Lets see the firearm collection.....

[Pete031]

Yeah exactly... However we are talking about Alberta. You can pick up some pretty good .223 sports rifles..

[Hitman86]

Just picked this up at the gun show and Small Arms Review (SAR) yesterday, AK 74 Tantal made by century arms...

and sold it today for a nice little profit...

[Big Bad Bob]

Ok, so I'm in the process of getting my RPAL (Canadian acquisition license) so I'll be in the market for a firearm.

I've owned a .22lr rifle in the past but that's about it. I also shot various firearms over time (it sure helps when your stepfather is commanding a SWAT team ) but my experience is fairly limited.

So the question is, what would be the ideal beginner rifle considering the following requirements:

-Bolt action
-Synthetic stock
-Good caliber for both range shooting and deer hunting

Also, is it better to start only with iron sight and then move to optic when I'll have gained some experience?

I didn't want to start a new thread for all of this and figured there was a lot of experienced shooter in here who could help me.

Thanks in advance

I hunt alot and not to start a p*ssing contest, but for big northern whitetail like in Canada a .223 is not going to be much help, where I am it is not legal to shoot .223 at whitetail. I wouldnt even hunt with a .243 or .308 up there. For big body bucks that inhabit the great white north I would hunt with at least a 30.06 or .270 or if you want to step it up you could shoot a 7mm Mag, 7mm WSM, .300 Win Mag. or .300 WSM. Depends on the ranges you will shooting, if you are shooting long plains or ridge to ridge shots, you want a flat shooting long range cailber or if you are shooting dense timber in short ranges a .444 Marlin or .45/70 will work well.

I am very practical in choosing a firearm for the game I am pursuing, for instance in South Carolina I hunt in dense swamp, wide open soybean fields and corn fields. In the swamp I shoot my 12 ga. shotgun w/ buckshot or rifled slugs and occasionly my old .35 Remington with 200 grain loads, good upclose thumper, because my ranges are limited to sometimes 15-25 yards. ( I shoot my bow in the swamp as well.)

When I hunt my stands on beanfields or cut overs and firebreaks in planted pines I shoot my .270 Remington 700 w/ 3x9 Bausch and Lomb Scope, with 130 grain loads, because I will be shooting in excess of 150yds out to 300 yds.

To me a firearm is a tool, you dont bring a knife to gun fight, you dont try to screw in a screw with hammer and you dont bring a varmint load to hunt big game. Follow?

Like I said I am practical in my buying of firearms, I dont buy a gun in a certain caliber and ask myself "now what can I hunt with this", I hunt so therefore I buy the right firearm and cailber to do that in the most effective manner.


If budget is an issue and you can buy just one firearm and you do live in Canada, you may eventually want to hunt even larger game like Moose, Cairbou, or Elk in that case go with an larger caliber that you can put a larger grain bullet on. For instance with .30/06 or .300 WSM you can shoot 180 grain loads at whitetail but also could shoot 200 or larger for larger game.

With a .243 you can shoot a maximum load of 100 grains, and .223 is like 55 grains max load. That is not practical for large animals.

I know alot of people that shoot .243's at whitetail, however its a small bullet, there is no forgivness in a poorly placed shot, or if you hunt in any timber if that bullet is obstructed by a tree branch or corn stalk in flight, good luck in hitting your intended target.

My advice is first examine the terrian you will hunting and then examine what you are hunting. If you are hunting just whitetail, and budget is an issue, a Remington 700 or Savage 110 bolt action in .30/06 or .270 with a decent scope you can hunt just about anything.


and if you want to talk optics................that is another long post, because in my opinion you buy the budget rifle and put an expensive scope on it, you dont buy an expensive rifle and put a cheap scope on it.

[trunk_munkey28]

^^ Awesome post, Bob. ^^

[James K]

my project gun

[gaijinsamurai]

Nice collection of pistols, James!

[Spaz]

James K, what caliber is your revolver?

[Vince S]

I hunt alot and not to start a p*ssing contest, but for big northern whitetail like in Canada a .223 is not going to be much help, where I am it is not legal to shoot .223 at whitetail. I wouldnt even hunt with a .243 or .308 up there. For big body bucks that inhabit the great white north I would hunt with at least a 30.06 or .270 or if you want to step it up you could shoot a 7mm Mag, 7mm WSM, .300 Win Mag. or .300 WSM. Depends on the ranges you will shooting, if you are shooting long plains or ridge to ridge shots, you want a flat shooting long range cailber or if you are shooting dense timber in short ranges a .444 Marlin or .45/70 will work well.

