My wife told me her cousin is looking to get a rifle for hunting he is in his early 20's and recently is getting the hunting bug. He has shot before but not much. He is supposed to call me sometime in the next week or so for recommendations. He is talking about going to a gun show coming up and picking up a rifle. He lives in Casper,Wy. so the shots will probably be antelope,deer,elk. She told me he was mentioning 30-30 and 270. I think being a young man he probably wants to get an economical set up and not spend a fortune. I feel for his use a 270 or 30-06 would make a good choice as would be plenty available and probably reasonable in price. I'm not going to recommend 30-30 as i feel he needs a flatter trajectory( I like 30-30 and i own one but think there are better choices for him). I'm sure people are telling him magnums,also if he is dead set on a magnum i will try and keep him down to 7mm or 300mag. My choice to him will be a ruger(crf) or CZ. I don't like the way my rem.700 feeds near as well as my ruger. anyway any ideas out there? Thanks in advance for the help.

Billy a cz 550 in either 6.5x55, .270, 30/06 or 9.3x62 would be ideal for a first rifle, If he intends to hunt something a tad bigger the 9.3 can handle that if Varmint are on his menu then the 6.5x55 can be loaded with 100 gr BT's and you just could not go wrong with a 30/06 either.

IMO, a nice 308, though the 270 or 06 would work just fine, too. As far as rifles, whatever suits him. JMO, Dutch.

I would go with the more common calibers as the price of ammo is cheaper. That can mean a lot to a beginner. 308 30-06 270 well take care of all his hunting needs. Then when he get going he can buy more or others that he wants.

If he likes the 30-30 because he associates it with a lever action, the .308 would be my pick, for all the reasons stated, plus the round is known for accuracy, is basically the same in ballistics as a 30-06 and the shorter action makes it a good choice in levers.

I'm playing with my 30-30 right now. I lost the Damned!!! trigger-lock key. This is the second time in three years.

Doncha just love aging?

kk

Thanks everyone, somehow i forgot about 308 that is a fine round.

Billy, if your wife's cousin is sensitive to recoil the 7mm-08 is an excellent choice. If he can handle the recoil, I would go with the .30-06. My own personal choices would be 140 gr. for the 7mm-08 and 180 gr. for the .30-06, both in Fail Safes. If budget is a concern he can't go wrong with one of the Savage package guns in synthetic. They are tough and reliable, accurate as hell, and affordable.

Winchester Model 70 Classic compact in 7mm-08 or .308. Light, handy, plenty powerful, fairly inexpensive, and pretty enough to be a thing of pride for a lifetime.

For cheap practice ammo, which should be important, the .308 is far and away the best choice.

Just stay away from the big gun at first. Try a 308win or milder.

Use loads with light bullets and modest speed for practise. Try getting him to spend a bit more on the scope and mount that he would like.

Better to get a bargan rifle with a good scope and mount that a top rifle with a shit scope and aluminuim mont.

I would get a tikka rifle if I was to buy my first gun today.

Johan

How about a 260 Rem? Or is it only chambered by Remington?

I like the idea of a 270/308 or even the 7x57, although it's not so common anymore. Check out the Weatherby Vanguard (Howa action) also, Walmart has them for $388 in synthetic stock or $488 in Walnut, calibers are 270 Win, 300 Weatherby, '06. That seems like quite a good deal to me.

Well with your help i think i figured it out, a package gun (i do like savages Except as posted above i would like to see a better scope). Caliber 270 or 308. 260 is a good round but not as common which can be a very good thing.

I would also consider a 30-06. He will find more factory bullet manufactures and combinations in that round than any other chambering.

I'm not a fan of either the .270 or 06, but I'm kind of a rifle crank. For my son's 1st rifle I went .30-06. Easily enough for deer & lopes w/ a 165gr bullet & a good elk rifle w/ 180grNP. If he decides he doesn't really like the hunting thing, he can sell it or I have a platform for another rifle, maybe a 9.3x62?

Get a good bolt action (Ruger and CZ are fine, as is winchester) in .308 (ugh) or .270 or 30-06 (double ugh)

I only have personal bias against the .308 and 30-06- they are excellent cartridges, and I heartily reccomend them to a beginner...

But forget about the 30-30, IMHO. It is just too limiting...

Put a good scope on it..a B&L (Bushnell) 4200 is an excellent scope, but far cheaper than a Leupold.

billy375,

Let your wifes's cousin shoot a few rounds out of your rifles and see what recoil level he can tolerate. If he can shoot the 30-06 well, it's a good first gun. I had a little trouble with one when I started out and went with the 270 Win.
Whichever he feels comfortable with.

billy375
I always recommend a 308 to a new shooter. Easy recoil and powerful/flat shooting enough for game up to elk. But so are many other cartridges,but with the 308 you can buy surplus military ammo and the new shooter can afford to practice a his shooting a lot with minimal expense. I have taken quite a few antelope and mule deer with a 308 in Wyoming.

Billy375, A couple of months ago I got a Savage 111FCXP3 30-06 rifle. It came with a Simmons 3X9 Whitetail scope, rings and a cheapo sling. I paid under $400 for it. I haven't shot it much but it shoots good enough-- 1.5" groups. I think they only make this package in 30-06 and 270win.

Seems like there was another thread like this recently and the boy ended up with a 7X57 previously sporterized Mauser in good condition for a good buy, hard to go wrong with something like that as well.

The .270/ 30-06 are good chioces for first rifle, easy to reload for-or buy ammo versitile enough to cover most if not all western hunts!!

I guess you could never go wrong with the 30-06 but I tend to favor the 7mm Rem. Mag. I don't think it is to big but yet it packs a little more punch, without overdoing it.