New hunting rifle time..input wanted

[2165 Turbo Rail]

I'm using a 270 this year. I have shot a deer yet but it worked fine on a coyote at 50 yards today

[Chopped54]

I have the T/C Pro Hunter in 7-08 with a Nikon Monarch 2.5-10 on Talley One Piece bases.
Shot a 10 point opening day at about 50-75 yards and literally fell where he was standing.

[FunFordCobra]

50 cal.

[forbes]

mosin nagant... super cheap to buy, super cheap ammo... and a blast to shoot.. accurate as hell...

[no4njnk]

I hunt in the same area and switched from a .308 to a 6.8spc as my main gun. The 6.8 can knock down any dear and I am comfortable shooting a 300lb+ hog with it. Use it in a semi-auto just in case I run into an hogs or feel like taking nutria.

The .308 is a Marlin XS7 and between both guns I can put 5 shot groups in the same hole at 100 yards. I don't shoot much so it's mostly the guns.

[Moose242]

mosin nagant... accurate as hell...

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[Marss]

mosin nagant... super cheap to buy, super cheap ammo... and a blast to shoot.. accurate as hell...

SP hunting ammo is a bit tough to find though, and it costs the same as the rest unless you get steel cased bear. It'll punish his wife's shoulder pretty good too.

[ceyko]

Hunting calibers will never stop being debated. Personally for my own reasons I prefer in this order (for hunting, at 150ish yards)...

30-06
.308
6.8
.223

Understand I just hunt with 30-06 (deer). The other choices are either what I will use in the future or due to 1001 other reasons. I don't think anyone is going to argue .308 though. However, no real bad calibers mentioned here.

I second/third the Nikon Prostaff for 100-150 yard hunting. Used one for a couple of years and it's VERY nice. Especially since you can get them around 100 dollars.

[zachary]

The thought process has actually changed and instead of a new rifle for me, this is turning into a hunting rifle for her. so that being said...

I think we are going to go with a .243 and see what kind of deal can find on a nikon prostaff....IS asking what manufacturer .243 like asking which is better ford versus chevy? or is there a sure shot winner?

[slowyellow]

^^^ Probably not a bad choice at all sir.

[momo]

pardon my hunting newbness, but i've never hunted before and my friend has been trying to get me to go deer hunting with him. i might try next year so i can finally learn to respect the flesh on my plate.

he has a few rifles i can use but can i use an ar to hunt deer in tx? i figure a 223 should be fine.

[Venom]

If you want a .243 go to Walmart and get a Savage. They are cheaper that anywhere I have found. I have one that I keep as a ranch gun on the 4 wheeler and that this is accurate as hell out of the box.

[dee]

I have the T/C Pro Hunter in 7-08 with a Nikon Monarch 2.5-10 on Talley One Piece bases.
Shot a 10 point opening day at about 50-75 yards and literally fell where he was standing.

7mm-08 is the perfect deer cartridge in my book, used my improved version last week and dropped a nice 8 at a lil over 250.

[Chopped54]

7mm-08 is the perfect deer cartridge in my book

100000% agreed! I went from a .308 to the 7-08....

pardon my hunting newbness, but i've never hunted before and my friend has been trying to get me to go deer hunting with him. i might try next year so i can finally learn to respect the flesh on my plate.

he has a few rifles i can use but can i use an ar to hunt deer in tx? i figure a 223 should be fine.

If you have never hunted before I would not use a .223.

[Chopped54]

And for the OP I would look at the T/C Encores. You do not have to get the Pro Hunter and it will save you some money.
Another plus is you can change the barrels out and have multiple calibers on a single frame. You can have a deer setup then a varmint setup and even a shotgun all in one case...
I like the one piece base and rings for them, and have had no issues with them holding zero between changes.