He said his son is 22 and has been using a shotgun. He shouldn't have any problem with a .270 or 30-06.
Factory rifle I would second or third the Tikka. Savage with their accutrigger is a good gun for the money and Ruger makes quality guns also. Really you can go so many ways depending upon what is important to you. I prefer a gun that has a great trigger and has good repeatable accuracy, minute of angle (MOA) or very close to it. I have taken factory guns and glass bedded them, free floated the barrels and worked the triggers only to try to get MOA accuracy. For 100 yard normal deer hunting shots (at least in my area) that is not necessary but I like the comfort of knowing that if I miss or God forbid wound an animal, it is my fault and not the gun. Caliber I would suggest .308 or 30.06 just because ammo choices and availability are better than other calibers and those calibers are versatile enough to take any game in North America. Glass to top the rifle is important also but there are some good scopes out there for some decent prices, you don't have to break the bank to get a good scope for your purposes.
I just bought the tikka t3 lite stainless in 308 and topped it with a Zeiss scope. Killed a moose with it last month, taking it north in 2 weeks to deer hunt with.
My oldest boy shot his first deer at 8yrs old with a .260, any of the calipers in that range are nice for kids, 7-08, 257, 6mm variants, all will take down any whitetail deer easily and are acceptable recoils for kids imho Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I use a Howa 1500 .300 win mag a lot. I would recommend howa to anyone who asked. I would also agree that a .270 would fit the bill perfectly for eastern whitetail.
I'm still slinging along with an old Winchester 30-30. Scratches and bumps just add to her character. There's just something about carrying her through the woods that takes me back.
Ruger American in 30-06 or .308 is tough to beat for value, quality, and ease of finding ammo. Sorry to those who recommended the Remington 783, but any Remington "value" 7 series is junk. I have a 770 in .300WinMag and while it does drive tacks, the bolt feels like it has chunks of glass in it. 783 is not much smoother. The Ruger American series is a much higher quality rifle for roughly the same cash. T3s and Howas are both great guns for the money, but both run about 100 more than the American. I haven't personally shot the Venture series but I know some people that I respect who love them. Same with the Savage 110 series (stay away from the Axis!)
Thanks for the replies folks. Yeah he is 6' 1" and 200 lbs of muscle. He will be able to handle the kick. So ... would the 30-06 be a better option than say a .270 just in case someday he would want to hunt something bigger than a whitetail and would already have the gun for it?
both the .270 and the 30-06 can take down most of North Americas big game at a far distance.(300 to 400 yards) .270 has slightly less recoil which makes it nicer for multiple shots if needed.
My favorite gun is a Ruger all-weather 30-06. I also like a Browning Belgium 30-06 semi-auto that's a nice shooter. Both topped with decent variable scopes. I agree with all who said make sure whatever you go with has decent to good optics. I grew up on 30-30 and a little .357 rifle, both are more than enough to kill a deer, honestly...a deer doesn't require much of a gun to kill. 30-06 is really stupid overkill level for deer IMHO, I've seen mine blow a bucks shoulder literally off. Had friends in school that shot them all the time with 22-250, 243's, etc...On the flip side, my BIL shoots a 300 mag and has for years.
Agree here, I'm a huge fan of the .308. I have the ruger compact .308 (don't remeber which model, but I love it) haven't touched my .270 since purchased. 308.
We just bought a 270 for big game (bear, elk, etc.). The gun shop recommended it as it is accurate out further distances. We also have just about every caliber rifle. If hunting fields, a 243 can be quite accurate. In the woods (or brush) I'd suggest a 30-30; although my husband uses a 30-06. He also has a 7mm that was passed down and he uses that on tree stand sits (that thing kicks like a mule). An all around gun; I'd say a 30-30 or 30-06. But I will add the 270 we just got is a nice fitting gun and surprised me that it didn't kick that much.
Honestly for all around if bigger game is gonna happen maybe a .270 or 30-06 would be my recommendation...however if strictly for deer don't go for the overkill and grab like a 25-06 or .257Roberts (have one, love it...despite not able to use here) unless you hunt a lot of spots in the woods then definitely go lever in 30-30. Shoot I'd love to someday take my old swedish mauser that has been sporterized out for deer 6.5x55 swiss.
30-30 is what we use,and if you shoot hornady ammo is capable of shooting 300 yd. dad got a deer at 320 and a coyote at 300 with a 30-30 marlin.
