Deerslayerdave. ColeK said it all, caliber wise, 243 to 06 the deer is dead if hit right. Pick the caliber that best fits your overall needs. Manufacturer...Weatherby Vanguard, Savage, Rem ADL can all be had for $400 new and all are good quality rifles. Pick a brand, do a little research on the WWW and see what looks good, pick it up, shoulder it, work the bolt, see what feels good. Heck, check with your friends to see what they have and if they will let you go with them to the range and try it out. Some will, some won't. Again, what feels good and what caliber fits your needs. Most will consistently kill yotes to black bear as long as you do your part....get it, shoot it, enjoy. If you decide to go used, not knowing your skills and knowledge of firearms, you might want to get a knowledgeable friend to go with you to help.

It's the same trick as cutting a playing card in half....edgeways....one don't actually have to hit the card "head on".....he has some amount of the bullet radius each way to go on!

If one wants to cut cards in half, he'd be better off with a .45-70 than a .22!

Now that we have determined that a bullet that merely HITS the head of the tack without driving it in is NOT a tack driver, let's discuss how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
let's discuss how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

What size Angels are you thinking?

T/C Ventura? Simple, accurate,adjustable trigger. A great rifle at the price.Looks good too.

Also, while they dance must they have both feet on the head of the pin to be considered "on" the pin.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
If a gun actually is shooting a no baloney 1" groups and the head of a thumbtack is 3/8" diameter.....then roughly 90% of the shots from a 30 caliber rifle will hit the tack! That's a tackdriver IMO.....

Personally being more intertested in math than metaphysics, I'll leave aside the angels question for the moment and ask about this (above). Curious regarding the 'math' that arrives at the 90% figure.

I don't have a lot of experience with the Marlin XS7, but I do own one in .243 and I just love it. It is extremely accurate and for a cheap gun, the trigger is wonderful. I adjusted mine to the lightest setting and it is crisp, with virtually no creep. I may have gotten lucky, but I've read of others that had good luck with them, too. However, I've read several post from people who didn't like them. Do a little research on your own.

As for the caliber, a .308 is very good. You might consider a .25-06, though. They are great whitetail and antelope guns.

Oh, by the way, since you're deer hunting and not tack driving or card dividing, something between 6mm and the lighter 30 cals is more than adequate. Even within that range there are guns with unnecessarily heavy recoil, that I'd recommend you avoid. Pick something that you enjoy shooting. Also, consider the .257 Roberts.

Good luck.

A Savage is a great buy if you don't care about "pretty." Accurate, sound and reasonably priced.