's crazy. There are so many people who think boresighting will put them on the bullseye at 100 yards.

A few weeks ago a guy brought his rifle into the store and asked to speak with me. He said, "You mounted and boresighted the scope on this rifle and when I took it to the range it was one inch low and three inches to the right at 100 yards". With a big smile on my face I said, "Wow, I did an excellent job on your scope, thanks". He got pissed and left the store.

I also believe a 4-12 is too much scope for the OP. I've seen a couple of situations where 4X was too high for a very close shot. You can also get a much better scope in a 2-7 for under $200.00 than you can a 4-12.

Good job on that bore sighting. The only one I ever bore sighted that did not need any further adjustments was on a replacement scope, bore sightedthe old one, put the new one on and sighted it to that same place in the bore sighter, spot on when shot.

I also agree with lower power scopes, hunt the thick stuff in Mississippi a lot and do not hunt with a rifle/scope combo that has above 2.5 on the low end, that big field of view helps in the woods. 2X7 is one of my favorite power ranges for scopes and that Burris is a good one.

Just in case someone miss understood me. I did say get it bore sighted and it should take less than 30 minutes on the range fine tuning it.

X2, 30-30 is dead-lay.

X2 on this too. Depending on your budget, the Vortex Diamondback and Nikon Buckmasters/Prostaff are good for the money. Leupold's VX2 is also a good one. Then of course you have the VX3, Zeiss Conquest, and so on so forth.

Happy hunting!

X2 One of my favorites

Good luck

No, I'm not suggesting he use iron sights, unless of course he's proficient with them I suppose. I think his 30/30 has a scope on it that isn't sighted in. Unless I read that incorrectly.


And yea, a buddy of my dad's bought a new rifle on the way to the lease one weekend. Had the store boresight the scope, and shot a deer with it that weekend. Clean DRT kill. But he was incredibly lucky as far as I'm concerned.

Yeah put a 1-5 or 2-7 power scope on it. Even if your a little over 100 yards you have plenty of scope power with the 2-7

I shot my Wyoming Antelope loooong time ago with a 257Rbts M70 wearing a Vari X II 2x7 Fine Cross Hair reticle....at 440+ yards...Almost ran out of the bullet's reach before I ran out of scope's magnification...in that hyper clear mountain air at about 6500' at the very top of the headwaters of the Medicine Bow River...
Just Sayin
Ron

That 30-30 is a versatile rifle, you can get factory loaded ammo in 125gr, 140gr, 150gr, 160gr, 165gr, and 170gr. If you reload or want to get into reloading, you have even more options.

It makes a nice handy package for the type of hunting your describing.

Will 2nd booradley's scope choice, stay with a 2x7, or if you want to spend a bit more look at the Leupold VX-2 in the 1x4 or the VX-Hog by Leupold.

Now another option would be to get a Skinner Peep sight.

Won't argue with the others about the 06' and it's abilities, you can load it up or down, just don't discount that 30-30.

Best advice is pick the rifle you like shooting the most and get it setup for your season.

Good Luck, with whatever decision you make.

I did misunderstand you, sorry about that.

I always buy the best scope I can afford. In the past there have been numerous Fullfield II's. I personally prefer them over the Diamondback, but that is for my eyes. For someone else it might be the opposite. For the past year I've been working the gun counter at Cabela's. As such I get Dealer pricing on several brands of scopes. I commandeered my son's 336W when I bought him a 30-06(the 30-30 wasn't cool enough anymore). It originally had a Fullfield II 2-7x35 that I that I upgraded to a Viper 2-7 a couple of years later. Last September I bought a VX-3 1.75-6x32 for it which is the perfect scope for me on that rifle. I would never have done that except I was able to get it for $25.00 more than what I was able to sell the Viper for. I ordered it with a the Heavy Duplex reticle because it doesn't come in the German #4 which is my favorite. When the scope came and I mounted it and tried to boresight the windage adjustment wouldn't track. That was lucky for me because I had to send the scope back and Leupold installed a German #4 at no charge since they had to disassemble the scope anyway. Truth be told the only advantage I get with the VX-3 over the Fullfield is at night on hogs. The reticle is more visible in low light and so is the sight picture. The glass isn't as significantly better as would be expected though when taking the cost difference into consideration.

It is legal to hunt in low light in Europe. Scopes manufactured in Europe or that are of European origin are better in low light than scopes of American or Pacific Rim origin. Burris is owned by Beretta(European) and as such their scopes are better for my eyes in low light than some other scopes costing considerably more, i.e. a Viper. YMMV.

If I knew I would never go past 100 yards I would go with a 1-4 scope. But since I occasionally have opportunities at more than twice 100 yards then a little higher power works better for me.

If it has the factory open sights then put the little slide on the second notch. Your good for up to 50 yds. If you need more distance then the third notch will get you a good 100 yds. That's about all you need with a 30-30 lever action. Basically it's a 94' model? I keep mine on second notch for 50 yds.

by the way I thought I better mention that I use 150 grain ammo.