I am very practical in choosing a firearm for the game I am pursuing, for instance in South Carolina I hunt in dense swamp, wide open soybean fields and corn fields. In the swamp I shoot my 12 ga. shotgun w/ buckshot or rifled slugs and occasionly my old .35 Remington with 200 grain loads, good upclose thumper, because my ranges are limited to sometimes 15-25 yards. ( I shoot my bow in the swamp as well.)

When I hunt my stands on beanfields or cut overs and firebreaks in planted pines I shoot my .270 Remington 700 w/ 3x9 Bausch and Lomb Scope, with 130 grain loads, because I will be shooting in excess of 150yds out to 300 yds.

To me a firearm is a tool, you dont bring a knife to gun fight, you dont try to screw in a screw with hammer and you dont bring a varmint load to hunt big game. Follow?

Like I said I am practical in my buying of firearms, I dont buy a gun in a certain caliber and ask myself "now what can I hunt with this", I hunt so therefore I buy the right firearm and cailber to do that in the most effective manner.


If budget is an issue and you can buy just one firearm and you do live in Canada, you may eventually want to hunt even larger game like Moose, Cairbou, or Elk in that case go with an larger caliber that you can put a larger grain bullet on. For instance with .30/06 or .300 WSM you can shoot 180 grain loads at whitetail but also could shoot 200 or larger for larger game.

With a .243 you can shoot a maximum load of 100 grains, and .223 is like 55 grains max load. That is not practical for large animals.

I know alot of people that shoot .243's at whitetail, however its a small bullet, there is no forgivness in a poorly placed shot, or if you hunt in any timber if that bullet is obstructed by a tree branch or corn stalk in flight, good luck in hitting your intended target.

My advice is first examine the terrian you will hunting and then examine what you are hunting. If you are hunting just whitetail, and budget is an issue, a Remington 700 or Savage 110 bolt action in .30/06 or .270 with a decent scope you can hunt just about anything.


and if you want to talk optics................that is another long post, because in my opinion you buy the budget rifle and put an expensive scope on it, you dont buy an expensive rifle and put a cheap scope on it.

Wow talk about an educative post

Ok so price isn't really an issue but I don't want to blow a grand on my first firearm.

As for calibers, most place where I've been with my grandfather were relatively clear with visibility up to say 100 yards in most places (lots of open fields and forest isn't really dense). He seemed to have good result with his .308. My uncle has been hunting for 30.06 in there for years too.

I'll have to ask them for the typical weight of the deers they encounter there too (well is it of any use?).

Again thanks for all the good replies so far.

[gaijinsamurai]

.....He seemed to have good result with his .308. My uncle has been hunting for 30.06 in there for years too.

.

As a note, .30-06 and .308 use the same bullet. Just a question of how much powder you want to deliver it.

[California Joe]

Bob said the same f*cking thing as the rest of us. If you hunt deer get a .30-06 or a .308. Hello? If you're going to take long shots get a .270.

Hey Bob, How's the whole Designated Marksman thing going? Update?

[T3ngu]

Wow talk about an educative post

Ok so price isn't really an issue but I don't want to blow a grand on my first firearm.

As for calibers, most place where I've been with my grandfather were relatively clear with visibility up to say 100 yards in most places (lots of open fields and forest isn't really dense). He seemed to have good result with his .308. My uncle has been hunting for 30.06 in there for years too.

I'll have to ask them for the typical weight of the deers they encounter there too (well is it of any use?).

Again thanks for all the good replies so far.

Cheap setup would be a .308 ruger/Remington with a 3-9x40 tasco world class scope. Cheap, yet it will work. I only say 308 as you can always pick up ex military stuff for plinking. Here for the bigger game, you are supposed to have 170gr plus pills, not sure about the rules there.

Due to the cost of scopes here, i only have tasco world class scopes (I have 6 now i think all on different weapons) and for the price they work well. Unless you are going to shoot out above 200m, i would put the money into the rifle. Just my 0.02c.

[James K]

James K, what caliber is your revolver?

it's a 44 mag

[LaoSexMachine]

Sw 626? .

[Hollis]

Sw 626? .

isn't that a .357?

[LaoSexMachine]

Thought they came in both.